Giving Voice to the Margins
Text: Lim Charlotte
To Yip Guan Hui, an English literature undergraduate from the National University of Singapore, the study of literature has lasting effects on its students.
“If you have interacted with the best writers across all centuries, people older than even the history of Singapore, and you have fully imbibed the spirit, the tempo and the mood of their writing, it makes you a very sharp and wise person,” he said. “At once you are a thousand people, if you have read a thousand authors.”
Yip’s interest in English literature blossomed in secondary school when he realised that he had a talent for reading and writing. He later decided to pursue it academically while studying at Anderson Junior College. The ardent reader and self-proclaimed fan of renowned writers C.S. Lewis and G.K. Chesterton said, “The beauty of being a literature major is that you take your hobby and turn it into your field of study.”
Today, the 24-year-old has had several accomplishments in the discipline. In addition to his presidency of the NUS Literary Society during his second year in school, Yip recently led a team to publish the first undergraduate academic journal for English literature in Singapore.
Titled “NUS Margins,” the journal aims to give students a platform to publish quality academic essays with a theme of representing marginalised literary issues. “It’s at once narrow enough for you to talk about something meaningful - voices that have been suppressed, studies that have been neglected, areas that have not really been explored - but yet broad enough because I think history has shown that something that has been marginalised can be the next majority. Margins can play that prophetic role,” Yip said.
Inspired by the established literature journal published by students from the University of California, Berkeley, Yip started recruiting like-minded souls to participate in the initiative from Dec. 2013. The journal’s first volume, “Edges of the Print,” which featured seven articles from the NUS English literature community, was published online in Aug. 2013.
As editor-in-chief and founder of the journal, Yip had to helm a team of five members. His teammate cites his leadership abilities as a reason for the journal’s accomplishment.
Eunice Ho, associate editor of the journal, said, “Guan Hui is one of the rare few I know who is able to walk the fine line between being a leader and being a friend to his peers on the team. He was able to guide the team in a very systematic and efficient way, yet he remained relatable as a friend and I found it easy to express any concerns or problems I had.”
Despite the praise, Yip said he initially found the task daunting because of the lack of experience and guidance. “For a lot of things, we were just playing by ear. You can pick the best, you can learn from the best, but in the end you’re doing it yourself,” he said. “That was the challenge: laying down the first stone, the cornerstone, and getting things started.”
Since its launch, “NUS Margins” has received much positive feedback from students and staff alike. Senior lecturer in the Department of English Language and Literature Gilbert Yeoh said, “’Margins’ is very well done, and it is clear that Guan Hui and his team have worked hard on it. He is far-seeing and he does things where there is a sense of leaving a legacy for others in the department.”
English literature major Vera Chng said the journal would expose more students to the subject. “The NUS Margins editorial team has done a brilliant job of coordinating and sharing with the wider community a diverse range of literary concerns,” she said.
With the journal’s second issue slated for launch in Jan. 2014, Yip remains hopeful for the future. “My hope for the future is this: that when I graduate, when I talk to a literature major who is studying in NUS, he or she will tell me that Margins is alive,” he said. “It took a lot of effort to start it up and I think it’ll be a waste that it just dies off, so quick a death.”
Tags: profile
To Yip Guan Hui, an English literature undergraduate from the National University of Singapore, the study of literature has lasting effects on its students.
“If you have interacted with the best writers across all centuries, people older than even the history of Singapore, and you have fully imbibed the spirit, the tempo and the mood of their writing, it makes you a very sharp and wise person,” he said. “At once you are a thousand people, if you have read a thousand authors.”
Yip’s interest in English literature blossomed in secondary school when he realised that he had a talent for reading and writing. He later decided to pursue it academically while studying at Anderson Junior College. The ardent reader and self-proclaimed fan of renowned writers C.S. Lewis and G.K. Chesterton said, “The beauty of being a literature major is that you take your hobby and turn it into your field of study.”
Today, the 24-year-old has had several accomplishments in the discipline. In addition to his presidency of the NUS Literary Society during his second year in school, Yip recently led a team to publish the first undergraduate academic journal for English literature in Singapore.
Titled “NUS Margins,” the journal aims to give students a platform to publish quality academic essays with a theme of representing marginalised literary issues. “It’s at once narrow enough for you to talk about something meaningful - voices that have been suppressed, studies that have been neglected, areas that have not really been explored - but yet broad enough because I think history has shown that something that has been marginalised can be the next majority. Margins can play that prophetic role,” Yip said.
Inspired by the established literature journal published by students from the University of California, Berkeley, Yip started recruiting like-minded souls to participate in the initiative from Dec. 2013. The journal’s first volume, “Edges of the Print,” which featured seven articles from the NUS English literature community, was published online in Aug. 2013.
As editor-in-chief and founder of the journal, Yip had to helm a team of five members. His teammate cites his leadership abilities as a reason for the journal’s accomplishment.
Eunice Ho, associate editor of the journal, said, “Guan Hui is one of the rare few I know who is able to walk the fine line between being a leader and being a friend to his peers on the team. He was able to guide the team in a very systematic and efficient way, yet he remained relatable as a friend and I found it easy to express any concerns or problems I had.”
Despite the praise, Yip said he initially found the task daunting because of the lack of experience and guidance. “For a lot of things, we were just playing by ear. You can pick the best, you can learn from the best, but in the end you’re doing it yourself,” he said. “That was the challenge: laying down the first stone, the cornerstone, and getting things started.”
Since its launch, “NUS Margins” has received much positive feedback from students and staff alike. Senior lecturer in the Department of English Language and Literature Gilbert Yeoh said, “’Margins’ is very well done, and it is clear that Guan Hui and his team have worked hard on it. He is far-seeing and he does things where there is a sense of leaving a legacy for others in the department.”
English literature major Vera Chng said the journal would expose more students to the subject. “The NUS Margins editorial team has done a brilliant job of coordinating and sharing with the wider community a diverse range of literary concerns,” she said.
With the journal’s second issue slated for launch in Jan. 2014, Yip remains hopeful for the future. “My hope for the future is this: that when I graduate, when I talk to a literature major who is studying in NUS, he or she will tell me that Margins is alive,” he said. “It took a lot of effort to start it up and I think it’ll be a waste that it just dies off, so quick a death.”
Tags: profile