Ho Poh Fun



Singapore Infopedia

by Chua, Alvin

Background

Ho Poh Fun (b. 1946, Singapore – d. 12 March 2018, Singapore) was a poet and writer.1 Her poetry collection, Katong and Other Poems, was published in 1994.2

Early life
Ho was educated at Tanjong Katong Girls’ School and then Raffles Institution3 before becoming a teacher at Raffles Junior College.4 She received a master’s degree in English from the National University of Singapore in 1987.5

Literary career
Ho’s fiction, a short story called “When the Tabebuia Bloomed at Soo Chow Gardens”, first appeared in Tanjong Rhu and Other Stories – a collection of four award-winning titles from the 1982 Short Story Writing Competition organised by the former Ministry of Culture.6

The same piece was later also published in The Fiction of Singapore,7 while another of Ho’s stories, “Guest”, was featured in Inthanon: An Anthology of Short Stories.8

Her poems have been anthologised in collections such as Rhythms: A Millennial Anthology of Poetry,9 Love Gathers All: A Philippines-Singapore Anthology of Love Poems,10 Journeys: Words, Home and Nation,11 Singapore: Places, Poems, Paintings,12 Memories and Desires: A Poetic History of Singapore13 and No Other City: An Ethos Anthology of Urban Poetry.14

Ho’s collection of poems Katong and Other Poems (1994) won the National Book Development Council of Singapore’s Commendation Award for poetry in 1996.15

Literary style and influences
Lauded as complex and full of possibilities, Ho’s works showcase the diversity of life with her subdued yet refined sensibility. Her writing style, described to be neat and uncluttered, speaks of her awareness and of the tension that lies beneath the surface. Poems such as “Chrysanthemum”, “Thoughtscapes Singapore” and “Transitional” (found in Katong and Other Poems) are considered landmarks in Singapore poetry.16


Her influences included T. S. Eliot, Gerald Manley Hopkins, E. O. Wilson, Rainer Maria Rilke, Pablo Neruda, Natalie Angier, Thomas Friedman and Daniel Dennett. Ho enjoyed works with cultural, botanical and biological themes.17



Author
Alvin Chua




References
1. Edwin Thumboo and Chee Lick Ho, eds., Journeys: Words, Home and Nation: Anthology of Singapore Poetry (1984–1995) (Singapore: UniPress, 1995), 468 (Call no. RSING S821 JOU); Olivia Ho, “Singaporean Poet and Teacher Ho Poh Fun Dies,” Straits Times, 13 March 2018,  https://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/arts/singaporean-poet-and-teacher-ho-poh-fun-dies.
2. Ho Poh Fun, Katong and Other Poems (Singapore: UniPress, 1994). (Call no. RSING S821 HO)
3. Thumboo and Chee, Journeys: Words, Home and Nation, 468.
4. Ho Poh Fun, Tributaries: Convergence on an Afternoon of Poetry & Music (Singapore: Creative Writing Club, Raffles Junior College, 1995). (Call no. RSING S821 TRI)
5. Edwin Thumboo et al., eds., The Fiction of Singapore (Singapore: ASEAN Committee on Culture and Information, 1990), 1259. (Call no. RSING S823.008 FIC)
6. Ho Mingfong, Tanjong Rhu and Other Stories (Singapore: Federal Publications, 1986), back cover. (Call no. RSING S823.01 TAN)
7. Thumboo, The Fiction of Singapore, 1090–098.
8. Khunying Maenmas Chavalit, ed., Inthanon: An Anthology of Short Stories (Bangkok: ASEAN Committee on Culture and Information, 1997), 153–71. (Call no. RSEA 808.831 INT)
9. Kirpal Singh, ed., Rhythms: A Singaporean Millennial Anthology of Poetry (Singapore: National Arts Council, 2000), 206–7. (Call no. RSING S821 RHY)
10. Ramon Sunico, Love Gathers All: The Philippines-Singapore Anthology of Love Poetry (Singapore: Ethos Books; Manila: Anvil Pub., 2002), 71. (Call no. RSING 821.00803543 LOV)
11. Thumboo and Chee, Journeys: Words, Home and Nation, 55–60.
12. Koh Buck Song and Chia Wai Hon, ed., Singapore: Places, Poems, Paintings (Singapore: Raffles Editions, 1998), 90–92. (Call no. RSING 700.95957 SIN)
13. Robbie Goh et al., eds., Memories and Desires: A Poetic History of Singapore (Singapore: UniPress, 1998), 40–41. (Call no. RSING 808.8 MEM)
14. Alvin Pang and Aaron Soon Yong Lee, eds., No Other City: The Ethos Anthology of Urban Poetry (Singapore: Ethos Books, 2000), 57–59. (Call no. RSING S821 NO)
15. Sunico, Love Gathers All, 201–2.
16. Lee P. T., “Foreword,” in Ho Poh Fun, Katong and Other Poems (Singapore: UniPress, 1994), xiv. (Call no. RSING S821 HO)
17. Sunico, Love Gathers All, 201–2; Pang and Soon, No Other City, 194. 




The information in this article is valid as at 2018 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.

 

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