{"id":4901,"date":"2026-08-21T11:00:06","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T11:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.peranakan.org.sg\/theperanakanmagazine\/?p=4901"},"modified":"2026-08-07T10:11:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T10:11:22","slug":"baba-nyonya-literary-festival-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.peranakan.org.sg\/theperanakanmagazine\/baba-nyonya-literary-festival-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Growing From Strength to Strength: Baba Nyonya Literary Festival 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Baba Emeric Lau reports from the Gallery Theatre at the National Museum of Singapore after a whirlwind weekend comprising multiple panel discussions, book launches, recitals, and performances.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This fourth edition of TPAS\u2019 Literary Festival sported the tagline \u201cPreserving Heritage Through Literature\u201d, an aim which, going by the more than respectable turnout over the weekend of 25 \u2013 26 July 2026, was amply fulfilled. Yet guest of honour Ms. Low Yen Ling, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth & Ministry of Trade and Industry, had a subtle rejoinder in her address: that literature, in its role of affirming culture, should also serve as means of cultivating identity, especially in the context of Singapore and Singaporeans. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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(Left to right) ACM Director Clement Onn, TPAS President Nyonya Genevieve Peggy Jeffs, National Heritage Board CEO Chang Hwee Nee, Baba Raymond Wong<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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(Left to right) GSA President Alvin Teo, TPAS President Nyonya Genevieve Peggy Jeffs, Minister Low Yen Ling, NHB CEO Chang Hwee Nee, Datin Paduka Tan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Baba Chan Eng Thai delivers a panton<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Minister Low Yen Ling addresses the audience<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Mr Kishore Mahbubani delivers his keynote speech<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Baba Chris Ong, moderator Colin Chee and Datin Paduka Tan take the stage as Panel 2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Baba Colin Chee and Nyonya Ida Chee<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Dato’ Lillian Tong, moderator Baba Raymond Wong, and Nyonya Lim Yu Lin expounding on our material arts in Panel 3<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Nyonya Josephine Chia and friend<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Nyonya Ngiam May Ling delivers the opening address<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Patricia Sharma receives the first prize for the writing competition held in conjunction with the Literary Festival from Minister Low Yen Ling<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Indeed, Peranakan identity has allowed Singapore to contextualise our place within Southeast Asia. It is a culture that arises from the diversity of its peoples and their practices, a point deftly underscored by Mr. Kishore Mahbubani in his keynote address on the second day. He cited examples where societies turned to enmity, such as the Yellow Peril, the USA\u2019s Chinese Racial Exclusion Act, and Islamic T\u00fcrkiye being refused admission to the EU despite being geographically a part of Europe. Yet such fault lines are not fracturing societies in ASEAN, which he found quite miraculous. Instead, Peranakan culture is a harmonious fusion of civilisations; the fact that it has flourished at all shows strength and resilience amongst people here, and it should rightly be seen as no less than a model for the rest of humanity to live in peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The panel discussions and fireside chats commanded rapt attention from the audience, while the Q&A segments and tea breaks allowed attendees and authors to mingle and exchange insights \u2013 often with much passion and gusto \u2013 and strengthen social networks. The book stands saw brisk sales as authors were more than happy to sign their books for friends and fans alike. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Festival Founder and Organiser, Nyonya Ngiam May Ling noted, \u201cThis edition of the Literary Festival featured the largest contingent of Malaysian delegates we have ever welcomed. There are also several attendees who journeyed from even farther afield. We are truly grateful to all who came to support us whether from near or far and aim to build on this success. Together, we can grow what started as a tiny event in 2019 into a calendar staple supported by a strong regional following.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Nyonyas Christine Ong, Lim Yu Lin, Datin Paduka Tan and Festival Organiser Ngiam May Ling<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Nyonyas Veronica Yeow and Noreen Chan tuck into a tea break buffet by Allspice Institute<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Nyonyas Noreen Chan, Stella Clare Wee, and Eunice Yap at the registration counter<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The GSA’s Suara Sayang seranade the audience<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The Peranakan Voices singing in harmony<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Students of SCGS and their teacher in attendance<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Baba Emeric Lau reports from the Gallery Theatre at the National Museum of Singapore after a whirlwind weekend comprising multiple panel discussions, book launches, recitals, and performances.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4977,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4901","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peranakan.org.sg\/theperanakanmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4901","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peranakan.org.sg\/theperanakanmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peranakan.org.sg\/theperanakanmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peranakan.org.sg\/theperanakanmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peranakan.org.sg\/theperanakanmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4901"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.peranakan.org.sg\/theperanakanmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4901\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4986,"href":"https:\/\/www.peranakan.org.sg\/theperanakanmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4901\/revisions\/4986"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peranakan.org.sg\/theperanakanmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peranakan.org.sg\/theperanakanmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4901"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peranakan.org.sg\/theperanakanmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4901"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peranakan.org.sg\/theperanakanmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4901"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}