A Dance of Moths

by Goh Poh Seng

The theme of the indiviudal's sense of alienation and search for meaning in life is once again the main concern of acclaimed novelist and poet Goh Poh Seng. The chief protagonist Ong Kian Teck, a gifted, hard-working creative designer in an advertising firm, epitomizes the successful Singaporean. Yet as Kian Teck's daily life unfolds we see an intense but ineffectual man searching, Kafka-life, for something but not quite knowing what. In his blind quest Kian Teck experiments with drink, sex, the stock market, designer clothes, flashy cars, even drugs... all the trappings of materialistic, consumer-driven Singapore.The other protagonist, Chan Kok Leong, an accounts clerk, strives to free himself from the drudgery of his job and the pain of life with his family in their small, high rise flat in Toa Payoh. Common to both stories is the sense of isolation and lack of communication - between friends, between husband and wife, between parents and children, all locked in their separate worlds.

352 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1995

About the author

Goh Poh Seng was a playwright, novelist and poet, regarded as a pioneer of Singaporean literature in English. A medical doctor by training, his first novel If We Dream Too Long is widely recognised as the first Singaporean English-langauge novel, while his play When Smiles Are Done is one of the first instances of the use of Singlish in drama. Goh also released five books of poetry, founded the literary magazine Tumasek and formed Centre 65 to promote the arts. In addition, he chaired the National Theatre Trust and was Vice-Chairman of the Arts Council from 1967 to 1973. Goh received the Cultural Medallion for Literature in 1982 and emigrated to Canada in 1986. He passed away in 2010, leaving behind his wife Margaret, four sons and three grandchildren.

Reviews

[Grace H · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/5 I can’t believe it, I’ve never read a book so good in my life. Seng communicates feelings in an artistic way that has me smiling the entire time. A super complex book that I genuinely enjoyed.

[Theodore · Rating 3 out of 5]

i dont know if id recommend this personally.

the main protagonist KianTeck never faces any real consequences despite treating his wife and family with disregard for the majority of the book. he is self absorbed and completely unable to develop a sense of empathy for anyone around him until the end of the book. but even then, he doesn't really learn ... he was just taken back by his wife after he had an affair. he only felt bad after he lost everything and didnt have anyone to fall back on. I mean this makes sense but idk his thought process and outlook on the world didnt change until a just sudden switch flipped in his head. and that was only brought about because he just fucked up so consistently. like his wife took him back and all his money issues were to go away. idk.

also I think that the writing style was a bit much. it felt flowery for the sake of being flowery. like very little was actually said despite describing every little thing in the sky or at the park. at first I thought that it was because Kian Teck was a romantic where everything had to have meaning and so on. but it kept going outside of him.

I think it was interesting the slow discovery by Kok Leong that he didnt know what he was going with his life and then essentially because kind of like Kian Teck as the writing style soon mirrored Tecks.

but ... sometimes I felt like the author really romanticized this kind of living before you become content. because he so often connected it with more eloquent descriptions and musings.

idk I feel conflicted. because what are you supposed to get out of this?

ultimately I think it captures very well a thing that a lot of men go through in their lives, feelings of wanting more regardless of their current situation. i mean obviously it doesnt just apply to men but I think since were in a patriarchal system they have more of an ability to act on it and then are allowed to muse on the possibility more.

the writing just was a bit of a slog so idk if id recommend this.

[Edward · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poh Seng's tragic tale is about two seemingly unrelated men, one older than the other, but both troubled by a lack of a sense of the meaning of their lives. The source of their despair is identified with monotony and the repetitious absurdity of their daily lives within the microcosm of the island nation of Singapore. Kian, the older of the two, attributes his despair to ennui which his wife promptly ascribes to metaphysical narcissism. Kok being the less reflective of the two men due to his education initially accepts his more tragic circumstances in the stoic manner of his father.

Kian’s despair being at a more serious stage abandons himself to drink and extramarital sex while Kok, against the odds, reaches out and makes a romantic, although juvenile, connection with a young girl not presently troubled by such issues as those confronting each of the men. Kok's budding romantic relationship reflects the part of the cycle of Kian's relationship with his wife that has come and gone and is representative of the repetitious cycle that each of the protagonists is experiencing.

Each comes to the same conclusion that in the face of the seeming absurdity of running around in a circle, the struggle is everything. Even though neither is aware of the other, the link between the two protagonists is made clear to the reader midway in the story and it is one through which their ultimate fates will intersect.

Poh Seng's third-person omniscient narration is very articulate and metaphorical in its descriptions of the environment that surround each of the protagonists. Even though each experiences a sense of despair, neither of them seem overtly conscious of the emotions so acutely described by the narrator. Both protagonists recognize an emptiness but this occurs within the context of the narrator's keen depiction of the natural world that is beautiful but uncaring.

Sing’s use of time is fluid; e.g. the narration may start in the present and drift to the recent past before reconnecting with the present flow of time in order to move the story along in a linear progression. Another and more subtle use of time employs the element of phase difference, i.e. contrasting the two protagonists while one is waxing and the other is waning.

A Dance of Moths is reminiscent of Michel Houellebecq’s novel Elementary Particles. Both are novels of despair and similarly contrast two protagonists and how each responds to the question of meaning in their existence. However, Seng’s novel does not belabor the story with metaphysical pronouncements as does Houellebecq’s. In doing so Seng allows the reader to appreciate the story and the style in which it is narrated.