The writing was on the wall...

There was this sign along Orchard Road, during the recent Singapore Writers' Festival. And a certain Wendy Cheng was obviously thrilled to it on the walls along the underpass, as she gloated on her blog:


"Promotion pics for my participation in the Singapore Writers' Festival! Who was the fucker who said people like Nick Liu are "real writers" and I am not? Huh? Again? What do you say? STOP WHIMPERING! Oh yes, I got invited to the festival, and sorry to say ... the "real writers" are not...

Maybe boring, serious writing does not necessarily equal to good writing afterall. =)"


Then, less than a month later, this happens:

"Sometimes I wonder, why am I taking this shit? I think I will be much happier without blogging - except, of course, I won't have an income. Ha.

For all these, I am going to take a hiatus from blogging."

SO, is this the end of the illustrious "writing" career of Wendy Cheng (aka Xiaxue)? Well, not if you believe in the legend of hydras and such, but we'll just leave it at that. But how did it come down to this--Singapore's supposedly most "famous and popular" female blogger (with her awards to prove it, no doubt) now the nation's most hated cyber-personality?

I know Wendy's fans will cry foul for me making this remark, but ask around the online community here--especially older, more mature individuals--and you realise she isn't going to win a popularity contest, not by a mile.

Of course, Wendy Cheng the person may be all sugar, spice, and everything nice, but her online alter-ego doesn't seem that nice a person, to be honest.

"Petulant" would be a more apropriate word for her.


Wendy can gloat all she wants, that the "real writers" weren't invited to the Writers' Festival while she was. She doesn't seem to realise, though, that it wasn't her writing that got her this far, but the sort of popularity she's gained--it's pretty much like why Xu Chun Mei gets to show her face and talents (or the lackof) on talkshows and even concerts. And of course, this being Singapore, tangible credentials (like meaningless weblog awards, press coverage etc) can get you a long way too.

Real writers win literal awards, I suppose; celebrity bloggers contend themselves with their few minutes of fame. And Wendy no doubt got hers at the workshop. One only wonders how much she's learnt from it, but if this is anything to go by, not much:

"Cory Doctorow, founder of the top blog, boingboing.net...is really ridiculously smart and knowledgable, except I can't give any examples because half the time he was talking about tech/political stuff I didn't fully comprehend... I chose to hide behind my facade of dyed hair and unnatural lashes while pretending to not understand and therefore was spared the embarrassment of giving my unsubstantial opinions. Sometimes, it is good to be female. Don't know politics? Never mind that, I can cook."

Ouch! Now THAT hurts...


Why did Ms. Wendy "I was at the Writers' Festival, where were you?" Cheng end up throwing in the towel (allegedly) just weeks after the high point of her blogging career? Well, it's very much about what "serious writers" do and Wendy Chengs don't.

You see, one's experience in life (or 'worldliness', I guess) matters when he or she writes. Someone once remarked that the best teenage literature is written by adults, and that's not an overstatement. Good writing requires not just linguistic skills but also a maturity in mind--more so when its personal writings aimed at a mass audience. You know, memoirs, autobiographies, and the like.

If you have a lot of things to say about life, make sure you know enough about it before you start writing. More importantly, make sure you're humble enough too to recognise that your views don't necessarily equate to others--so when you write, write tactfully. It's okay to be funny. It's even okay to be cynical and sarcastic. But there's a fine line between been witty and downright obnoxious.

Unfortunately, Wendy crossed that line with her blog, and coupled with her new air of arrogance and hunger for publicity, it was only a matter of time before things backfired on her.

And they did. Her recent article on her trip to Kuala Lumpur broke the camel's back. Irate readers bombarded her with nasty comments (some of which, I've to admit are rather uncalled for) and Wendy--who has a nasty habit of deleting unflattering comments--simply caved in under the amount of criticism she got.

Wendy and her fans didn't think it was fair for others to criticise her just for blogging her bad experience in Kuala Lumpur, and I agree. But if Wendy had meant no malice, her wordings certain came across otherwise.

I've read a number of travel literature. My favourite is still "Looking for the Lost", by the late author Alan Booth. It was his own travel memoirs across the backwaters of Japan--a very insightful look into the land and its people, as well as a very personal work for the author himself.

In the chapter "Local Heroes", the author had a rather bad experience with the locals at a village liquor store. He had just walked in having braved the typhoon, and was miffed with the sort of brusque service he got from the lady owner. While he didn't hide his displeasure in the book, he wasn't downright condescending either. He didn't have to get nasty, and never did once insult the lady or his readers' intelligence by getting personal. Moreoever, Booth was mindful enough to explain why Japanese behave the way they do whenever he encountered behaviour that wasn't compatible with cultures outside Japan.

Wendy, this is what "real writers" do. It's less in-your-face, maybe slightly more boring writing, but it's an art of communication.


"Entertaining numerous partners simultaneously earned her a reputation as a text goddess"

Not so much a "text goddess" but the "enfant terrible" of the local blogsphere, but all isn't lost: while Wendy goes into a hiatus, and retreats into her world of shopping and dining (despite being "without an income"), the rest of the local blogging world can now turn their attention to what they've been neglecting for so long--real writing. =)