In this talk, I discuss the representation of homosexuality, AIDS, and queer kinship in the Singapore Chinese language plays Another Tribe (异族1992), Borrowed Time (春光暂借1999), and The Next Generations (后代1992). These productions serve as cultural protests against the prevalent homophobia in the 1990s and state-sponsored conservatism, portraying gays and AIDS victims sympathetically while challenging stereotypes. Ironically, they benefited from state support for the arts and a more relaxed cultural environment that provided access to global queer culture. In 2022, the anti-homosexuality law was repealed and commemorated in 2023's Pink Dot event with the theme Celebrating All Families. Against this backdrop, I further examine the contemporary significance of cultural resistance in these plays, particularly how The Next Generations pioneered a progressive model of queer kinship ahead of its time, even in comparison to Ang Lee's The Wedding Banquet (1993) and Hao Wu's Netflix documentary All in my Family (2019).

Dr. How Wee NG (he/him) is Senior Lecturer at School of Humanities, University of Westminster, and co-founder of ACPAC (Association for Curators and Programmers of Asian Cinemas). Research interests include Sinophone theatre, cinema, television, literature, and broadly, the exclusionary politics of representation related to ethnicity, gender, sexuality, class, nationality in visual culture. He guest-edited a special issue on Singapore new wave cinema for the journal Asian Cinema, and regularly hosts introductory talks and Q&As for film screenings around venues across the UK. Selected publications include Drama Box and the Social Theatre of Singapore: Cultural Intervention and Artistic Autonomy, 1990-2006 and Worrying about the Audience in Postsocialist China: The Censorship Discourse on Chinese Television (forthcoming 2025/2026).

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DATE: Thursday, October 31, 2024

TIME: 17:00-18:30

LOCATION: SIN 1, at the Department for East Asian Studies/Chinese Studies, Altes AKH, Campus, Spitalgasse 2, Yard 2, Entrance 2.3