Quah Sy Ren:
A playwright out of respite

Sy Ren: I think people tend to confuse language politics with literature, especially in the Chinese theatre scene. That scene has a certain demand on their artists to not just come up with works of art but also raise the Mandarin standard in Singapore. So I usually prefer ethnically Chinese but English-speaking actors in my plays because I feel that my works will be freed of this baggage in such a way.