Writing

Asian American Writers' Workshop • 27th November 2024

Tending to My Imperfectly Perfect English(es)

This essay is part of Transpacific Literary Project’s monthly column, with art by Juyon Lee.


I was wary, and weary, when my American colleague asked me what my first language was. I have dreaded the question ever since I moved to Berlin.


I tried to weasel out of answering, and debated furiously with myself whether I should just say “Chinese,” since he had already asked if I was Chinese when he saw I was a lover of rice and a user of chopsticks. I am unabashedly that, except that I wanted s...

THE WILLOWHERB REVIEW • 21st June 2025

Finding a Way Out: Lost in East Gippsland / Christina Ng — THE WILLOWHERB REVIEW

Row, row, row your boat/Gently down the stream/Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily/Life is but a dream.
One of the first nursery rhymes I’ve learnt as a child drifts in and out of my memory ever since I left Singapore, my home country, nine years ago. The more I sing the lyrics in my head, the more they settle and accumulate like sediment in a stream.Before settling in where I am now in Germany, I’ve made many attempts at leaving Singapore to seek the perfect environment to make my home...

Hyperallergic • 5th June 2019

At the Venice Biennale, Shu Lea Cheang Surveils the Surveillance System

VENICE, Italy — “Life is political,” says Shu Lea Cheang, the first female artist to represent Taiwan in a solo exhibition at the Venice Biennale. At our interview, the artist — clad in a bold, pink shirt with the Chinese character “Prisoner” printed on her shirt pocket — reiterated that all her work is political, though she adds, “I would separate politics from being political.” The latter, for her, is more about making a statement.

Hyperallergic • 4th July 2019

Shirley Tse Explores Societal Differences in a Time of Uncertainty for Hong Kong

VENICE, Italy — The interlinked objects in the exhibition Stakeholders, Hong Kong in Venice, guest curated by Christina Li and installed by Shirley Tse — the first female artist to represent Hong Kong at the Venice Biennale — requires a keen eye and an open mind from the viewer, along with undivided attention to maneuver its entire length. If your gaze wanders off, you will be lost in the many different trajectories the sculpture offers, unsure of where your previous entry point was.

Components...

22nd June 2025

In Germany, a quickened creative pulse

A feature on the development of the art scene in Düsseldorf for Open Skies Magazine

22nd June 2025

女性视角与创意

An art feature for Lianhe Zaobao (Singapore) on female perspectives at Venice Biennale 2019。为新加坡《联合早报》撰写的“第58届威尼斯双年展：女性视觉与创意”

24th June 2025

Ban on Chinese filmmakers "so passé"

An article on sixth-generation Chinese filmmakers, focusing on an interview with Chinese director Lou Ye for My Paper

Modern Poetry in Translation • 21st June 2025

Greeting the Rainstorm - Modern Poetry in Translation

Christina Ng reviews My Name Will Grow Wide Like a Tree by Yi Lei, translated by Tracy K. Smith and Chang Tai Bi, Graywolf Press, 2020

My Name Will Grow Wide Like a Tree by Yi Lei, translated by Tracy K. Smith and Chang Tai Bi, Graywolf Press, 2020

New East Digital Archive • 23rd June 2025

Letter from Saaremaa: how a former Soviet military base is thriving as an untouched oasis for nature

A travel feature on Saaremaa for New East Digital Archive

South China Morning Post • 9th April 2020

New generation of Singapore filmmakers turns to social realism

When a starry-eyed 27-year-old Muhammad Feroz Al Mamun left Bangladesh for Singapore, he didn’t think his dream would crumble to dust in the span of just two years.

Slow Travel Berlin • 21st June 2025

Chinese Food in Berlin

The diversity of Chinese food is as vast as China itself, and Berlin is lucky enough to be able to offer a variety of Chinese-related cuisines that go well beyond even mainland China; which is curious since the German capital doesn’t even have its own officially designated Chinatown.

23rd June 2025

吃在德国 (Germany on a Plate)

A column series for Lianhe Zaobao on the food and flavours in Germany. 为《联合早报》撰写的美食专栏“吃在德国”。

Culture Trip • 25th October 2018

'Lah': The Word Holding Malaysia And Singapore Together

Singapore and Malaysia were once part of the British Malaya family – and afterwards, Singapore briefly belonged to independent Malaysia. Saying that the two countries share a common history is an understatement as decades of union have spun centuries of cultural, historical and geographical strands into a tapestry of connections between them. One of their most apparent links is in everyday colloquial language – Manglish and Singlish, specifically. To English speakers, ‘lah’ is a particle or...