Cheryl Tan on her novel Sarong Party Girls, Singlish and young women in Asia
Writer hopes her book will dispel one-dimensional view of Singaporeans as boring, and brushes off Singapore Writer’s Festival organisers’ decision not to invite her
Growing up in Singapore, author and journalist Cheryl Lu-lien Tan would walk down the street and peer into bars that served as watering holes for the city’s “sarong party girls”. In short skirts, high heels and fierce make-up, these attractive Asian women in their 20s had one purpose: to bag a white husband with a fat bank account and produce a Eurasian “Chanel baby”.
It wasn’t until Tan returned to Singapore in her 30s that she found herself in one of those very bars, immersed in the vibrant world of the SPGs. Her fascination with this culture inspired her first novel, Sarong Party Girls, a comic tale that explores the contradictions of modern Singapore’s materialistic yet highly traditional society through the eyes of one such woman.
Published in the United States in July, the novel is written entirely in Singlish, a punchy mix of English, Malay, Mandarin and other languages.
In Hong Kong to promote her novel at the city’s International Literary Festival over the weekend, Tan reflected on writing, modern Singapore, Asian culture and more.
It was reported that you were not featured at the Singapore Writer’s Festival this year. The National Arts Council told the Post it was due to “conflicting schedules”. What are your thoughts on this?
