Around the Tok Panjang Chat: Writing the Nonya

Held at the NUS Baba House, where the domestic setting serves to prompt visitors to ponder other tangents relating to lived experiences, memories, and the social lives between the public and private, the Tok Panjang Chats will bring together various individuals from the community to trace these various inquiries.

In this opening installation of the chat, we open up discussions relating to the representations of Straits Chinese women in local literary works. Join local writer Josephine Chia, and Vivian Lim, director of the Idea Co, as they discuss the intersections and divergences between lived experiences of Nonyas vis-a-vis their representations, as well as the historical settings that are often elicited in local works surrounding Straits Chinese women. Making references to Josephine’s own works, as well as other local works, the chat will also explore possibilities for future stories surrounding social lives and identity-making that are yet to be told.

About the writer

Josephine Chia writes both fiction and non-fiction works that draw from her Peranakan heritage and kampong upbringing. Having published thirteen books, she has won literary awards and prizes in the UK and Singapore. Her non-fiction book, ‘Kampong Spirit Gotong Royong life, in Potong Pasir 1955 to 1965’ won the Singapore Literature Prize in 2014. Her young adult novel, ‘Big Tree In A Small Pot’ won the Singapore Publishers Book Award in 2019. On top of writing, she also gives talks on writing, and mentors aspiring writers, running creative writing workshops across the year.