Goh Sin Tub
Encyclopedia
Goh Sin Tub was a well-known pioneer of Singaporean literature
. He was a prolific writer of numerous book titles, which includes bestsellers like the The Nan-Mei-Su Girls of Emerald Hill, The Ghost Lover of Emerald Hill, and the Ghosts of Singapore. He also wrote a collection of short stories in Malay.
Goh was born in 1927 a second-generation Singapore-born Hokkien
Chinese to a family of five siblings. His father was a clerk in the Yokohama Specie Bank (the former Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank) at Clifford Pier while his mother was a housewife. Three generations had lived on 104 Telok Ayer Street for most of their lives, before relocating to River Valley Road. He had primary education at the Royal English School in the River Valley vicinity, and went on to the St. Joseph's Institution together with his eldest brother, Charlie Goh.
In 1935 Goh attended school at the Raffles Institution
. When the Japanese began bombing Singapore at the early stage of their invasion, the Goh family hid under a staircase at the back of their house at Emerald Hill
. To avoid further bombing, the family later moved to a shophouse in Philip Road. He was a 14-year-old boy at the time of the Occupation.
As a youth, he sold bread and canned goods door to door and a coal worker carrying bags of coal to support his family during the Japanese Occupation. As he was fearful of the Japanese soldiers, he had to learn to be streetwise, and to size people up quickly in order to survive, and make money to support his family. He received education at St Joseph's Institution, Goh also won the prestigious Raffles College Scholarship to study at the College and graduated with a BA
in English
from the University. After graduation, Goh returned to SJI to teach and set the Youth Circle Poetry interest group in school, which attracted and encouraged aspiring writers like Edwin Thumboo, to meet regularly to discuss about writing poetry. Goh personally guided and encouraged Thumboo in his writings.
In his lifetime he was also a civil servant, serving as deputy secretary to the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health between 1951 - 1969. Moving on from the Ministry, he went into banking as a project management director, and was instrumental to the building of the OCBC Centre and the Dynasty Hotel/Tangs Complex. He also was a social worker and served as chairman of the Board of Governors for the St. Joseph's Institution. He also served on positions on a number of committees of various private and governmental organizations in Singapore. In 1992 Goh, along with Mrs Hedwig Anuar, was appointed to the 69-member Publications Advisory Panel by the Minister for Information and the Arts, to advise approvals and classification of publications referred to them by the Film Censors Board and the Ministry.
Literature of Singapore
The literature of Singapore comprises a collection of literary works by Singaporeans in any of the country's four main languages: English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil....
. He was a prolific writer of numerous book titles, which includes bestsellers like the The Nan-Mei-Su Girls of Emerald Hill, The Ghost Lover of Emerald Hill, and the Ghosts of Singapore. He also wrote a collection of short stories in Malay.
Goh was born in 1927 a second-generation Singapore-born Hokkien
Hoklo people
The Hoklo people are Han Chinese people whose traditional Ancestral homes are in southern Fujian of South China...
Chinese to a family of five siblings. His father was a clerk in the Yokohama Specie Bank (the former Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank) at Clifford Pier while his mother was a housewife. Three generations had lived on 104 Telok Ayer Street for most of their lives, before relocating to River Valley Road. He had primary education at the Royal English School in the River Valley vicinity, and went on to the St. Joseph's Institution together with his eldest brother, Charlie Goh.
In 1935 Goh attended school at the Raffles Institution
Raffles Institution
Raffles Institution , founded in 1823, is the oldest centre for pre-tertiary learning in Singapore. It is an independent school in Singapore providing secondary and pre-university education. RI consists of a boys-only secondary section , and a coeducational pre-university section...
. When the Japanese began bombing Singapore at the early stage of their invasion, the Goh family hid under a staircase at the back of their house at Emerald Hill
Emerald Hill
Emerald Hill may refer to:*Emerald Hill, New Zealand, a suburb of Upper Hutt, New Zealand*Emerald Hill, Singapore*Emerald Hill, Victoria, a former name of the suburb of South Melbourne, Victoria, Australia*Emerald Hill, Zimbabwe, a suburb in Harare, Zimbabwe...
. To avoid further bombing, the family later moved to a shophouse in Philip Road. He was a 14-year-old boy at the time of the Occupation.
As a youth, he sold bread and canned goods door to door and a coal worker carrying bags of coal to support his family during the Japanese Occupation. As he was fearful of the Japanese soldiers, he had to learn to be streetwise, and to size people up quickly in order to survive, and make money to support his family. He received education at St Joseph's Institution, Goh also won the prestigious Raffles College Scholarship to study at the College and graduated with a BA
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
from the University. After graduation, Goh returned to SJI to teach and set the Youth Circle Poetry interest group in school, which attracted and encouraged aspiring writers like Edwin Thumboo, to meet regularly to discuss about writing poetry. Goh personally guided and encouraged Thumboo in his writings.
In his lifetime he was also a civil servant, serving as deputy secretary to the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health between 1951 - 1969. Moving on from the Ministry, he went into banking as a project management director, and was instrumental to the building of the OCBC Centre and the Dynasty Hotel/Tangs Complex. He also was a social worker and served as chairman of the Board of Governors for the St. Joseph's Institution. He also served on positions on a number of committees of various private and governmental organizations in Singapore. In 1992 Goh, along with Mrs Hedwig Anuar, was appointed to the 69-member Publications Advisory Panel by the Minister for Information and the Arts, to advise approvals and classification of publications referred to them by the Film Censors Board and the Ministry.