Colin Goh and Woo Yen Yen

LL.B. (London), Barrister-at-Law (Middle Temple);
former Advocate & Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Singapore;
LL.M. (Columbia University School of Law);
Attorney-at-Law (New York - non-practicing)

email: colin@colinandyenyen.com

COLIN GOH obtained his LL.B. from University College London and his Masters in Law from Columbia University, where he was named a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, in recognition of superior academic achievement. He was also called to the bar in England and Wales, Singapore and New York and practiced for several years as a commercial litigator, specialising in maritime law. He has since left the practice of law to engage in multimedia production.

His satirical website, TalkingCock.com, has received coverage from the world’s media, including the BBC, NPR, the Economist, Wired and Time magazine. In March 2005, The Times of London pronounced the Coxford Singlish Dictonary, its bestselling lexicon of vernacular Singaporean English, “invaluable”.

Together with his wife and creative partner Woo Yen Yen, he is also a filmmaker. Their debut short film, eAhLong.com, won the Special Achievement Award at the 2001 Singapore International Film Festival. Their first feature, TalkingCock the Movie, has been screened in over 10 countries to date and their latest film, Singapore Dreaming, opened to rave reviews in Singapore, and also won the prestigious Montblanc New Screenwriters Award at the 54th San Sebastian International Film Festival, as well as the Audience Award for Narrative Feature at the 30th Asian American International Film Festival in New York.

He also writes regular pieces for the Straits Times, Singapore’s highest circulation newspaper, and 8Days, Singapore’s bestselling weekly magazine. He also writes and draws a daily cartoon strip, Alien Talent, for the New Paper.

CURRICULUM VITAE

Educational and Professional Qualifications:

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW (New York)
LLM (Master of Laws), May 1999, Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar award

UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON, FACULTY OF LAWS (London, England)
LLB (Bachelor of Laws), August 1994

Called to the bar of England & Wales as a Barrister-at-Law (Middle Temple), to the Singapore bar as an Advocate & Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Singapore, and to the New York bar as an attorney at law. Currently not practicing.

Work Experience:

5C FILMS PTE LTD (Singapore, New York)
Director and Producer, film production company

Recent productions:
Singapore Dreaming (2006) – together with Woo Yen Yen, produced and directed a feature length film that opened at the Singapore International Film Festival to rave reviews, including from the President of Singapore himself. Singapore Dreaming is also the first Singaporean feature to be accepted by the prestigious San Sebastian Film Festival, where it was in competition for both the Altadis New Directors Prize and Montblanc New Screenwriters Award, and eventually won the latter.  The film went on to win the Audience Award for Narrative Feature at the Asian American International Film Festival in New York, and is now in competition for the Best Asian/Middle Eastern Film Award at the Tokyo International Film Festival.
WU LIAO MEDIA PTE LTD (Singapore)
Director & Producer, Singapore-based film & multimedia production company

Recent productions:
• TalkingCock The Movie (2002) – produced and directed feature length film that premiered at the Singapore International Film Festival 2002 benefiting Action for Aids; screened at Cinemanila Film Festival 2002 (Manila, Philippines), Third Eye Film Festival 2002 (Mumbai, India), Cinemaya Film Festival 2002 (New Delhi, India), Festival du Film Asiatique de Deauville 2003 (Deauville, France), Far East Film Festival 2003 (Udine, Italy), World Press Freedom Festival 2003 (Penang, Malaysia), Gwangju International Film Festival 2003 (South Korea), amongst others
• eAhLong.com (2001) – produced and directed short film which won the Special Achievement Award at the Singapore International Film Festival 2001, screened at Hanover Film Festival (2002), and St Kilda’s Film Festival
• TalkingCock SingingSong (2001) – produced and directed musical comedy CD which was nominated ‘Album of the Year’ by Elle magazine. (Distributed by BMG)
• The Coxford Singlish Dictionary (2001) – authored bestselling lexicon of Singaporean vernacular English. (Angsana Books)
• Three Meals (2005) – co-produced and co-directed short film, with sponsorship from the Singapore Film Commission. Premiered at the Asian-American International Film Festival in New York, and played for a two week engagement at the Asian American Arts Centre in Manhattan before screening at the 2006 Louis Vuitton Hawaii International Film Festival and the 2006 Singapore Short Cuts series at the National Museum.
• Great Wall (2004) – developing script for feature film. 1 of only 60 screenplays selected to participate in Independent Feature Project Market 2004 in Manhattan

Events Organized:

• Northeastern Exposure Film Program for Northeast Community Development Council (2001) - designed, organized and secured funding for a community short film production program for residents of a public housing district, including gala screening attended by Minister for National Development
• Gala premiere for TalkingCock the Movie (2002) – organized reception and premiere event in collaboration with Action for Aids and the Singapore International Film Festival
• Car Park Films (2002) – curated screening of short films for Northeast CDC
• Save Our Singlish Campaign (2002) – organized heavily attended event at Borders bookstore
• How Not to Make a Film in Singapore (2004) – organized seminar in collaboration with National Library@Esplanade

Writing:

THE STRAITS TIMES (Singapore)
Columnist, 2003 to date

THE EDGE (Singapore)
Columnist, 2002 to 2006

8DAYS ( Singapore)
Columnist (‘The Last Page’), 2002 to date

THE NEW PAPER (Singapore)
Write and illustrate ‘Alien Talent’, daily comic strip. (Serialized at TalkingCock.com)

Previous strip, ‘The Concrete Jungle’ ran for over 14 years.
Began at 17 years old with ‘Orchard Road’, the very first daily cartoon strip to be written and drawn by a Singaporean. It ran from 1988 to 1991.

TALKINGCOCK.COM
Founding Editor of Singapore’s most popular and
award-winning satirical humour website, 2000 to date

ALLEN & GLEDHILL (Singapore)
Litigator, Shipping and International Trade Department, 1995 to 1998

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Wrote a play, “XXX: The Body Politic”, which was performed at the 1996 Singapore Arts Festival Fringe. (Following its performance, was awarded a scholarship by the British Council to attend the international playwrights’ program at the Royal Court Theatre in London)

• Regularly invited to speak at international student functions and forums. Has spoken at the University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University, Brown University, Oxford University and the Harvard in NUS Programme.

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY:

• The Coxford Singlish Dictionary (2001) – authored bestselling lexicon of vernacular English. (Angsana Books)
• Paved With Good Intentions (2000) – co-authored chapter for ‘Singaporeans Exposed: Navigating the Ins and Outs of Globalisation (published by Landmark Books for the Singapore International Foundation’s 10th Anniversary)
• ‘Caging the bird: TalkingCock.com and the pigeonholing of Singaporean citizenship’ (2004) - co-authored chapter in K. P. Tan (Ed.), New Politics for a Renaissance City. (In press, scheduled publication date: 2007)
• They Also Serve (2002) – article written for National Day issue of Spring! Magazine
• Singlish Cannot Meh? – article written for August 2002 issue of Elle magazine
• Rear View – occasional column for New Man magazine
• Miscellaneous cartoons for Shoulder-to-Shoulder: Our National Service Journal (Landmark Books, 2002), book commemorating 35 years of national service in Singapore
• Miscellaneous cartoons for American Legion magazine
• Miscellaneous cartoons for Troikamagazine.com
• Concrete Jungle, daily comic strip for The New Paper, 1992 to 2005
• Yankee Doodles, weekly comic strip for The New Paper (Singapore), 1998-2002
• Orchard Road, daily comic strip for The New Paper. Compiled into 3 volumes by Times Editions (Singapore), 1989, 1991, 1993.
• Report Card, weekly comic strip for The New Paper (Singapore), 1991-1995
• The Buaya Handbook, humorous essays published by Times Editions (Singapore), 1990 (No. 1 on the Straits Times Bestsellers’ List)
• Specially commissioned comic book for the Singapore Ministry of Health’s Anti-Smoking Campaign 1990
• Specially commissioned comic book for the Singapore Ministry of Health’s AIDS Awareness Campaign 1991
• Specially commissioned comic book for the Singapore National Computer Board, 1991
• Journey Into The Heartland, comic strip for Just For Laughs, anthology, published by Kampung Boy Publications (Malaysia), 1992
• Miscellaneous artwork done as Singapore’s representative at the Asia Foundation’s Political Cartooning Forum, 1989 [work exhibited]
• Miscellaneous artwork done as Singapore’s sole representative at the International Cartoonists’ Gathering in Kuala Lumpur at the invitation of the Malaysian Government, 1990 [work exhibited]
• Miscellaneous artwork done for various publications, including 8 Days (Singapore), The Mirror (Singapore), Sinica (Japan), AHA (Japan), Wenhua yu Youmo (”Culture and Humor”, China), Vital Link (London, UK) and Pi (London, UK)

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• Colin's Cartoons