Tham Yew Chin, better known by her pen name You Jin, is the author of some 158 books and a prolific writer of travelogues, essays, opinion pieces, short stories and novels. Known for her heartwarming and sensitive observations of everyday life, she has been recognised in Singapore and China. The inaugural recipient of the Singapore Chinese Literary Award and the Montblanc-NUS Centre of the Arts Literary Award, she was honoured with the establishment of the You Jin Research Centre in Chongqing University in 2000. In 2009, Tham received the Cultural Medallion for her contributions to literature in Singapore.

Born in Ipoh, Malaysia in 1950, Tham Yew Chin moved to Singapore with her family when she was eight years old. An avid reader of Chinese literature since young, she was the daughter of a war hero who fought in the resistance movement during the Japanese Occupation of Malaysia. Tham grew up with a strong sense of moral duty and a hunger for the betterment of others.

Tham’s writing career started early on in her life when she was in primary five. An 11-year-old Tham came upon a book rental cart near her home one day, and discovered that many students were using their pocket money to rent books containing violent and salacious themes. Feeling that these books were akin to drugs that were unhealthy for the soul, Tham made the decision that she would be a writer of meaningful fairy tales for children when she grew up.

Soon after, she received an essay assignment in school that required her to write on her ambition. Tham submitted an essay titled I Wish to Be a Fairy Tale Writer, which received the highest marks in class and was read out to her classmates by her teacher. Feeling elated and encouraged by her achievement, Tham submitted the essay to the newspapers. Around a month later, I Wish to Be a Fairy Tale Writer was published, marking a young Tham’s debut as a published writer.

From there, Tham set herself on a literary path, continuing to write throughout her secondary and university studies and during her career as a professional.

In 1973, she graduated from Nanyang University with a first class Honours degree in Chinese Literature. She went on to be a librarian at the National Library for three years, and then joined Chinese-language daily Nanyang Siang Pau as a journalist and supplement editor. The ’80s saw Tham beginning a new career as an educator as she became a teacher at Hua Yi Secondary School, later on teaching at Pioneer Junior College.

Throughout her professional career, Tham wrote voraciously in her spare time, requiring only four to five hours of sleep every night. She built up an immense body of work, consisting of over 150 short story collections, novels and travelogues that were published in Southeast Asia and East Asia, some of which have been translated to other languages. She gained popularity particularly for her touching and humorous travelogues, which—like all her other writing—was informed by her affirmatory attitudes towards life. Her short stories and novels became known for their gentle adages and personal reflections.

Tham received the National Book Development Council of Singapore book award twice for her travelogue The White House in the Desert in 1982 and her novel The Burning Lion in 1991. She also holds the honour of receiving the inaugural Singapore Chinese Literary Award from the Singapore Literature Society in 1991, and the inaugural Montblanc-NUS Centre for the Arts Literary Award in 1996. In 2009, Tham received the Cultural Medallion for her contributions to literature in Singapore.

In 2008, Tham’s book Short Stories by You Jin was selected for the National Library Board’s Read! Singapore campaign.

Tham also received much acclaim and recognition in China, with the You Jin Research Centre being established in Chongqing University in 2000. She was also invited to take part in Chengdu city’s inaugural writer-in-residence programme in 2007, resulting in the publishing of the book 《缤纷城事: 尤今读成都》 The Colourful City the next year.

Today, Tham continues to write and is a regular feature writer for Singapore Chinese-language daily Lianhe Zaobao and Shanghai newspaper Xin Min Daily News. When not putting her heart into her writing, she bakes in her free time.