Over 200 programmes set for Yong Shu Hoong’s final edition of Singapore Writers Festival, turning the spotlight on crime, mystery, and looking beyond what we think we know
With more than 300 writers and speakers and over 200 programmes, the 29th Singapore Writers Festival turns “Hidden in Plain Sight” into a sprawling investigation of crime, memory, translation, technology and reading between the lines. A literary festival themed around things hidden in plain sight could hardly arrive at a more appropriate moment. The 29th Singapore Writers Festival, running from 13 to 22 November, takes … Continue reading Over 200 programmes set for Yong Shu Hoong’s final edition of Singapore Writers Festival, turning the spotlight on crime, mystery, and looking beyond what we think we know
What Promotional Disclosure Looks Like Without a Rule Requiring It
Singapore consumers are used to the small print being somewhere. It may be tedious, it may be in grey eight-point type at the bottom of a page, but a promotion that sets a condition on a payout generally says so. That reliability is easy to mistake for a natural state of affairs rather than the product of a rule. A survey conducted in late August … Continue reading What Promotional Disclosure Looks Like Without a Rule Requiring It
Interview: Playwright Benedict Lim spills the ‘Beans’ on class, scarcity and taking creative risks
“Maybe because the world is burning and I might as well do the things I want to do.” That’s a statement that feels integral to Singaporean playwright Benedict Lim’s reason for making art. There is humour in the line, but also a sense of practicality: if the circumstances are already uncertain, there is little point waiting for the perfect moment to make the work you … Continue reading Interview: Playwright Benedict Lim spills the ‘Beans’ on class, scarcity and taking creative risks
★★★★★ Theatre Review: ART (2026) by Godot Theatre Company
Godot Theatre’s take on Yasmina Reza’s beloved classic reminds us how art reveals uncomfortable truths about ourselves and how we live in a world of myriad perspectives. Duration: 135 minutes John Berger, in Ways of Seeing, famously writes that “the relation between what we see and what we know is never settled”. It is an idea that applies directly to Yasmina Reza’s ART, a play … Continue reading ★★★★★ Theatre Review: ART (2026) by Godot Theatre Company
★★★★★ Film Review: Once Upon A Time In The Middle East 欢迎来龙餐馆 dir. Wen Muye
From China comes one of the best anti-war blockbuster films in recent history that captures the human cost of senseless conflict, in both body count and morality. Duration: 140 minutes War films are so often constructed around the perspectives of the countries that wage them, making it unusual to see a film so openly interested in the consequences of American intervention in the Middle East … Continue reading ★★★★★ Film Review: Once Upon A Time In The Middle East 欢迎来龙餐馆 dir. Wen Muye
Theatre Review: One Love, A Legacy – Celebrating Joanna & Leslie Wong and Chinese Theatre Circle 《一缕柔情千秋业》
Documentary, biographical theatre tracing Chinese Theatre Circle’s roots, its impact, and the love that’s carried it for 45 years and beyond. For 45 years, Chinese Theatre Circle has been doing something no other company has done for as long and as fiercely as they have: keeping Chinese opera alive in Singapore. And to commemorate that, One Love, A Legacy: Celebrating Joanna & Leslie Wong and … Continue reading Theatre Review: One Love, A Legacy – Celebrating Joanna & Leslie Wong and Chinese Theatre Circle 《一缕柔情千秋业》
Art: Li Huayi – Unity of Man and Nature at Kwai Fung Hin
For Li Huayi, landscape is not a record of a place but an expression of an inner world. As his first solo exhibition in Southeast Asia arrives in Singapore, the artist reflects on tradition, freedom, memory and the enduring possibilities of ink. There are no travellers wandering through Li Huayi’s landscapes. No fishermen, scholars or tiny figures climbing the mountain paths that populate so much … Continue reading Art: Li Huayi – Unity of Man and Nature at Kwai Fung Hin
Mr Chng Hak-Peng appointed new Chief Executive Officer of National Gallery Singapore from 1 January 2027
Singapore’s visual arts landscape is entering a new phase, with National Gallery Singapore and Singapore Art Museum set to move forward under dedicated leadership from January 2027. Mr Chng Hak-Peng will be appointed Chief Executive Officer of National Gallery Singapore, succeeding Dr Eugene Tan, who has led the institution as Chief Executive Officer since 2024. Dr Tan will remain with the Gallery until the end … Continue reading Mr Chng Hak-Peng appointed new Chief Executive Officer of National Gallery Singapore from 1 January 2027
★★★★☆ Theatre Review: The Radicalisation of Mrs. Mary Lim-Rodrigues by Wild Rice
A precise, unsettling dissection of what happens when rules become more important than the people they are meant to serve. Duration: 90 minutes The Radicalisation of Mrs. Mary Lim-Rodrigues at times feels like a paradox: it is a play about the consequences of failing to see another person fully, yet it deliberately keeps its audience at a certain remove and emotional distance from its characters. … Continue reading ★★★★☆ Theatre Review: The Radicalisation of Mrs. Mary Lim-Rodrigues by Wild Rice
Film: ‘The Violinist’ 沧海琴声 soundtrack now available everywhere from Milan Records
Some film scores disappear into the background once the credits roll. Others become part of the story themselves. For The Violinist, music has always been central to the telling of its story, and now audiences can experience that music on its own. Milan Records has released The Violinist (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), a 29-track album featuring music by Golden Horse Award-winning Singaporean composer Ricky Ho … Continue reading Film: ‘The Violinist’ 沧海琴声 soundtrack now available everywhere from Milan Records
