Wong Phui Nam

Mohammad A. Quayum (Flinders University)

Ed. by John Thieme, University of East Anglia
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 10.4.2: Hong Kong, Singaporean, Malaysian and Myanmar Writing and Culture.

Dates

Born 20 Sep 1935
Died 26 Sep 2022
Activity 1955-2022

Places

Born in Malaysia
Active in Malaysia

Activities

Primary

Poet

Resources

Wong's Works

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Wong Phui Nam, a leading Anglophone poet in Southeast Asia, was born on 20 September 1935, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. His father, Wong Tak Wah, was of

Peranakan

stock – a fourth-generation descendent of a

taikong

(captain of a Chinese junk) who had settled in Malaysia after his ship ran aground near Malacca and got damaged beyond repair. His mother was a first-generation Malaysian Chinese, the daughter of a boatman in Canton, who was brought to Malaysia along with Wong’s maternal grandmother’s sister in a marriage deal which allowed the bride to bring her sister and some of her children along with her from China to Malaysia. After his marriage, Wong’s father detached himself from his

Peranakan

background, learnt Cantonese from his wife and became, as Wong explains, “more…

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2227 words

Citation: Quayum, Mohammad A.. "Wong Phui Nam". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 04 August 2005 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=4788, accessed 22 November 2024.]