5 Singapore poems not to quote out of context
about 55 months ago (10/13/2019)
5 Singapore poems not to quote out of context | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia Articles Elliot Wong October 13, 2019 By Nabilah Said (2,500 words, 7-minute read) In 1968, Lee Kuan Yew uttered the words “Poetry is a luxury we cannot afford” to a roomful of University of Singapore students. There have been some quibbling over, even mythologising of, what he may have meant. To Prof Koh Tai Ann, then the young student whom he was responding to [1] , and to many others since, it was a proclamation – that Singaporeans needed to focus their efforts on more pressing matters, and more practical subjects.