The syllabus for students doing Literature for major exams will have changes made to it. There is an idea to include more local Singaporean writers' works, according to the mass media.
There has always been this unspoken perception that our local literature is not worth reading for reasons other than leisure. Perhaps that's because the interesting ones are the ones not worth studying and the ones worth studying are the boring ones. I mean, would you rather read Russell Lee's True Singapore Ghost Stories or Catherine Lim's Unhurried Thoughts At A Funeral? Oh, the latter is truly one of Singapore's best literary artists but how many people can really appreciate her works? I feel that readers' tastes in literature have become decadent with time.
One thing's for sure, Shakespeare has to be included in the syllabus because he's in the Canon list, like it or not. I don't exactly scream in delight when I have to study his works but I'm resigned to having to do his texts in Literature. He's recognized as a great (in the true sense of the word) writer in the literary world.
There are good writers, other than Catherine Lim, in our local arena but students need to have an open mind to be exposed to literature outside their limited scope of knowledge, even if they don't exactly enjoy all the texts, this coming from a B.A(Hons) English (Literature) graduate.
So many outstanding writers await our "Enter!" to their knocks into our minds. I particularly enjoy the works of Sheridan, Wordsworth, Keats, Wilde, Miller and Strindberg among other authors in the literary world.
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