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Edwin Thumboo (Edwin Nadason Thumboo) was born on 22 November, 1933 in Singapore, is a Singaporean poet and academic (born 1933). Discover Edwin Thumboo's Biography, Age, Height, Physical Stats, Dating/Affairs, Family and career updates. Learn How rich is he in this year and how he spends money? Also learn how he earned most of networth at the age of 90 years old?

Popular As Edwin Nadason Thumboo
Occupation Emeritus professor, National University of Singapore
Age 90 years old
Zodiac Sign Scorpio
Born 22 November 1933
Birthday 22 November
Birthplace Singapore
Nationality Singapore

We recommend you to check the complete list of Famous People born on 22 November. He is a member of famous poet with the age 90 years old group.

Edwin Thumboo Height, Weight & Measurements

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Edwin Thumboo Net Worth

His net worth has been growing significantly in 2023-2024. So, how much is Edwin Thumboo worth at the age of 90 years old? Edwin Thumboo’s income source is mostly from being a successful poet. He is from Singapore. We have estimated Edwin Thumboo's net worth, money, salary, income, and assets.

Net Worth in 2024 $1 Million - $5 Million
Salary in 2024 Under Review
Net Worth in 2023 Pending
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Timeline

1933

Edwin Nadason Thumboo B.B.M. (born 22 November 1933) is a Singaporean poet and academic who is regarded as one of the pioneers of English literature in Singapore.

Edwin Thumboo, born in Singapore on 22 November 1933, was the eldest of eight children of a Tamil Indian schoolteacher and a Teochew-Peranakan Chinese housewife from a Singaporean merchant family.

He and his siblings grew up speaking English and Teochew.

The family was financially comfortable; their home in Mandai was the only one in the neighbourhood with electricity.

Because of his mixed parentage, as a child he was sometimes called names and marginalized.

This was said to have fostered determination and self-respect in him.

1940

He completed his primary education at Pasir Panjang Primary School in 1940.

1942

During the Japanese occupation of Singapore (1942–1945), he helped his family by selling cakes, tending goats, and working as a salesboy.

1946

Following the war, he studied at Monk's Hill Secondary School (finishing there in 1946) and Victoria School (1948).

It was at the latter place that he began writing poetry at the age of 17 years, encouraged by the senior English master Shamus Frazer.

1954

The seventh issue of Fajar which appeared in May 1954 contained an editorial entitled "Aggression in Asia" which advocated independence from the United Kingdom.

Three days later, Chinese middle school students clashed with the police.

As a result, after two weeks Thumboo was arrested by the British colonial government together with seven other students and put on trial for sedition.

Former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, who was the Club's legal adviser and a Fajar subscriber, arranged for British Queen's Counsel D. N. Pritt to act in their defence, with Lee himself as junior counsel.

The students were acquitted of the charge by District Judge F. A. Chua.

1956

Thumboo graduated in English from the University of Malaya in 1956.

Although he applied for a position at the university, he was rejected as few locals held academic posts at that time.

His own collections of poetry include Rib of Earth (1956), Ulysses by the Merlion (1979) and A Third Map (1993).

Thumboo considers Frazer his spiritual father, and later dedicated Rib of Earth (1956), his first collection of poetry published while an undergraduate, to him.

At this time, Thumboo was also a member of the Youth Poetry Circle, which counted among its members other early literary pioneers of Singapore such as Goh Sin Tub and Lim Thean Soo.

Thumboo majored in English literature and history at the University of Malaya.

As a freshman, he was a member of the editorial board of Fajar (Dawn in Malay), a radical leftist journal published by the University Socialist Club.

Thumboo graduated with a Bachelor of Arts with honours (B.A. (Hons.)) in English from the University of Malaya in 1956.

Hoping to teach and pursue a further degree, he applied for a position at the university but was rejected as few locals held academic posts at that time.

1957

He therefore entered the civil service, working for the Income Tax Department (1957–1961), Central Provident Fund Board (1961–1965), and the Singapore Telephone Board (1965–1966) where he was an assistant secretary.

1966

He therefore worked in the civil service for about nine years before finally joining the university, then renamed the University of Singapore, in 1966 following Singapore's independence.

In 1966, the year following Singapore's independence, he joined the University of Singapore as an assistant lecturer.

1970

He received a Ph.D. from the university in 1970.

Conducting doctoral research into African poetry in English, he received his Ph.D. from the university in 1970.

1977

Thumboo rose to the position of full professor in the Department of English Language and Literature, heading the department between 1977 and 1993.

He became a full professor in the Department of English Language and Literature, heading the department between 1977 and 1993.

1978

Thumboo has won the National Book Development Council of Singapore Book Awards for Poetry three times, in 1978, 1980 and 1994.

1979

He has also received the inaugural S.E.A. Write Award (1979), the first Cultural Medallion for Literature (1979), the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Cultural and Communication Award (Literature) (1987), and the Raja Rao Award (2002).

1980

After the merger of the University of Singapore and Nanyang University in 1980 to form the National University of Singapore (NUS), he was the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences from 1980 to 1991, NUS's longest-serving dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.

1981

He was conferred a Bintang Bakti Masyarakat (Public Service Star) in 1981 with an additional Bar in 1991, and the Pingat Jasa Gemilang (Meritorious Services Medal) in 2006.

1993

Thumboo was the first Chairman and Director of the university's Centre for the Arts from 1993 to 2005, and continues to be associated with the university as an emeritus professor, a position he has held since retiring from full-time teaching in September 1997.

Thumboo's poetry is inspired by myth and history, and he is often dubbed Singapore's unofficial poet laureate because of his poems with nationalistic themes.

A pioneer of local English literature, he compiled and edited some of the first anthologies of English poetry and fiction from Singapore and Malaysia.

2008

His latest anthology Still Travelling, consisting of almost 50 poems, was published in 2008.

2015

He conceived the first National Poetry Festival for Singapore in 2015.