In search of ghost town of Singapore in Michigan

Inspired by the once-thriving lumbering town in the US, debut playwright Ong Chong An turns his personal thoughts into a play

- Clement Yong

As a vision of an alternative universe, there are few more harrowing than the town of Singapore in Michigan. The American namesake was once a thriving lumbering town, but since the 1870s has been buried by sand dunes and left to crumble into ruins.

It is an image so affecting that Prime Minister Lawrence Wong cited it in his first National Day Rally in 2024. "Singapore in Michigan didn't last very long," he said. "We want this Singapore to be around for a very long time — for the next thousand years and beyond."

This same ghost town is the inspiration for a new play by Pangdemonium - Singapore, Michigan — with a run at the Singapore Airlines Theatre @ Lasalle from June 26 to July 11.

Debut playwright Ong Chong An was a student at The University of Chicago in 2020 when he came up with this "capstone" to his theatre involvement in college.

Two Singaporeans and their American friend go in search of the town they had heard so much about, and find themselves caught in the eye of a blizzard.

The town's name of Singapore lingers over the entire play like a spectre, the 29-year-old says.

"I wanted to mine the alternate timeline element of it. There are moments where audiences will be, like, 'Wait, are they talking about Singapore, Michigan, or Singapore, Singapore?'"