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Sunday, August 05, 2007
With Written Words : Aaron Lee writer : Dawn FungAaron Lee is a prize-winning poet , poet-mentor and lawyer. He is the author of A Visitation of Sunlight (1997) and Five Right Angles (2007), and co-editor of No Other City: the Ethos Anthology of Urban Poetry (2000) and Love Gathers All: the Philippines-Singapore Anthology of Love Poetry(2002). His work has appeared in publications in Malaysia, Germany, Australia and the US. Aaron is married to visual artist Namiko Chan Takahashi and they worship at Yio Chu Kang Chapel. Dawn Fung talks to Aaron about God, writing and Christian artists.  Aaron LeeDawn : Let's hear your testimony. Aaron : I was born in Malaysia into a Christian family. We were brought up in a Christian household and attended Sunday school regularly. I have one older sister Delene and a younger brother Kelvin. Our father always emphasised the importance of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and he conscientiously prepared us for a more mature understanding of the God's salvation through the repentance of sins and believing on the person of Jesus Christ. I accepted Christ as my Lord and Saviour before my 13th birthday and received a Bible as a gift from my parents. It's not a 'spectacular' story, but it is my journey and so it means a lot to me! (Laughs) Dawn : There is a verse that tells of bringing the child up in the way that he should go, so that he will not depart from the Word of God when he grows up. Somehow, God's honed you in the Word, as a Christian and a lawyer and writer. Aaron : I thank God that I've had the privilege to follow Him for so many years, though because of that I must admit that I sometimes took the Word for granted. But you know how sometimes, in certain times in our lives, specific verses in the Bible can really take on new life, as if you're reading them for the very first time? I've always enjoyed reading and studying God's Word. I did nearly all my schooling in Singapore, and served in the army, before becoming a citizen in 1996. During that whole time God brought people into my life who were a wonderful testimony, and who exemplified what it meant to love and serve Him. This continued also through my university days, when I served with the Varsity Christian Fellowship (VCF). Another wonderful time of growing in the Lord took place as I was starting out in my professional life - I started attending Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) and this continued for five years. It was wonderful. Of course, my walk with God has had its high points and times of dryness. Struggling with career, relationships and my creative writing, each poses its own challenges. Taking up the cross is a daily assignment. But that's how we learn to submit to His perfect plan, and to find joy in doing that. Dawn: Could you give an example of a time of dryness and high point, and of taking up the cross? Aaron: Well in my early 20's I was looking for a breakthrough in my walk with Christ, although I didn't know it then. My participation in church, my service, all of these things had become routine and unexciting. I yearned for more but I didn't know how to go about getting it. It took a direct word from God, during a church youth camp, to shake me out of this complacency. God also brought a the first of several Christian mentors into my life; that was amazing and I've always been grateful for that. Over time I also learned to learn from those who were younger in the faith. Dawn : Why poetry? Aaron : I simply stumbled upon poetry, although in my very early writing days I did write short prose. I read a lot of poetry. From the beginning I've always been captivated by its special power, in the way it approaches heightened emotion and has a unique ability to say important things in such a way as to impact lives even before it is completely understood. Also, as someone who loves music I also see poetry as being music to the imagination, and in that sense I esteem it very highly and I feel privileged to be a practitioner. Dawn : I wondered if there were aspects within Five Right Angles, your new collection of poetry, that intentionally reference the Word of God? Aaron : Well yes, in my writing I often deal with poetry-making as journey, discovery, and prophecy. In the opening poem ("Notes from a Diary") of my most recent collection, I also implicitly a knowledge that only the Word of God endures forever - all other writing 'disappears like ink, as simply/ as the sun will set today". Dawn : What is very important in your writing (practice or outlook) as a Christian? Aaron : As a Christian, I regard my writing as a talent that He has given to me to use for His glory. Although I have been writing for more than 20 years, it is only relatively recently that I consciously determined to subject my writing for His use. Writing for church publications and for CLV is great because I enjoy it and see it as a ministry. As for my creative writing, that is an area that is more challenging. Some of my poems bear an overtly Christian sensibility, but for me, labels such as "Christian poet" may have limited use, especially in Singapore where there are only a small number of poets in the first place. Still, I am always pleased to meet other Christian writers and it is a blessing to identify with one another and to have a sense of community. I think it is important for us writers to speak the truth and edify one another. Dawn : I believe so too. In fact, I personally wish to see writers know the truth - Jesus, as Saviour and Lord - because it has such influence in their lives. From this, we know that out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks, and thus their writing. How has responding to the truth affect your decisions in the writing community, secular and Christian? Aaron : You're absolutely right- in such an intensely personal enterprise as writing, our values, aspirations and ideas inevitably show themselves in the poems that we write. I try to be as honest as I can about the burdens that I carry, because they are after all part of the cross that I bear in my daily walk as a Christian. So you will see for example that I share openly about my anxiety regarding where the world is heading in my poem "Future Tense". On another scale, another poem like "The Four" serves as social commentary - it is how I sometimes see the lives of ordinary people, their 'quiet desperation', as Thoreau put it. Everyone needs Christ, though not everyone knows it - yet. Dawn : The term "Christian artist" is a flexible label for me - it depends on who you meet. Some people definitely feel comfortable association with that in order to belong somewhere ; I often see churches use it to draw artists in their midst for discipleship and evangelism, and it works for those who yearn for fellowship with like minded people, but not practitioners in the secular field. Would you recommend this term be dropped? Aaron : I think it is a bit like the term "Singaporean Chinese"-how useful is that term, really? I guess it depends on what you want to use that label for. If it is meant to stereotype, categorise for convenience or marginalise certain kinds of art or artists, then that's not useful. On further consideration, I don't mind it all that much. "Christian", like "Singaporean", simply states my citizenship in the kingdom of heaven. Artist, traveller, co-labourer, preacher... all are simply different dimensions of the work that the Lord has given us to do before His kingdom comes. We must love Him with all we are and all we have, and we serve Him and point others to Him. That's all it is, in the end. Read the review of Five Right Angles here . You may email Aaron at unknownstuntman@gmail.com
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