Michael Chiang (born 27 October 1955 in Muar,

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...

) is a prolific

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

and screenwriter in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

. He is known as "Singapore's most famous and successful playwright". From 1990 to 2009, Chiang was the editorial director of Mediacorp Publishing, which publishes '' 8 Days''. The playwright of ''Army Daze'' (1987) and ''Beauty World'' (1988), Chiang had his plays were collected in and published as ''Private Parts and Other Playthings'' in 1994 by Landmark Books and ''Play Things'' in 2014. In 2015, ''Army Daze'' was selected by '' The Business Times'' as one of the "finest plays in 50 years" alongside productions by Goh Poh Seng,

Kuo Pao Kun Kuo Pao Kun (193910 September 2002) () was a playwright, theatre director, and arts activistKwok, Kian-Woon. "Remembering Kuo Pao Kun (1939–2002)." Inter-Asia Cultural Studies 4.2 (2003): 193–201. in Singapore who wrote and directed both Man ...

and

Alfian Sa'at Alfian bin Sa'at (born 18 July 1977), best known as Alfian Sa'at, is a prolific Singaporean playwright, poet, and writer. He is known for penning a body of plays, poems, and prose that often tackle issues considered taboo in the island-state, ...

and others.

Early life

Born in Muar, Malaysia to a schoolteacher and housewife, Chiang came to Singapore at the age of 11 and attended the

Anglo-Chinese School Anglo-Chinese School (ACS) is a family of Methodist schools in Singapore and Indonesia. It was founded in 1886 by Bishop William Fitzjames Oldham as an extension of the Methodist Church. Anglo-Chinese School is usually abbreviated as "ACS", wi ...

, where he was placed in the care of his eldest brother Dr Chiang Hai Ding. He is the youngest of seven siblings, including an adopted younger sister. As a child, he made frequent visits to the cinema, and developed a taste for the Hong Kong classics of the 1960s. He graduated from the

National University of Singapore The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national public research university in Singapore. Founded in 1905 as the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States Government Medical School, NUS is the oldest autonomous university in th ...

with majors in English Literature, Chinese Studies and Philosophy. In 1992, Chiang became a Singapore citizen.

Career

Chiang's foray into playwriting began in 1984, when he was an entertainment journalist and editor for ''The Sunday Times''. He was invited to submit a light-hearted play for the

Singapore Arts Festival Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA) is an annual arts festival held in Singapore. It is organised bArts House Limitedfor the National Arts Council. The festival is usually held in mid-year for a stretch of one month and incorporates t ...

's ''Bumboat'' production because he wrote humour columns for the newspaper. The result, ''Beauty Box'', about beauty queens and shopping malls, was savaged by critics but popular with audiences. Chiang followed this up with ''Love & Belachan'' (1985), which starred

Lim Kay Tong use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = , death_cause = , body_discovered = , resting_place = , resting_place_coordinates ...

and

Jacintha Abisheganaden Jacintha Abisheganaden (born 3 October 1957), known professionally as Jacintha, is a Singaporean singer, actress, and theater practitioner who studied at the National University of Singapore and received a degree in arts, majoring in English li ...

, and a book about life in National Service, titled ''Army Daze''. The book was so popular that he was convinced by TheatreWorks to do a stage version of it in 1987. Nine years later, ''

Army Daze ''Army Daze'' is a 1996 Singaporean comedy film based on the 1987 theatre play of the same name by Singaporean writer Michael Chiang. Distributed by Cathay Asia Films and directed by Ong Keng Sen, the film portrays a group of 18-year-old Singapore ...

'' was adapted into a movie. In 1988, singer-songwriter

Dick Lee Richard Lee Peng Boon (born 24 August 1956) is a Singaporean singer-songwriter, playwright and film director. Early life Lee was born to a Peranakan father, Lee Kip Lee, (who wrote for ''The Straits Times'') and his wife , Elizabeth Tan. He was th ...

approached Chiang to write a Singapore musical. With Lee's title and opening number, Chiang wrote ''Beauty World'', which toured internationally. Like ''Army Daze'', it has been restaged a number of times, including a made-for-television version in 1998. It will be restaged in November 2015 at the Victoria Theatre, with Lee directing the musical. As the editorial director of Mediacorp Publishing, Chiang popularised the trend of putting celebrities on magazine covers. At the height of his publishing career, Chiang was running more than 20 magazine titles. In July 2013, Chiang returned to the stage with his first production in 14 years, ''High Class'', which was staged at the Drama Centre Theatre, followed by a rerun of ''Army Daze''. Chiang also wrote the screenplay for ''Our Sister Mambo'' which was released in July 2015 to celebrate Cathay Organisation's 80th anniversary. In October 2014, Chiang began his stint as editorial director of ''The A List'', the National Arts Council's fortnightly arts magazine.

Works by Michael Chiang

Plays

* Jun 1984: ''Beauty Box'' (short) * Sep 1985: ''Love & Belachan'' (short) * Jun 1987: ''Army Daze'' * Jun 1988: ''Beauty World'' * Jun 1989: ''Mixed Signals'' * Jun 1992: ''Private Parts'' * Apr 1994: ''Heaven II'' * Oct 1995: ''My Art Belongs to Me'' * Nov 1995: ''Mortal Sins'' * Dec 1999: ''My Lonely Tarts'' * Jul 2013: ''High Class''

Screenplays

* ''

'' (1996) * ''Our Sister Mambo'' (2015)

Publications

* ''Army Daze'' (1985, Times Books International) * ''Michael Chiang's Army Daze: The Play'' (1987, Landmark Books) * ''The New Army Daze'' (1992, Times Books International) * ''Private Parts & Other Playthings: A Collection of Popular Singapore Comedies'' (1994, Landmark Books) * ''Play Things: The Complete Works 1984-2014'' (2014, Really Good Books)

Anthologies

Gwee Li Sui Gwee Li Sui (; born 22 August 1970) is a poet, a graphic artist, and a literary critic from Singapore. Biography Gwee went to the now-defunct MacRitchie Primary School and then Anglo-Chinese Secondary School and Anglo-Chinese Junior College. In ...

, ed. '' Written Country: The History of Singapore through Literature'' (2016,

Landmark Publications A landmark is a recognizable natural or artificial feature used for navigation, a feature that stands out from its near environment and is often visible from long distances. In modern use, the term can also be applied to smaller structures or f ...

)

References

External links

*
Chiang's creative consultancy A Little Imagination
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chiang, Michael Living people 1955 births People from Muar People from Johor Anglo-Chinese School alumni Malaysian emigrants to Singapore Singaporean people of Chinese descent Singaporean screenwriters Singaporean writers Singaporean dramatists and playwrights Mediacorp University of Singapore alumni