Singapore Government Press Release

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I am very honoured to be here this morning to officiate at the prize presentation ceremony of the Third Singapore Pen Calligraphy Open Competition.

Coincidentally, I happen to have a special interest in pen calligraphy. When I was studying in Australia many years ago, my father, who was a Chinese Literature teacher, wrote to me a total of 20 letters. These 20 letters were all written with a fountain pen. I have always admired my father’s beautiful and confident handwriting, and have often wished that I too could write like he. Unfortunately, in my case the well known saying "Like father, like son" is far from true. My own handwriting is not anything like that of my father.

The various rounds for the Third Singapore Pen Calligraphy Open Competition were actually completed a few days ago. There was a preliminary round followed by three on-the-spot competitions. Finally the 99 winners were selected by the Judging Committee. Allow me now to convey my heartiest congratulations to all the winners.

This year’s competition attracted about 1,260 calligraphy enthusiasts who submitted more than 1,600 of their works. This is a record number of entrants since the competition started. From the increasing number of entrants each year, it is clear that the art of pen calligraphy has become increasingly important and popular. Credit must be given to the efforts of The Chinese Calligraphy Society of Singapore in its diligent promotion and popularisation of this art form.

The section that attracted the most number of entrants this year is the Primary Section. There were 719 entrants in this section, which exceeded the combined numbers of all the other sections comprising Secondary, Post Secondary, the Tertiary Institutions and the Open sections. The youngest entrant is only 6 years old. This is a good sign, because calligraphy can cultivate a person to be patient, resolute and keen in judgement. To practise calligraphy from young, to diligently study the various forms of script over a long period of time, to appreciate and contemplate the art, will result in the attainment of personal refinement so that one would become a wholly cultivated person.

The uniqueness and charm of the art of Chinese calligraphy have traditionally been expressed through the medium of the writing brush. Whenever people discuss the art of calligraphy, it is always in the context of this unique Chinese instrument. But in reality, from the functional viewpoint, it is the hard tip pen that has the greater value and plays a more important role in the modern time. Therefore, an ability to write well with a hard tip pen has many benefits.

Students today have a heavy work load at school. Besides, there are few opportunities to practise Chinese calligraphy. It is therefore not realistic to expect everyone to be able to write beautifully with a writing brush. But we should still learn and practise to write in a proper and correct manner with a hard tip pen. Ultimately, a proper and well executed handwriting will at least be recognised as the hallmark of a man of some scholarship. One will be accorded some respect.

Many people feel that our younger generation do not seem to be able to write Chinese properly. The Chinese characters they write look like very shaky structures about to fall apart. They seem to have no idea about the correct order of the strokes and the characters they write do not look like Chinese. There is something even more worrying. As soon as they begin to use the computer to write, they will become less and less familiar with the structure of the Chinese characters and eventually they can no longer write Chinese. This is the price we pay when modern man relies too much on technology to do his work.

But we must not allow modern technology to corrupt our treasured cultural heritage. Calligraphy is a Chinese cultural heritage with a long standing tradition. We should want not only to preserve, but also to popularise it. Chinese language teachers should therefore transmit the functional value of the language as well as encourage and train the students to write properly.

In this regard, I believe that The Chinese Calligraphy Society of Singapore can play an important role in helping our youths of today to write in a proper manner.

To write well, one has to practise constantly, view good calligraphy widely, contemplate the subject, appreciate from experience. Over time, then comes understanding and eventually the skill to execute a good piece of calligraphy. If one does not put in these efforts, no instructions from even a renown master will achieve anything. Only by sheer dint of hard work, can one release the secret wonders of calligraphy.

Let me once more congratulate all the winners of this year’s competition. At the same time, let me urge those who were not selected this year not to be discouraged. Let this experience spur you on. I believe that before long, we will see in Singapore the emergence of many more who are skilled in pen calligraphy, an art form which will continue to develop unabated.