Suchen Christine Lim (born 15 July 1948) is a Malaysian-born Singaporean writer. She was the inaugural winner of the

Singapore Literature Prize The Singapore Literature Prize (abbreviation: SLP) is a biennial award in Singapore to recognise outstanding published works by Singaporean authors in any of the four official languages: Chinese, English, Malay and Tamil. The competition is organis ...

in 1992. She was awarded Singapore's pinnacle arts award, the

Cultural Medallion The Cultural Medallion () is a cultural award in Singapore conferred to those who have achieved artistic excellence in dance, theatre, Literature of Singapore, literature, Music of Singapore, music, photography, art and Cinema of Singapore, film ...

, in 2023.

Early life

Lim was born in

Ipoh Ipoh (, ) is the capital city of the Malaysian States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Perak. Located on the Kinta River, it is nearly north of Kuala Lumpur and southeast of George Town, Penang, George Town in neighbouring Penang ...

Federation of Malaya Malaya, officially the Federation of Malaya, was a country in Southeast Asia from 1948 to 1963. It succeeded the Malayan Union and, before that, British Malaya. It comprised eleven states – nine Malay states and two of the Straits Settleme ...

and had her early education at the

Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus The Sisters of the Infant Jesus, also known as the Dames of Saint Maur, are a religious institute of the Catholic Church originating from Paris, France and dedicated to teaching. History Origins In 1659 Barré, who was a respected scholar with ...

(CHIJ) in

Penang Penang is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia along the Strait of Malacca. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay Peninsula. Th ...

and

Kedah Kedah (), also known by its honorific Darul Aman (Islam), Aman (دار الأمان; Arabic for 'The Safe Abode') and historically as Queda, is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia, located in the northwestern part of ...

. At the age of 14 she came to Singapore, and continued her education at CHIJ Katong. She read literature at the

National University of Singapore The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national university, national Public university, public research university in Singapore. It was officially established in 1980 by the merging of the University of Singapore and Nanyang University ...

, and graduated with a post-graduate diploma in

applied linguistics Applied linguistics is an interdisciplinary field which identifies, investigates, and offers solutions to language-related real-life problems. Some of the academic fields related to applied linguistics are education, psychology, Communication stu ...

Teaching career

After her graduation, Lim joined the

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

as a literature teacher and a curriculum specialist. She devoted her time between family, work and writing throughout her years with the ministry. Lim retired from the Ministry of Education in August 2003, to devote her time to writing. That devotion subsequently bore fruit in the novels published as ''Hua Song: Stories of the Chinese Diaspora'' (2005) and ''The Lies that Build a Marriage: Stories of the Unsung, Unsaid and Uncelebrated in Singapore'' (2007).

Literary works

Lim's first story "The Valley of Golden Showers" was written in 1979 for a children's story competition. A year later, Lim entered another writing competition sponsored by the National Book Council, winning second place. These competitions sparked her interest in becoming a writer. Lim's first novel ''Rice Bowl'' was published in 1984, and she co-wrote the award-winning short play ''The Amah: A Portrait in Black And White'' in 1986. Her second novel ''Gift From The Gods'' (1990) was nominated for a National Book Development Council award in 1992. In that same year, Lim won the inaugural

for her third novel ''Fistful of Colours'' (1992). ''A Bit of Earth'' (2000) was nominated for the

in 2004. In 1996 she was given a

Fulbright Grant The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people o ...

to attend the

Iowa Writers' Workshop The Iowa Writers' Workshop, at the University of Iowa, is a graduate-level creative writing program. At 89 years, it is the oldest writing program offering a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in the United States. Its acceptance rate is between 2 ...

, and returned to the university as writer-in-residence in 2000. This residency honour was also extended to her at the

University of Western Australia University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Crawley, Western Australia, Crawley, a suburb in the City of Perth local government area. UW ...

in Perth, the

Moniack Mhor Moniack Mhor is a creative writing centre in Scotland. Based in the Scottish Highlands, Moniack Mhor is fourteen miles from Inverness. The centre is a registered charity and is supported by Creative Scotland. History The centre has given reside ...

Writers' Centre in the Scottish Highlands and Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines. In 2015, ''

The Straits Times ''The Straits Times'' (also known informally by its abbreviation ''ST'') is a Singaporean daily English-language newspaper owned by the SPH Media Trust. Established on 15 July 1845, it is the most-widely circulated newspaper in the country and ...

Akshita Nanda selected ''Fistful of Colours'' as one of 10 classic Singapore novels. She wrote, "The gorgeously detailed ''A Fistful of Colours'' by Suchen Christine Lim covers art and women's fight for equal rights over 80 years of Singapore history. The winner of the first Singapore Literature Prize in 1992, it is a fist to the gut with its relentless portrayal of female struggles for power in a patriarchal society that strips women of any right to their sexuality or dignity."

Works

Novels

* ''Dearest Intimate'' (2022, Marshall Cavendish Editions) * ''The River's Song'' (2014
Aurora Metro Press
* ''A Bit of Earth'' (2001, Times Books International; 2009, Marshall Cavendish Editions) * ''Fistful of Colours'' (1992, EPB Publishers; 2003, SNP Editions) * ''Gift from the Gods'' (1990, G. Brash) * ''Rice Bowl'' (1984, Times Books International; 2009, Marshall Cavendish Editions)

Short stories

* ''The Man Who Wore His Wife's Sarong: Stories of the Unsung, Unsaid and Uncelebrated in Singapore'' (2017, Monsoon Books) * ''The Lies that Build a Marriage: Stories of the Unsung, Unsaid and Uncelebrated in Singapore'' (2007, Monsoon Books)

Non-fiction

* ''Hua Song: Stories of the Chinese Diaspora'' (2005, Long River Press)

Children's

* ''Fried Eggs'' (2014,

Ethos Books Ethos Books is an independent book publisher based in Singapore established in 1997. It is an imprint of Pagesetters Services Pte Ltd, a communications and design house. Ethos Books specialises in publishing literary works of fiction, non-ficti ...

) * ''I Don't Want to Dance'' (2011,

) * ''Miss Missy Mynah'' (2011,

) * ''My New Monster Truck'' (2009,

) * ''The Hare and the Tortoise'' (1992, Manhattan Press) * ''The River People'' (1992, Manhattan Press) * ''The Biggest Hongbao in the Whole Wide World'' (1991, EPB Publishers; 2009, EPB Pan Pacific) * ''Cheep Cheep Cheep'' (1990, EPB Publishers, 2009, EPB Pan Pacific) * ''Granny'' (1991, EPB Publishers; 2009, EPB Pan Pacific) * ''Grandpa the Collector'' (1991, EPB Publishers; 2009, EPB Pan Pacific) * ''Nanny Nanny Poo Poo'' (1991, EPB Publishers; 2009, EPB Pan Pacific) * ''Mano Made A Promise'' (1991, EPB Publishers; 2009, EPB Pan Pacific) * ''Roti Prata'' (1991, EPB Publishers; 2009, EPB Pan Pacific) * ''Woo Won Ton'' (1991, EPB Publishers; 2009, EPB Pan Pacific) * ''When My Baby Sister Came Home'' (1990, EPB Publishers) * ''Ants in a Hurry'' (1990, EPB Publishers) * ''Julius Fatball and the Alley Cats'' (1990, EPB Publishers; 2009, EPB Pan Pacific) * ''The Hatching'' (1990, EPB Publishers) * ''The Valley of Golden Showers'' (1979, Educational Publications Bureau)

Others

* "Mei Kwei, I love you" in ''The Women Writers Handbook'', Aurora Metro Books, (2020) * ''The Amah: a Portrait in Black and White'' (1986, short play)

References

External links

Suchen Christine Lim webpage
*
"Multiracial Clans in Colorful Malaya"
by Christopher B. Patterson {{DEFAULTSORT:Lim, Suchen Christine Living people 1948 births 20th-century Singaporean writers Singaporean women writers Singaporean people of Hakka descent Malaysian emigrants to Singapore People who lost Malaysian citizenship Naturalised citizens of Singapore S.E.A. Write Award winners Singaporean non-fiction writers Singaporean novelists Singaporean women novelists Singapore Literature Prize winners National University of Singapore alumni International Writing Program alumni 21st-century Singaporean writers