Alfian (far right) with Sir Ian McKellen (far left)

CHEEKILY flamboyant yet down-to-earth, Alfian Sa’at a lover of traditional teh-o [tea without milk], is Uniquely Singapore(an). He’s a candidly capable overachiever, having his first play produced at the age of 19, and first book published at 21.

The 30-year-old’s illustrious decade-long career started when he was chairman of the Raffles Junior College Drama Society. He’s since written notable productions like sex.violence.blood.gore, which underwent the scrutiny of censorship laws, and Homesick, which, with its theme of biculturalism and family, opened the 2006 Singapore Theatre Festival.

The recipient of the 2001 National Arts Council Young Artist Award for Literature, and the 2005 DBS-Life! Theatre Awards for Best Script, also penned the final installment of the critically-acclaimed Asian Boys Trilogy, a series of plays exploring homosexuality and society.

While he’s lauded for his distinctly controversial works, Alfian never wanted the title of “enfant terrible” (French for someone who says horribly embarrassing things). “I’ve tried not to be defined as a political poet, but it’s a difficult position because I don’t see a lot of other writers in Singapore dealing with social, political, or historical contexts, so I want to be the one to do something,” he explains.

The Write Kind of Passion
Alfian possesses an undiminished enthusiasm when talking about his plays, and believes every play holds a precious experience. “I think one thing that’s dear to me is the function and value of literature in our lives,” he says.

“And that’s why the play was an adaption of a book I really liked,” Alfian says of Peculiar Chris, Singapore’s first gay novel, which influenced the conceptualization of his play, Happy Endings: Asian Boys Vol. 3.

He recognises that while inextricably connecting anecdotes from his life, his productions are “not ‘salon’ kind of events where I invite my closest friends and we get to stage the thing and everyone gets the in-joke and coded references”. He adds that his friends and he “have a shared history” but he wants to explore “other larger, more extensive definitions” since he believes “every piece of writing or art has that kind of duality”.

Moving Write Along

Happy Endings will be Alfian’s last homosexual-themed play but he says this change doesn’t symbolise another “phase” and is only “the end” to his exploration of “these territories” since he’s said his part.

He shows disapproval when the authenticity of emotion in his plays is regarded by critics as “progression” because he doesn’t periodise his opinions and thoughts, besides “one can be angry even if one is 40, 50 or 60”. Now, he plans to delve into themes such as media and racial relations in Singapore and he’s excited about multi-culturism and believes that Singaporeans should see past pre-conceived notions that racial identity discussions can evolve into a siege. With his interest clearly laid out, he responds with an unmitigated “politics of course!” when asked about plans for other literary forays.

Happy Endings, one of his many plays

In His Own Write
Alfian’s a true playwright who takes pride in retaining the essence of his works. Even when faced with restrictions imposed on the arts and theatrical scene here, he encourages artists to take the path with most resistance wielding their “little machete and hack through the jungle”.

He’s adamant that although boundaries are meant to be tested, it’s “not just for the sake of being sensational or shocking”, but once an issue “has to be urgently addressed, you have to push the envelope”.

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	Source: Urban Wire Urban Wire (www.theurbanwire.com) is a entertainment e-zine managed by final-year Mass Communication students of the School of Film & Media Studies in Ngee Ann Polytechnic. At least one new story is published everyday, and Urban Wire readers has been contributing to the average of two million hits each month since late 2007. Urban Wire also attracts regular content syndication requests from other worthy partners, such as NS Portal, youth.sg, Prime Minister's Office's OverseasSingaporean.sg and GameAxis magazine. Urban Wire also publishes articles from hype, a lifestyle magazine by final-year Mass Communication students of School of Film & Media Studies in Ngee Ann Polytechnic.
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