Intertwining the charm of the human voice with powerful words and the melody of guitar music, Kavipperukku, a Tamil spoken word poetry performance, took centre stage at the Victoria Theatre on the evening of Nov 9, as part of the Singapore Writers Festival 2025.
Themed SG60, the ups and downs in the poem presenters’ voices mirrored the ups and downs of Singapore’s 60-year journey.
“To see a ground-up Tamil event fill such a grand stage was pure pride. Even more heartening was the sight of so many young voices,” said the event’s guest of honour, West Coast-Jurong West GRC MP, Dr Hamid Razak in an Instagram post on Nov 11.
Disproving that poetry is an art form for the old, 19 out of the 25 poem presenters were youth, including eight secondary school students.
A total of 10 poems presented celebrate the special, everyday places in Singapore, including coffeeshops, the hustle and bustle of bus stops, and the nostalgic trade at wet markets.
Personal reflections on striving to meet individual aspirations rather than conforming to societal ideals, and on living each day to the fullest rather than merely looking forward to weekends to enjoy life, were also explored through the spoken word poems.
One of the highlights was the poetry debate between the coordinator of Kavipperukku 2025, Mr Rajesh Kumar Dharmalingam, 39, and Sharini Chandramouli, 13, which showcased the everyday tussle between generations, with one addicted to screens and the other never too shy to show care in the form of advice.
The final poem presented, ‘This is the Singapore Story’, written by Thameem Ansari, encapsulated the entire journey of Singapore from the time of Sang Nila Utama and kampongs, to the modern marvel it is today.
Particularly striking lyrics included a reference to the Bukit Ho Swee fires, which was: “We could have cried blaming fate, yet our leaders did not suffocate under the fumes; the flame burned within them; to rewrite history and rebuild from the remains.”
Mr Sathesh Manicam, one of the presenters of the poem, brought his children to the performance “to be a role model for them”.
Guitarist Isuru Wijesoma matched his guitar tunes to the poetry despite not knowing Tamil.
“This is the third year we are running this event. Spoken word poetry differs from traditional poetry in that it is written with the end goal of being spoken out, rather than being read,” said Mr Rajesh.
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12 Nov 2025 11:13
