You're reading part four of a six-part interview. Click on the links to navigate:

1. On Five Star Billionaire and personal reinvention
2. On old and new China
3. On censorship and (not) being a spokesperson
4. On living in and writing about Shanghai
5. On the art of writing
6. On literary culture in Singapore

Click to view the interview on a single page. 

See Aw's schedule of public appearances in Singapore in April.

I did write a certain amount in Shanghai; but it was mostly note-taking and research. I usually find it easier to write about a place when I’m not there, though. I find it much more helpful to be physically removed from a place, before I can write successfully about it. It gives me more objectivity and perspective. That’s another reason why I can’t write really well about the UK.

My problem with being in a place is that I have a tendency to be too faithful to the truth. When you’re not there, you feel like: I have the freedom to reinvent things. And sometimes reinventing details is more powerful than actually recording it in real life. That’s why so many holiday snaps are so flat. The reason why a particular viewpoint is so appealing to you is because you have the emotional connection, but then you just take a snap and you forget what’s important is the emotional link.

So how did you spend your time there?

Basically eating in restaurants and walking a lot! I would talk to a lot of random people. Shanghai is quite good for that because there are so many outsiders there. Not just foreigners, but also Chinese people who come from other parts of China to work there. They’re all keen to tell you their story, where they come from; you only have to express the slightest interest. Everybody is lonely and everybody is working so hard. If you just say where you’re from, you’ll get the whole story; how they got to Shanghai and why. So that’s really valuable. That all got distilled in to a lot of the characters. That was basically how I spent my time. I did a lot of reading and writing as well, but it was mainly just taking in everything.

Which probably doesn’t tally with most people’s perception of Shanghai as a place that’s moving way too fast for personal connections.

It is surprising. And it’s the personal things. Waiting in a queue in a restaurant, you engage in a conversation with the people next to you and they’re surprisingly open. Someone made a comment on my book, that all characters in the novel crave intimacy but don’t know how to get it. I think that’s right, because that’s basically what I observed in Shanghai. Everybody wanted to form friendships and relationships, but no one really knew how to do it. Everyone was convinced that they had no time. But actually all it took was for you to say, “what brought you to Shanghai?” And then you’d get this story, and a lot of people were surprised how easily the conversation flowed.

Yet one of the characters in the novel invests a lot of hope—and energy—in online dating; she’s striving for that personal connection.

I was really fascinated by dating in Shanghai. That too, has become this huge source of stress and anxiety, mainly for women in their thirties, who are under such pressure to get married. The pressure is from their family they say, but they don’t help matters by being incredibly demanding. They set up all these barriers between themselves and potential matches and then they complain that it’s impossible to find anyone.

I spent a lot of time going out with my female friends, people in their mid-thirties. And seeing how they’re going out and meeting men, stuff like that. I spent a lot of time in internet bars. That’s where you’d see, not in the middle of town, but further out, the waitresses on their one day off in the month, they’re all there online chatting to people, and observing that was really interesting. It’s surprising how much time that takes.

You're reading part three of a six-part interview. Click on the links to navigate:

1. On Five Star Billionaire and personal reinvention
2. On old and new China
3. On censorship and (not) being a spokesperson
4. On living in and writing about Shanghai
5. On the art of writing
6. On literary culture in Singapore

Click to view the interview on a single page. 

See Aw's schedule of public appearances in Singapore in April.

Did you feel at liberty to write what you wanted; were you worried about censorship at all?

I felt completely liberated in saying what I wanted to say. Personally, I felt much less constrained in China than I do in Malaysia or Singapore. What I was seeing in Shanghai around me, contrary to what we think in the West, is that Chinese people have a really sharp sense of what is going on around them, they know politically what’s happening, and actually they say a lot of stuff, in blogs and in real life. Particularly in Shanghai, which has its own very strong cultural identity. People were very open about what they thought about the government. They’re not stupid. They’re very well informed and they can get the information they need.

If there was anything strong that I needed to say in a political sense, then it was really about Malaysia rather than China. People think about Malaysia and they think it’s about nice beaches and nice holidays—they don’t really think about it as somewhere with absolutely no freedom of press, blanket censorship, huge corruption.

Do people look to you to speak about these things?

No, not really. Ha Jin, the Chinese writer, wrote a really interesting essay on the writer as migrant and in it he says that, once you base yourself abroad, people don’t want you to be their spokesperson. They find it quite annoying. So I don’t set out to make any statements.

But for people of my generation, it was impossible to talk about a full and genuine experience of our growing up—and the characters in the book are my age, my generation—without talking about politics. Because in Malaysia, politics are in your face, all the time. What you can or cannot do is so governed by the politics of money and the politics of race. It’s just normal that when I talk about them growing up and becoming adults, that I would naturally talk about these kind of things as well.

Would you consider writing about the UK?

I just don’t feel ready to do it yet. I think that is because UK is still where I spend most of my time. I have a less complicated relationship with the UK than I have with most of South-East Asia. It doesn’t trouble me the same way. And because my relationship is less complex with the UK, I don’t feel so compelled writing about it. I don’t feel the emotional need to write about it in the same way.

You're reading part two of a six-part interview. Click on the links to navigate:

1. On Five Star Billionaire and personal reinvention
2. On old and new China
3. On censorship and (not) being a spokesperson
4. On living in and writing about Shanghai
5. On the art of writing
6. On literary culture in Singapore

Click to view the interview on a single page. 

See Aw's schedule of public appearances in Singapore in April.

Shanghai is seen as this super-futuristic city. But its history is everywhere. Did you get a sense of how that affects the people who live there?

I think there’s something in the Chinese mentality that doesn’t really want you to think about what’s happened in the past. Because they had such traumatic recent history, they don’t want people to do that. When I went back for the residency [Aw was the inaugural M Literary Resident in Shanghai] I lived in a really nice building on Suzhou Creek. A really old building: it was one of the first art-deco blocks to be built in Shanghai but it had been remodeled inside over the years. All the people who lived there where all members of the same work unit and they’d worked in the same missile factory somewhere. They all ended up in this same apartment block, so they were all really old.

I had a tiny studio, with nothing to clean but I still had an ayi to come and do my stuff. She was exactly the same age as my neighbors, and she was incredibly optimistic, and she kept talking about how she was planning a tour of Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, and maybe next year she’d save up enough money to go to Europe. I always wondered how people like her could deal with having lived through the Cultural Revolution, as she would’ve lived through it completely. She had seen it from start to finish.

And you think the answer is that they simply don’t think about it.

Yeah, they’re on this super-fast expressway into the future. How can you square that with what you’re living with now? I don’t think I would be able to do that, it’s really hard. These people had to grind tree bark; one of my neighbors was telling me. They had to grind tree bark, to put into their rice, just to have enough to eat.

And if the lives of your children and grandchildren are getting so much better, what’s to be gained by dwelling on it.

Yes, exactly. And as a novelist, I try not to make any judgements. A lot of people are going to be expecting a message. They’re going to be expecting that I’ll say: new China is all about rushing off to get a lot of money, sacrificing too much. But that’s not what I’m saying. The message is not that clear when you get to the end of the book, it’s not that clear at all.

The standard thing in the West is to be really snobbish about Asia, about new Asia: “It’s all about money, there’s no culture.” And I always say to my friends, “But you can say that because you’ve already got money and you’ve been middle-class for a very long time.”

I don’t see why there should be a value judgment attached to people wanting to make money and live a certain lifestyle when they’ve never had those opportunities. But then, I guess, the thing to be balanced against that is if you pursue that at all costs, then you lose sight of where you’re from, of who you actually are. That means that two generations down the line, it’s going to be a little more difficult for people to hang on to that sense of perspective. But for now it’s still exciting.

And anyone who thinks they have the answer, or can provide the “message,” is probably a bit suspect.

We’re only a few years into this boom in China, so we have no idea how it’s going to turn out. We can anticipate, but we have no way of giving the answers.

You're reading part one of a six-part interview. Click on the links to navigate:

1. On Five Star Billionaire and personal reinvention
2. On old and new China
3. On censorship and (not) being a spokesperson
4. On living in and writing about Shanghai
5. On the art of writing
6. On literary culture in Singapore

Click to view the interview on a single page. 

See Aw's schedule of public appearances in Singapore in April.

Where did the idea for this latest story come from?

The moment I realised I could write the novel the way I wanted, was when I was sitting in a late-night Taiwanese dessert place in Shanghai. I heard some people talking with a Malaysian accent, so naturally I tuned in. The more they talked, the more I realised they were from the neighborhood I grew up in, in Kuala Lumpur. And they were talking about someone I’d known when I was a teenager and had lost touch with; and who was now a businesswoman in Shanghai! And from that moment on I kept running into Malaysians and Singaporeans in Shanghai in really unusual situations. Coincidence after coincidence.

I realised the bigger the city is, the chances of those kinds of coincidences are actually higher. When you’re a foreigner in a city you’re always looking out to make connections with people from your background. The old city is more important than the new. They’ve moved to Shanghai to try and recreate a life for themselves, but actually they find when they’re there that the old life is more important. You can never really successfully escape your roots.

But, of course, you have yourself spent a long time away from ‘home’. How do you think that’s shaped who you are?

You only really know who you are when you move away from your home.

Because Singapore’s so comfortable there’s no real need to go for Singaporeans to go and live abroad; and as a result it’s not easy for them to know who they are. The moment you go and spend any time abroad, immediately you know what it means to be British or Singaporean or Malaysian. It’s very hard to get that when you’re surrounded by sameness.

And Shanghai is rather different.

Shanghai is a city for reinvention. The whole book is about reinvention. I was so struck by how many people I met in Shanghai who had just completely reinvented themselves. You didn’t even have to know them to realise they’d done that. Some because they wanted a change. Some because they had to have a change. Some because they were escaping something.

Modern China and modern Shanghai allow you to do that, because no-one’s really interested in your past. No-one asks you where you’re from. No one asks you what your qualifications are. Elsewhere, people want to see your CV.  In modern China the only question is: can you do the job?

But it’s not always the easiest place to live in.

I found it really, really exciting to begin with, but after a while it’s really tiring. I don’t know how people can keep up. There’s that frontier mentality. Everything’s up for grabs. And you’re not defending your patch in the same way you are in Singapore or Malaysia.

Not being able to get a taxi is a great way of seeing how China works in microcosm. It’s not personal if someone steals your cab. You just weren’t quick enough. Whereas, in London, it would be taken personally and be seen as a real act of aggression. In Shanghai you just have to be quicker than the next guy.

People are caught up in this constant movement; it’s like this river of energy. But no-one knows why they’re doing it; it’s like being on a treadmill. There’s still this big existential question of “why am I doing it?”, which no-one has time to stop and contemplate. The characters in the novel really want to stop, to get off the treadmill and see how they’re connected to their past, but they don’t have time to do that.

How does it feel when you go back to London from Shanghai?

Whenever I go straight there from China, it’s like going to a village. Then after a few weeks it feels really busy and interesting. I think London is more energetic than any other city in Europe, but it doesn’t have that constant motion or energy of Shanghai. I used to lie awake at night and watch the constant traffic on the elevated highway, even at midnight.

Tash Aw’s first novel The Harmony Silk Factory (2005) earned him a Booker nomination and a Whitbread win. He followed that with Map of the Invisible World (2009), and has just released his third book, Five Star Billionaire. Set in contemporary Shanghai, this latest work centers around five Malaysian expats chasing their dreams in the most exciting city on Earth.

Aw, born in Taiwan to Malaysian parents, moved to London in his teens and lived in Shanghai on and off during the writing of the book. Currently artist-in-residence at Singapore’s NTU, where he’s lecturing in creative writing, he spoke to Clara Lim and Ric Stockfis—at generous length—about how the story came together, what makes Shanghai so special, his career so far, and why Singaporeans ought to question things more.

This interview is in six parts:

1. On Five Star Billionaire and personal reinvention
2. On old and new China
3. On censorship and (not) being a spokesperson
4. On living in and writing about Shanghai
5. On the art of writing
6. On literary culture in Singapore

Click to view the interview on a single page. 

See Aw's schedule of public appearances in Singapore in April.

What drew you to Coppelia?
Coppelia is a light-hearted and humorous ballet which has a fair bit of acting in it. Quite a few of the characters not only have to focus on the technical side of the steps but also the mime and the acting.

Are you drawn to humorous pieces?
Yes of course. I like watching things that are light-hearted including romantic comedies. I think having a sense of humor goes a long way in life.

What’s the typical day like rehearsing?
At Singapore Dance Theatre, we start our day with a ballet class in the morning which begins at 10am. We have a short break before we start rehearsing ballets, which we will be performing. We have lunch and then continue with the various rehearsals, and end at 5:30pm.

Did you have favorite doll growing up?
Yes, I used to love playing with my Barbie dolls. I would dress them up in different outfits and would make sure they had matching shoes and bags to go with. Sometimes children can have a fascination with lifelike dolls especially if they are the only child in the family. Most children like making up little stories in their heads and creating dialogues for their toys, which I feel is all part of growing up that everyone goes through.

Where do you see your career 10 years from now?
Hopefully, I will still be able to perform on stage because dancers never want to stop dancing.

What do like best about your job?
Ballet is my hobby and passion. As a dancer, I am really lucky because I am able to do what I love every day. It really does not feel like work because I am really happy doing it. Even when the schedule is hectic and I had gone through a tiring day, I feel that it is all worth it and I wake up the next day feeling ready to start again.

Coppélia plays March 14-17 at the Esplanade Theatre.

As a child, I was always picking my nose and spacing out. People had to try hard to get my attention. My mom used to have to say, “Earth to Ian” three or four times because I’d be lost in my own world.

I was really angry. There was a bit of bullying in my life; in school and during tuition. That was how I got into martial arts. It helped—I learnt how to fight back.

When I was studying in a university in California, I was insecure and oversensitive—I felt like there was a lot of racism, when there really wasn’t.

Dad said, “When someone says something you don’t like, wait a moment to question the guy’s true intentions and breathe. After that, if you feel you still need to react, do it. But it probably won’t be necessary.”

You are not better than anyone. A good person is a good person, regardless of where he or she comes from. F*ck you for thinking you’re better.

If I woke up one day and realized I’d gained 10 pounds, I’d probably take a sh*t and carry on with my day.

Weird things happen on cheat days, but I’m okay with that.

Ice cream makes everything okay.

Ritual is the biggest thing I’ve ever helped create. The process was tiring, aggressive and beautiful, all at the same time. To me, it was and still is an epic quest.

Waking up is hard for me, too, when I don’t get enough sleep. But once I’ve done some deep breathing and joint mobility movements, and had a cup of coffee, I’m so happy I get to do what I do.

The crew that I hang out with, the Orange Kettlebell Club, inspires me. They do what they do well and with more heart than anyone I know. Everytime I travel with them, I come back a better person, with a clearer mind.

If I could be a published author, my book would be about exercise and nutrition, and I’d call it We Don’t Know Sh*t.

I try not to look at success as an end goal. I try to succeed every single day.

I would do what I do now for free because I find great enjoyment in helping people realize their goals, learn about movement, feel inspired and inspire others.

I have a lot of respect for everyone that is trying to make a positive change in their lives.

People take life too seriously.

When I seek pleasure and attain it, I never feel guilt. I realize this might be a flaw.

I need to work with someone who has a rational mind because I can be quite a purist. I’m stubborn—things have to be the way they should be. But there are too many constraints for that.

It’s difficult to stay true in the world we live in now.

I would rather not be bound to one country. I’m working on automating a good amount of the work I do so that I can spend my time traveling and living in multiple places around the world.

The only thing that’s keeping me in Singapore is my family. I’m not too worried about friends. They’ll travel.

If I were stranded on an island alone, I’d want a good knife, a flint and a hot girl with me.

What was your childhood like?
I was blessed with a beautiful, idyllic childhood ... growing up in Quebec with lots of sun and music in the air, always. Even when my mum and aunt were performing and touring together, they’ve never once put the children aside. With the same amount of time they spent on touring, they made sure they made up for it by spending equal amount time with us.

You have a daughter now with Lorca Cohen (daughter of singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen) and you’re legally married to partner Jörn Weisbrodt. Will you be adopting the same philosophy to fatherhood?
Well, it’s still too early to tell. My son is currently two-years-old, and he spends a lot of time with mom who basically stays most of the time in one place (laughs) while I’m the one doing all the travelling and performing. But yeah, we’ll see. I hope to.

How do you find your balance then?
Balance is important, but i do feel that as an artist you also tend to seek a certain imbalance and a dark side. Sometimes to find that balance you need to rock that boat a little. But I’ve always been a positive person. Sure when I was younger I did lots of naughty things like doing drugs and being promiscuous, but I’ve always exuded a positive energy. You can hear it in my songs ... even in moments of darkness there are silver linings of hope ... I am always going towards the light. I’ve always leaned that way.

So do you sleep well?
I sleep very well, actually (laughs). I’ve been eating well too. Too well, in fact.

So what’s most important to you now?
My health. I still consider myself young as I’m not yet 40, and to see my mum’s health disappear right in front of my eyes [McGarrigle died of cancer in 2010] was very tough. I also think that it’s important to have a sense of humor.

What about love?
Love is important, but I also feel that justice comes a close second, especially in this day and age with these monolithic corporations taking over and social and religious issues are in such a state. As a child, I had never imagined that one day I’d live to see gay men being prosecuted. Justice is the answer.

What can we expect from your debut performance here?
It’d be a cross-section of my life’s repertoire in the tradition of a troubadour. I never do the same show twice.

Famous last words?
Right now I’ve really got to get to the loo, so in the tradition of Oscar Wilde, I’d say “It’s either the poo goes, or I go.”

Rufus Wainwright performs at Timbre Rock & Roots 2013 on March 21, 7:15pm at Fort Canning Green.

What have you observed about the growth of the cycling scene in Singapore?
Cycling has absolutely exploded in Singapore over the past five years. That’s across all categories whether it be road bikes, foldies, fixies or any other groups.The emergence of a large number of cycling clubs and teams has also been great to see. That’s cyclists who meet on weekends and ride together – that element has grown massively in Singapore and continue to grow. More Singaporeans are also traveling to other countries to cycle. Weekend cycling trips to the likes of Bintan,  Malaysia and other parts of the world are proving hugely popular.

What are the three key factors that make a cycling city? 
The first key factor is having that established respect between motorists and cyclists. Cyclists must be able to feel comfortable riding their bikes on Singapore roads for us to truly be considered a "cycling city". A lot of cycling cities have a countryside close by where cyclists can easily escape to in a short ride. That’s obviously challenging in Singapore but places like Bintan and Malaysia are still very much accessible for the weekend cyclist. A cycling city also needs to accommodate its cyclists in a social sense. A big part of a cyclist’s ride is the socializing afterwards. Singapore is really suitable in that regard. There are thousands of hawkers and cafes all over the place to pull in off the road, park your bike and sit down for makan or coffee.

What role can the local cycling community play in helping the cause?
The cycling community can play a big role here by respecting the fact that they must share the road with other parties. There are countless stories of run-ins between motorists and cyclists on Singapore roads. If we’re going to improve the situation, cyclists need to take the moral high ground. Someone has to because the vicious cycle happening now will get us nowhere. With regards to legislature, we need to continue educating the public and working in collaboration with the government. The government is putting some great infrastructure in place, such as the off-road park connectors, and cyclists must take advantage. We need to recognize that we’re in a tight space here in Singapore and work with what we have.

What are the core safety rules—both on the road and in terms of equipment and gear—when it comes to commuting primarily on wheels?
There are a number of rules but it’s often the simplest ones that are the most effective. "Keep left" is a simple one to remember. A lot of it comes down to common courtesy. Realize that you need to share the road responsibly. It’s essential that you select a bike that fits you. A general rule is that you can touch the ground with your feet while sitting on the bike seat. Wear a helmet at all times and make sure you wear fluorescent clothing so you’re highly visible to all other road users. If you’re riding at night, make sure you use lights. Before any ride, make sure that your tires have sufficient tread and if you’re setting out on a long ride be sure to stay hydrated. And know your limits!

Tell us about the “Respect” campaign.
This is the third year of our Safe Cycling Campaign. In previous years, we’d used "Sharing Saves Lives" and "Share the Road". This time around we wanted to use a tagline that was short and simple, something that would resonate with our audience. Respect is also a key ingredient if we’re to improve the current relationship between motorists and cyclists on the road. Both parties need to show mutual respect. We launched this year’s campaign at CHIJ (Kellock) in front of 900 young schoolgirls, with OCBC Pro Cycling Team member Timothy Lim and Singapore national cyclist Dinah Chan staging a safe cycling clinic. Reaching a young audience is crucial for us this year and we plan to stage similar workshops at other schools this year. We produced 1,800 official safe cycling jerseys and thousands of decals, the bulk of which we gave out at our annual Safe Cycling Day on 24 February. The ‘Respect’ tagline will be showcased by the thousands wearing the jerseys and displaying the car decals, and we also have various marketing channels to promote the campaign.

What's your favorite cycling path?
I love riding in Mandai, crossing the water and passing by the vegetable farms.  Out behind Seletar Airport is also a great ride. Basically, anywhere peaceful!

The OCBC Cycle Singapore 2013 happens April 26-28 at the F1 Pit Building.

Need a powerful hybrid bike for a cycling trip in Bintan? See our review of the Storck Multiroad.

Your music takes in a wide range of influences, from soul and funk to dn’b; how would you describe your sound?
I’m heavily influenced by soul and funk, and also jazz. I’m not sure how to describe my own sound, but you can hear these influences mixed in a lot. I make music of all sorts of beats per minute, from dn’b to house music. One day I would be happy if people could recognize something as mine straight away.

What’s your biggest inspiration in producing a song?
It could be anything: sometimes it’s the tracks I’m listening to, or simply walking down the street, cooking or eating

From your own experience, how has the drum n’ bass scene changed these past couple of years?
I think it’s changed a lot. To be honest, I’m not sure that I like the current mainstream drum n’ bass sound. The drum n’ bass I love has soul, funk and deepness. It can be very experimental, like jazz even, if it’s a really fast bpm. But I found these qualities missing in most drum n’ bass nowadays. I’ll just continue to do what I love and believe in, to stamp it as the Makoto sound.

What’s your rule of life?
Be faithful to everything: music, people and life.

You’ve toured a lot; which city has the most exciting electronic scene?
I would say the most exciting is London as that’s where the music I make comes from, and so many people there are very supportive of underground music. I always love playing in Bangkok as I get such a good vibe. There are so many foreigners in the city and in the clubs. It’s a unique mix of Asia and the West. It’s so different from Tokyo.

What’s the best gig you’ve even been to?    
There are a few: one was in Brazil for the Skool Beats Festival. It has huge, with more than 2,000 people in front of me. It was just an amazing vibe. Even though it’s a really big festival, people just love drum n’ bass. Another was in the UK at The End club. I love that place so much. The DJ booth was in the middle of the dance floor and I remember that when I played my song “Golden Girl” for the first time ever, people just went crazy.

What’s your music guilty pleasure?
The moment I hear amazing music and I get goose bumps. I don’t really get that feeling from other things.

What’s next for you?
I’m releasing a remix album of my previous full-length record called Souled Out in May-June of this year on my label Human Elements. It features remixes from myself, Lenzman, Random Movement, Jabberloop and more. Also, I have two new tracks with [collaborator] Marky which is coming out on his Innerground compilation in April. I’m also working on a few collaborations, like with A Sides, and a new EP of 130bpm stuff for R&S sub-label Apollo Records.