I am no stranger when it comes to speaking into a microphone, but when your voice goes live on primetime radio and gets heard by listeners all over Singapore (and possibly beyond), utterance becomes a whole new creature altogether. Such was the case on Friday evening. I visited the Capital 95.8FM studio for an interview on translation during 潘家镳 and 林灵芝’s talkshow segment. Titled 《958今天讀什麼? 》, this interview was part of a literary arts series produced by the National Arts Council (NAC) and Mediacorp Radio. Hing Jia Wen, a young and talented academic translator, also joined us for the show. (A colleague reminded me post-interview that 灵芝 used to front a late night programme on Y.E.S. 93.3FM called 音樂日記 during the 90s. 音樂日記 was a hit with teenagers—I tuned in now and then—because listeners could write in to the station with heart-rending love stories and 灵芝 would declaim the chosen letter replete with mawkish ballads. Who doesn't love listening to a bad romance on radio?) Admittedly, my foray into translation thus far has been of a literary nature. Together with Hing’s background in academic translation, there was a welcome variety of views to the topic at hand. I shared about the daunting task of translating a 500-page behemoth, whereas Hing spoke of converting dialect transcripts into English for the National Archives, in addition to what I presumed was a part-time stint subtitling Chinese variety shows. I then raised the issue of lukewarm attitudes towards works by local writers such as Isa Kamari and Yeng Pway Ngon. 灵芝 remarked that English works translated into Chinese enjoy a healthy following in Taiwan. While Singapore readers, literary ones at least, are acquainted with Haruki Murakami and Mo Yan, it would take time for local readers to take to local translated works. While consumption of local translated works remains nascent at this point, there is also the production side of things to consider. NAC has been promoting literary translations through grants and other initiatives. The Select Centre, a non-profit, also champions translation and the attendant intercultural dialogue it entails. Local universities like UniSIM are also offering translation courses. I am no expert commentator on the local translation landscape, but this Straits Times survey does a commendable job of doing so. What a night.
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