Tham Yew Chin (Chinese: 谭幼今; born 1950), known by her pseudonymYou Jin (尤今), is a Singaporean writer. She received the Cultural Medallion Award in 2009 for her contributions to Singapore's literary arts scene.
Early life and family
Tham was born 1950 in Ipoh, British Malaya. Her family relocated to Singapore when she was eight years old. Moving to Singapore, she suffered from a language barrier as she only spoke Cantonese. Her father was a construction worker, and her paternal grandfather was an immigrant from then-poverty-torn China.[1]
Career
Tham has published close to 160 literary works under the pseudonym of You Jin.[2] In 2009, she received the Cultural Medallion in literary arts for the first time.[3] Tham contributed an essay titled A Fish in Water for former Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Kuan Yew's 2012 book, My Lifelong Challenge: Singapore's Bilingual Journey.[1]
In 2012, Tham's writing was translated into English for the first time. Her 2004 collection of short stories, 听, 青春在哭泣 : 短篇小说, was translated by Sylvia Li-chun Lin and published by Epigram Books as Teaching Cats to Jump Hoops as part of its Cultural Medallion series.[4] Her 2005 autobiography, A Life in Words (文字就是生命} was then translated by Shelly Bryant and published in 2016 by the same company, marking the fourth time she would win the award.[5]
In 2014, three of Tham's books, Jinse Daishu (金色袋鼠), Release Your Happiness (释放快乐) and Even The Heart Soars (心也飞翔), entered the Singapore Literature Prize shortlist for Chinese fiction and non-fiction.[6] Eventually, Even The Heart Soars (心也飞翔) won a merit award for Chinese non-fiction.[7]
Awards
1982: National Book Development Council of Singapore Book Award
1991: National Book Development Council of Singapore Book Award
1991: Singapore Chinese Literary Award (from the Singapore Literature Society)
1996: Montblanc-NUS Centre for the Arts Literary Award
