Ovidia Yu

y Was born at Singapore on 1961 y Daughter of o doctor and a teacher. y Managed to get into the medical

faculty National University of Singapore. y Left after a few months just to take English Literature. y Also side-stepped her chance to do PhD in Cambridge.

Plays (year first staged) 1987 : Dead on Cue 1988 : Round and Round the Dining Table 1988 : Face Values 1989 : Family Affairs 1990 : Mistress 1990 : Cupboards 1991 : Imagine 1991 : Ja 1992 : Three Fat Virgins 1992 : Wife and Mother 1993 : Be the Food of Love 1994 : Six Lonely Oysters 1995 : Three Fat Virgins Unassembled 1995 : The Land of a Thousand Dreams 1995 : Hokkien Mee 1996 : Playing Mothers 1996 : Every Day Brings its Miracles 1997 : Breast Issues 1999 : Viva Viagra 1999 : Haunted 2002 : Lovebites II (Love in a time of recession and newater)

1984 : First prize, Asiaweek Short Story Competition, for A Dream of China. 1985 : Second prize, Ministry of Community Development Short Story Competition 1993 : Scotsman Fringe First Award, Edinburgh Fringe Festival for The Woman in a Tree on a Hill 1994 : Highly Commended, National Book Council Development of Singapore (NBDCS) Drama 1996 : Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) Singapore Foundation Award for outstanding contribution to the development of arts 1996 : National Arts Council (NAC) Young Artist Award for Drama and Fiction 1997 : Singapore Youth Award (Arts and Culture)

Exposition y The story begin with the conversation between the narrator and her uncle. y Her uncle wanted to come back to Singapore. y He wants to meet his brother. y The narrator had to say no in a diplomatic way.

Rising action
y The father of the narrator

always talks about the beautiful of China. y He even wrote poem that signifies a pond as Singapore and the river is his home (China). y He regret that he did not follow his brother back to China and decided to stay in Singapore.

Climax
y The narrator finally get to

Falling Action
y The narrator tell her uncle

step her feet on China. y She saw the beautifulness of China before her own eyes. y For her, it is true that China is beautiful, but she glad that she came there as a tourist as she saw how poor the citizens are. y This includes her own uncle (her father s younger brother).

y y y y y

that she had to leave early the next day. Her uncle wanted to follow her back to Singapore. He wanted to get out of China. He wants to meet her brother. He wants to left China alone. Without her wife.

y The narrator said no to her uncle about bringing him

back to Singapore in a democratic way. y She will only bring her uncle back to Singapore if her father is no longer.

The Narrator o A good daughter. - she still ready to listen to her father s story although she had hear it for several times. o A good wife. - she was badly wanted to go to China but she wait for her husband to make his mind up first.

The Narrator s Father

o A good brother.

- he sends money to his brother and the family in China and sometime he send more than they asked. o A man who misses his home. - he always talk about China. - he also wrote a poem that describes himself as trapped in a pond (Singapore) and he really wanted to go back home (China).

Place
y Narrator s father home in Pasir Ris

- Places where narrator s father spent his day planting orchids, writing poems and thought his grandchild calligraphy. - Also the places where the narrator knows about her father give money to his brother.

Times
y After second world war 2 y Present

- Time where narrator s father decides to stay in Singapore rather than return to China like his brother - The decision that later narrator s father regret about it

- Narrator s father keep told narrator about China - How Chinese students now did not have the backbone and determination that Chinese youth should have.

One who missed his home town

y Narrator s father always told narrator about the

beauty of China. y He also still use calligraphy and taught narrator and his grandchild about it. y He also wrote a poem about home coming. y He also regret for not return to China and help to build his country back.

A good father and grandfather

y Narrator s father was a good father where he taught

narrator the right way to hold the calligraphy brush and telling narrator a story from child. y As a grandfather also he taught how to use calligraphy and his grandchild about it.

The usage of literary devices

y Poem

- Poem which narrator s father wrote about home coming Simile - My spirit was as alien here