The Protagonist: Wing
Heartlands can be seen as a coming of age story for him as we observe his growth over time. However, Wing’s journey of self discovery moves not towards a confirmation of identity, but a greater sense of dislocation and unsettledness.
- Housing
Wing has stayed in a neighbourhood estate in a government public housing flat (a HDB flat) since young, and has developed a strong sense of belonging with the estate as his home over time:
It was nothing spectacular like the cityscape, just mundane places he was familiar with. Yet, it was beautiful
Eventually though, his mother is persuaded to move for pragmatic reasons. The argument disintegrates into a questioning of his former rootedness and ownership to the area: "Who owned these buildings? ...Who was here first?"
- Love
Wing is attached to two different girls during the story. However, he is unsuccessful in both relationships despite his sincere efforts, most fundamentally due to being from different social classes and hence being unable to relate to them.
Chloe, a scholar he meets in school, is too sophisticated, and she finally seeks a break up, pointing out regrettably, but matter of factly that Wing has "grown up in a certain way and that cannot be altered by time alone". May, the second girl, comes from a humbler background but ironically, the same problem occurs as she tells her brother: "he’s not the same as us, lah. People tak chek kia"(‘are educated’ in Hokkien).
Wing’s failures, other than revealing rifts in society, also point to the his difficulty in maintaining relationships, and his inability to find comfort and support from those around him.
- Family
Wing lives alone with his mother and has been brought up to believe his father has been dead since he was young. Only near the end of the story does his mother reveal his father's identity is unknown, possibly even being the man he knows as his fifth uncle. His pain on realization is acute:
Without an origin, he was nothing. He would rather have been disowned. But not to know at all!
His genealogical ambiguity contributes further to the idea of his loss of identity.
Heartland Investigates Singapore’s National Identity
Set in Singapore, Heartland inevitably brings up many points regarding the question of Singapore’s National Identity.
- Parallel Narration of Singapore's Precolonial History
Shiau moves between the plot involving Wing and a narration of Singapore’s history throughout the book, bringing variation and a historical depth to the novel. These are also relevant to the novel’s themes. Sang Nila Utama’s naming of the island as ‘Singapura’, after a lion, rather than after his own name is shown to have a pivotal influence to modern Singapore:
his unwillingness to assert himself also plagued Singapura with an ambiguity giving rise to a people whose sense of identity would, like orchids growing in the wild, be endlessly elusive.
- School Identity
Wing has worked hard to enter the nation’s top college, but with his neighbourhood school background, still feels an outsider to the college’s traditions. His reactions to school identity are a reference to the influx of immigrants in Singapore’s history:
like migrants, they carved a little niche for themselves like the Chinatowns and little Italys that spring up all over the world.
This comment invites a consideration of the racial and social cohesiveness of Singapore today.
- National Service
National Service in uniformed services is compulsory for Singapore men, and the shared rite of passage contributes not only to military defense but also to the greater scheme of nation bonding and building. Wing’s time in the army is described as positive and transformative, as seen through his first platoon commander’s message to his new recruits:
Remember-don’t do this for anybody. Do it for yourself. Take your tour of duty seriously because you believe that you want to keep Singapore safe.
On the other hand, his next officer’s mentality of serving for the pragmatic reason of holding on to his Singapore passport is viewed as a foil to this strong sense of loyalty to country which Wing should possess.
Heartland as O Level Text
Perhaps characteristically, Heartland’s importance in Singapore’s literary scene is exemplified in its inclusion as a set text for the O level Literature in English examinations. Nevertheless, readers and students should not adopt the view that the novel was written to promulgate National Education and Values, or to be a means to make points about Singapore through the veil of a fictional story.
Instead, readers should continue to view it as the creative work it is, to be appreciated for its accuracy in description and observation of life in Singaporean society.
Heartland (ISBN: 9810456050) was published in 2002 by Ethos Books.
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