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Moving People With Words

Poems on the MRT

How to Fly the Singapore Flag by Daren Shiau

 

last week of July,
the Straits Times bore an article with a simple tag -
it told us: How to Fly the Singapore Flag

it told us that
we could display it in August
but remove it by September
no other flag or emblem above, or to its right
no words or graphics upon it, and if it might
be torn or worn
hand it to the RC;
if not, wash it separately –
dry it indoors

i’ve seen it flown at construction sites,
on bamboo poles outside provision shops,
at farm-huts in Lim Chu Kang
and the neon brothels in Geylang

i’ve seen it planted on a lonely crane, hanging
over Shenton Way

and grasped in a toddler’s sweaty palms
waving it frantically as her mother held sway,
refusing to let it be coaxed away

- we cannot decide how a flag is to be flown;
we can only raise it, give it winds
and let it make change, on its own

Published in Peninsular: Archipelagos and Other Islands (2000)

Purchase the book here.

Daren Shiau was born in 1971, and is a Singaporean writer and editor. Heartland received the Singapore Literature Prize Commendation Award in 1998, and in 2007 was adapted into an English literature school text on the Singapore-Cambridge GCE ‘O’-Level syllabus. The novel was also made into a telemovie in 2015. A recipient of the Young Artist Award (Literature), Shiau’s other works include acclaimed poetry collection, Peninsular: Archipelagos and Other Islands (2000) and a microfiction collection, Velouria (2007). He currently serves as Co-Chair of the Singapore Writers Festival’s advisory panel.

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Poems on the MRT is an initiative by the National Arts Council, in partnership with SMRT and Stellar Ace. Produced by Sing Lit Station, a local literary non-profit organisation, this collaboration displays excerpts of Singapore poetry throughout SMRT’s train network, integrating local literature into the daily experience of commuters. Look out for poems in English, Chinese, Malay, and Tamil in trains on the East-West, North-South and Circle Lines, as well as videos created by local artists and featuring local poets in stations and on trains. The Chinese, Malay, and Tamil poems are available in both the original languages and English. To enjoy the full poems, commuters may read them on go.gov.sg/potm.

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