| Goh Sin Tub (吴信达) | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 2, 1927 Singapore |
| Died | November 16, 2004 (aged 76) Singapore |
| Pen name | Easter Goh (English newspaper) Akbar Goh (Malay newspaper) |
| Occupation | Writer, teacher, social worker |
| Nationality | Singaporean |
| Genres | Fiction |
| Notable award(s) | 1964: Second Prize, National Short Stories in Malaysia 1986: Merit, National Short Story Writing Competition 1987: Merit, National Short Story Writing Competition 1988: Merit, National Short Story Writing Competition 1996: Montblanc-NUS Centre for the Arts Award (English Prose) |
| Spouse(s) | Dr Sylvia Goh |
| Children | Sons: Austin John Pat |
|
Influenced
|
|
|
Literature portal |
|
Goh Sin Tub (Chinese: 吴信达; pinyin: Wú Xìndá; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Gôo-sìn-ta̍t) was a well-known pioneer of Singaporean literature. He was a prolific writer of numerous book titles, which includes bestsellers like the The Nan-Mei-Su Girls of Emerald Hill, The Ghost Lover of Emerald Hill, and the Ghosts of Singapore. He also wrote a collection of short stories in Malay.[1]
Goh was born in 1927 a second-generation Singapore-born Hokkien Chinese to a family of five siblings. His father was a clerk in the Yokohama Specie Bank (the former Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank) at Clifford Pier while his mother was a housewife.[2] Three generations had lived on 104 Telok Ayer Street for most of their lives, before relocating to River Valley Road. He had primary education at the Royal English School in the River Valley vicinity, and went on to the St. Joseph's Institution together with his eldest brother, Charlie Goh.[3]
In 1935 Goh attended school at the Raffles Institution. When the Japanese began bombing Singapore at the early stage of their invasion, the Goh family hid under a staircase at the back of their house at Emerald Hill. To avoid further bombing, the family later moved to a shophouse in Philip Road. He was a 14-year-old boy at the time of the Occupation.
As a youth, he sold bread and canned goods door to door and a coal worker carrying bags of coal to support his family during the Japanese Occupation. As he was fearful of the Japanese soldiers, he had to learn to be streetwise, and to size people up quickly in order to survive, and make money to support his family.[4] He received education at St Joseph's Institution, Goh also won the prestigious Raffles College Scholarship to study at the College and graduated with a BA in English from the University. After graduation, Goh returned to SJI to teach and set the Youth Circle Poetry interest group in school, which attracted and encouraged aspiring writers like Edwin Thumboo, to meet regularly to discuss about writing poetry. Goh personally guided and encouraged Thumboo in his writings.[5]
In his lifetime he was also a civil servant, serving as deputy secretary to the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health between 1951 - 1969. Moving on from the Ministry, he went into banking as a project management director, and was instrumental to the building of the OCBC Centre and the Dynasty Hotel/Tangs Complex.[4] He also was a social worker and served as chairman of the Board of Governors for the St. Joseph's Institution. He also served on positions on a number of committees of various private and governmental organizations in Singapore. In 1992 Goh, along with Mrs Hedwig Anuar, was appointed to the 69-member Publications Advisory Panel by the Minister for Information and the Arts, to advise approvals and classification of publications referred to them by the Film Censors Board and the Ministry.[6]