Putting SingLit on the right track

Over 100 poem snippets have been stuck on MRT trains and stations

- Clement Yong

You have seen the advertisements for mala fish, or the many AI-generated posters calling for recruits to one organisation or another in MRT trains and stations.

Now breathe: Something less commercial – and decidedly more lyrical – is taking over.

For a whole year from Nov 1, commuters will find in these public spaces the humour and wit of Singapore poets – Wong May catching a glimpse of her lover at the train terminus, or Lee Jing Jing bidding readers "Hear the difference between/Shut up, and/Shut up, lah".

And lest First World Singapore forget its origins, there is migrant poet M.R. Mirzan reminding the commuter that "My sweat turns villages to metros/and metros into civilisation".

Bound to elicit a grin is Ng Yisheng's humorous Roti Chatter, a hark back to the Republic's multicultural heritage. He writes: "The prata knows Malay,/The mantou mumbles Mandarin...You'll hear the bread talk, but/The Kopi tiam."

In the largest effort to promote Singapore Literature (SingLit) to date, more than 100 poem snippets have been stuck on trains and stations of the SMRT-operated North-South, East-West and Circle lines.

This translates to more than 150 panels of poetry in 30 trains, but the campaign also includes 1,920 screens, looping animations on SingLit and video interviews with poets.