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Edwin Thumboo
(1933-)

Active: 1953- in Singapore, South East Asia

By Chitra Sankaran (National University of Singapore)

Indexing Data:

  • Active In: Singapore, South East Asia
  • Born In: Singapore, South East Asia
  • Activity: Poet

Life, Works and Times

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Edwin Nadason Thumboo, born 22, November, 1933 in Singapore, is the son of an Indian (Tamil) Protestant – a primary school teacher, and a Chinese Teochew housewife. He comes of a large family with five sisters and two brothers. Thumboo's childhood in a house nestled at the foothills of Mandai hills was seemingly idyllic. This was in a Singapore which was a far cry from the fast-paced metropolis it is today. Thumboo has claimed time and again that these early days sensitised him to nature's beauty at a young age. After his early education at Victoria School and graduation with B.A. honours from the University of Malaya in 1957, he entered civil service and worked as assistant secretary in the Singapore Telephone Board for nine years until

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First published 30 June 2002

Citation: Sankaran, Chitra. "Edwin Thumboo". The Literary Encyclopedia. 30 June 2002.
[http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=5042, accessed 9 February 2010.]