Liang Wern Fook
Encyclopedia
Dr
Liang Wern Fook ' onMouseout='HidePop("99753")' href="/topics/Singapore">Singapore
) is a Singaporean
writer
, musician
, and researcher
in Chinese literature
and pedagogy
. He was one of the pioneer
figures in the xinyao
(Singaporean Chinese folk songs) movement in the 1980s and 1990s.
-loving household
, along with his two younger sibling
s. His father, a journalist
, and his mother, an acupuncturist, were always playing the record
s of singers like Bai Guang
and Zhou Xuan
.
Liang received his primary and secondary school
education
at Catholic High School. He started taking piano lessons at the age of 10, and went on to attain a Grade 8 certificate. Liang wrote his first song
at the age of 16, and he became more prolific once he started attending Hwa Chong Junior College
(now Hwa Chong Institution
), often performing with schoolmates in addition to heading the student council
and Chinese society drama
club. Many of the songs he wrote then, mainly about friendship
and camaraderie, are still popular among the school's students today during gatherings, where different singing
groups would often perform together.
Liang later attended the National University of Singapore
, where he was the top student for both his major, Chinese studies, and in the Arts faculty in 1988. In 1989, he graduated
with a Bachelor of Arts
with Honours
in Chinese Literature
, and in 1992, a Master of Arts
. In 1992, he married
Liu Xiu Mei, a former Chinese language
teacher
of The Chinese High School
, whom he met in university
. They have no children.
, Liang's first song "Sing a Song for Hwa Chong" was written in 1981 after he lost in an inter-school debating competition at Hwa Chong Junior College. His first commercial song, "A Song for You" was released in 1984 on the Ocean Butterflies label. During his xinyao phase from 1986 to 1992, he released five albums, some of which sold as many as 20,000 copies. Among these, Door was the first Singaporean Mandarin album to be completely compose
d and written by the same artiste. The song "One Step At A Time" sat for six weeks at the top of the chart
s in 1987, while "Love's Refuge" was at the top for 29 weeks in 1986, an unbroken record for a local pop song
. To date, Liang has over 200 musical composition
s and songs to his name.
Liang's particularly iconic composition is the song "Negotiations And Love" . He penned this in the aftermath of the Tiananmen Incident
on June 4, 1989, and Taiwan
ese singer Wen Zhang
record
ed it. The song became popular in Singapore, Taiwan and mainland China
.
He has composed television serial theme songs for the then Singapore Broadcasting Corporation
, now MediaCorp
. Since the 1990s, Liang has also written hits for Cantonese and Mandarin pop star
s such as Jacky Cheung
, Andy Lau
, Leon Lai
, Tony Leung
, Alex To
, Eric Moo
, Kit Chan
, Joi Chua
and Stephanie Sun. In 1996, he produce
d and composed the songs for Singapore's first Chinese musical
December Rains . In the following year, Liang wrote the theme song "Are You Still There" (你是不是还在) for Singapore film Track . In August and September 2007, Liang's songs were featured in a local Chinese musical "If There're Seasons", presented by The Theatre Practice.
Liang is also a poet
, essayist and a former columnist
for Lianhe Zaobao
. He has over ten publications in various genres of creative writing
. His works, such as the essay collection, The Last Years of Kreta Ayer - which is also used as a GCE A Level text in Singapore; poetry collection In Fact I am in Love with Time ; and short story
collection The 21 Dreams of Liang Wern Fook (21, 1992) showed a new direction for Singapore Chinese literature. These books recorded the changes in modes of feeling and expression
brought about by the peer pressure
and complexity of life in a post-modern society.
Today, Liang runs a Chinese language enrichment
centre for primary and secondary school students, set up in 1997, with his wife
. He is still involved in the music business through writing one to six songs a year. He would offer his work to the singer whom he thinks is most suitable for the tune
. His most recent popular hit was Joi Chua's "Watch The Sunrise With Me" , released in 2004.
in 1990, when the xinyao movement started to become more commercialised. Peers like Eric Moo ventured abroad to develop their careers as pop stars. Others, like Billy Koh of Ocean Butterflies and Paul Lee Wei Shiong, set up their own companies and started to groom new talent. Liang, instead, chose to pursue his PhD
at Nanyang Technological University
(NTU), writing a thesis
on the poems of Tang dynasty
poet Meng Haoran
. He graduated
with a PhD in Chinese studies in 1999.
Currently, Liang teaches once a week as an adjunct assistant professor at NTU's Chinese studies department. He also lectures at the National University of Singapore and the National Institute of Education
.
In 1990, Liang was voted "Most Popular Writer" by local students in a poll
organized by Lianhe Zaobao. In 1992, he received the National Arts Council
's first Young Artist Award. He won the Singapore Book Prize in 1996. In a 2003 poll conducted by the Composers and Authors Society of Singapore (Compass), Liang was voted "Person Who Best Represents the Xinyao Spirit". The same poll placed seven of his songs among "the ten greatest xinyao songs", with "Friendship Forever" (细水长流) in top position.
Apart from these, Liang's other achievements include: Sing Music Highest Honour Award (1988), Xinyao Festival Best Lyrics and Music Award (1989), Singapore Hits Highest Honour Award (1994), Singapore Hits Best Local Lyrics Award (1995; 2001; 2003; 2005) and the Meritorious Award from Compass (1999), and Best Original TV Series Theme Song at the Asian Television Awards
(2002)，Outstanding Achievement Award(Music) at the Singapore Entertainment Awards(2010), Best TV Drama Theme Song Award at the Star Awards（2010）.
In 2010, Liang was awarded the Singapore Cultural Medallion
.
Doctor (title)
Doctor, as a title, originates from the Latin word of the same spelling and meaning. The word is originally an agentive noun of the Latin verb docēre . It has been used as an honored academic title for over a millennium in Europe, where it dates back to the rise of the university. This use spread...
Liang Wern Fook ' onMouseout='HidePop("99753")' href="/topics/Singapore">Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
) is a Singaporean
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
, and researcher
Researcher
A researcher is somebody who performs research, the search for knowledge or in general any systematic investigation to establish facts. Researchers can work in academic, industrial, government, or private institutions.-Examples of research institutions:...
in Chinese literature
Chinese literature
Chinese literature extends thousands of years, from the earliest recorded dynastic court archives to the mature fictional novels that arose during the Ming Dynasty to entertain the masses of literate Chinese...
and pedagogy
Pedagogy
Pedagogy is the study of being a teacher or the process of teaching. The term generally refers to strategies of instruction, or a style of instruction....
. He was one of the pioneer
Innovator
An innovator in a general sense, is a person or an organization who is one of the first to introduce into reality something better than before. That often opens up a new area for others and achieves an innovation.-History:...
figures in the xinyao
Xinyao
Xinyao is a Chinese noun comprising two words: Xin which literally means new and Yao for song. The extended form is actually "Xin jia po ge yao" , which simply means Singapore songs. It is a genre of songs that is unique to Singapore, where the songs are composed and sung by Singaporeans and are...
(Singaporean Chinese folk songs) movement in the 1980s and 1990s.
Early life
Liang grew up in a musicMusic
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
-loving household
Household
The household is "the basic residential unit in which economic production, consumption, inheritance, child rearing, and shelter are organized and carried out"; [the household] "may or may not be synonymous with family"....
, along with his two younger sibling
Sibling
Siblings are people who share at least one parent. A male sibling is called a brother; and a female sibling is called a sister. In most societies throughout the world, siblings usually grow up together and spend a good deal of their childhood socializing with one another...
s. His father, a journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
, and his mother, an acupuncturist, were always playing the record
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
s of singers like Bai Guang
Bai Guang
Bai Guang was a famous movie star and singer. By the 1940s, she became one of the Seven great singing stars.-Biography:...
and Zhou Xuan
Zhou Xuan
Zhou Xuan was a popular Chinese singer and film actress. By the 1940s, she had become one of China's seven great singing stars. She is probably the most well-known of the seven, as she had a concurrent movie career until 1953.-Biography:...
.
Liang received his primary and secondary school
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
at Catholic High School. He started taking piano lessons at the age of 10, and went on to attain a Grade 8 certificate. Liang wrote his first song
Song
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...
at the age of 16, and he became more prolific once he started attending Hwa Chong Junior College
Hwa Chong Junior College
Hwa Chong Junior College was a junior college in Singapore offering pre-university education. The college was founded in 1974 and merged with The Chinese High School on 1 January 2005 to form Hwa Chong Institution.-Founding:...
(now Hwa Chong Institution
Hwa Chong Institution
Hwa Chong Institution is an independent school in Singapore for students aged 12 to 18 covering both secondary and pre-university levels. A Ministry of Education-designated FutureSchool, it operates under the Special Assistance Plan for bilingualism, and offers the Integrated Programme and also...
), often performing with schoolmates in addition to heading the student council
Student council
Student council is a curricular or extra-curricular activity for students within elementary and secondary schools around the world. Present in most public and private K-12 school systems across the United States, Canada and Australia these bodies are alternatively entitled student council, student...
and Chinese society drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
club. Many of the songs he wrote then, mainly about friendship
Friendship
Friendship is a form of interpersonal relationship generally considered to be closer than association, although there is a range of degrees of intimacy in both friendships and associations. Friendship and association are often thought of as spanning across the same continuum...
and camaraderie, are still popular among the school's students today during gatherings, where different singing
Singing
Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
groups would often perform together.
Liang later attended the National University of Singapore
National University of Singapore
The National University of Singapore is Singapore's oldest university. It is the largest university in the country in terms of student enrollment and curriculum offered....
, where he was the top student for both his major, Chinese studies, and in the Arts faculty in 1988. In 1989, he graduated
Graduation
Graduation is the action of receiving or conferring an academic degree or the ceremony that is sometimes associated, where students become Graduates. Before the graduation, candidates are referred to as Graduands. The date of graduation is often called degree day. The graduation itself is also...
with a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
with Honours
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
in Chinese Literature
Chinese literature
Chinese literature extends thousands of years, from the earliest recorded dynastic court archives to the mature fictional novels that arose during the Ming Dynasty to entertain the masses of literate Chinese...
, and in 1992, a Master of Arts
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
. In 1992, he married
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
Liu Xiu Mei, a former Chinese language
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
teacher
Teacher
A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
of The Chinese High School
The Chinese High School
The Chinese High School , formerly Singapore Nanyang Overseas Chinese Middle School was an independent school in Singapore offering secondary education. The school was founded by Tan Kah Kee on 21 March 1919 and it merged with Hwa Chong Junior College on 1 January 2005 to form Hwa Chong Institution...
, whom he met in university
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
. They have no children.
Musical and writing career
As a singer-songwriterSinger-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
, Liang's first song "Sing a Song for Hwa Chong" was written in 1981 after he lost in an inter-school debating competition at Hwa Chong Junior College. His first commercial song, "A Song for You" was released in 1984 on the Ocean Butterflies label. During his xinyao phase from 1986 to 1992, he released five albums, some of which sold as many as 20,000 copies. Among these, Door was the first Singaporean Mandarin album to be completely compose
Musical composition
Musical composition can refer to an original piece of music, the structure of a musical piece, or the process of creating a new piece of music. People who practice composition are called composers.- Musical compositions :...
d and written by the same artiste. The song "One Step At A Time" sat for six weeks at the top of the chart
Record chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
s in 1987, while "Love's Refuge" was at the top for 29 weeks in 1986, an unbroken record for a local pop song
Pop Song
Pop Song is the first single by the Drugs. It was released in 2000 and earned the Drugs some positive press. It has been described as "addictive". A live version was released on The Only Way Is Up...
. To date, Liang has over 200 musical composition
Musical composition
Musical composition can refer to an original piece of music, the structure of a musical piece, or the process of creating a new piece of music. People who practice composition are called composers.- Musical compositions :...
s and songs to his name.
Liang's particularly iconic composition is the song "Negotiations And Love" . He penned this in the aftermath of the Tiananmen Incident
Tiananmen Incident
The Tiananmen Incident took place on April 5, 1976 at Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China. The incident occurred on the traditional day of mourning, the Qingming Festival, after the Nanjing Incident, and was triggered by the death of Premier Zhou Enlai earlier that year...
on June 4, 1989, and Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
ese singer Wen Zhang
Wen Zhang
Wen Zhang is a Chinese actor.After graduating from China's Central Academy of Drama in 2006, he starred in many popular TV dramas including You Are Smiling, While I am Weeping, Bloom of Youth and The Song of Youth.During 2007 and 2008, Wen became well known for his roles as Xiang Nan in hit TV...
record
Recording
Recording is the process of capturing data or translating information to a recording format stored on some storage medium, which is often referred to as a record or, if an auditory medium, a recording....
ed it. The song became popular in Singapore, Taiwan and mainland China
Mainland China
Mainland China, the Chinese mainland or simply the mainland, is a geopolitical term that refers to the area under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China . According to the Taipei-based Mainland Affairs Council, the term excludes the PRC Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and...
.
He has composed television serial theme songs for the then Singapore Broadcasting Corporation
Singapore Broadcasting Corporation
Singapore Broadcasting Corporation was a partially privatised mass market media conglomeration, which dominated the entire television and most of the radio broadcasting industry in Singapore during its existence...
, now MediaCorp
MediaCorp
Media Corporation of Singapore, better known as MediaCorp, is a group of commercial media companies in Singapore, with business interests in television and radio broadcasting, interactive media, and, to a lesser extent, print publishing and film-making....
. Since the 1990s, Liang has also written hits for Cantonese and Mandarin pop star
Pop Star
"Pop Star" is a 2005 single from Japanese singer Ken Hirai. The single went on to top the 2005 Oricon Charts and is known for its remarkable music video, featuring Ken in seven different personas, including a raccoon and his own manager. The Video also helped Ken break into the US and Canadian...
s such as Jacky Cheung
Jacky Cheung
Jacky Cheung is a Hong Kong singer-songwriter and actor. The Chinese language media refers to him, Aaron Kwok, Andy Lau and Leon Lai as the Cantopop Four Heavenly Kings , with more than 60 million records sold as of 2000....
, Andy Lau
Andy Lau
Andy Lau MH, JP is a Hong Kong Cantopop singer, actor, and film producer. Lau has been one of Hong Kong's most commercially successful film actors since the mid-1980s, performing in more than 160 films while maintaining a successful singing career at the same time...
, Leon Lai
Leon Lai
Leon Lai is a Hong Kong-based actor and Cantopop singer. The media refer to Aaron Kwok, Jacky Cheung, Andy Lau and Leon Lai as the Cantopop Four Heavenly Kings . He uses the stage name "Li Ming" or "Lai Ming" which literally means "dawn."-Biography:...
, Tony Leung
Tony Leung
Tony Leung may refer to:* Tony Leung Chiu-Wai , Hong Kong actor known as "Little Tony"* Tony Leung Ka-fai , Hong Kong actor known as "Big Tony"* Tony Leung Siu-Hung, Hong Kong movie action choreographer, stuntman, actor and director...
, Alex To
Alex To
Alex To is a Hong Kong and Taiwan based singer and actor. He is the winner of the 4th annual New Talent Singing Awards in 1985. He has released numerous albums throughout his career and mainly has R&B influenced songs.-Early life and career:...
, Eric Moo
Eric Moo
Eric Moo Kai-yin is a Malaysian Chinese award-winning singer-songwriter and record producer.-Biography:Moo's mother died when he was 8 and he was raised by his older sister. He was educated at Seh Chuan High School and The Chinese High School in Singapore. He became a permanent resident of...
, Kit Chan
Kit Chan
Kit Chan is a Singaporean singer.-Music:She was a member of the pioneer generation of Singaporean singers to successfully break into the international market, marked in particular by her breakthrough into the competitive and highly critical Taiwanese market with her hit Mandarin album Heartache ...
, Joi Chua
Joi Chua
Joi Chua or Joi Tsai is a Singaporean female singer signed under Play Music.Joi was educated at Raffles Girls' Primary School, Clementi Town Secondary School, and Singapore Polytechnic in Optometry....
and Stephanie Sun. In 1996, he produce
Theatrical producer
A theatrical producer is the person ultimately responsible for overseeing all aspects of mounting a theatre production. The independent producer will usually be the originator and finder of the script and starts the whole process...
d and composed the songs for Singapore's first Chinese musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
December Rains . In the following year, Liang wrote the theme song "Are You Still There" (你是不是还在) for Singapore film Track . In August and September 2007, Liang's songs were featured in a local Chinese musical "If There're Seasons", presented by The Theatre Practice.
Liang is also a poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, essayist and a former columnist
Columnist
A columnist is a journalist who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs....
for Lianhe Zaobao
Lianhe Zaobao
Nanyang Sin-Chew Lianhe Zaobao , commonly abbreviated as Lianhe Zaobao , is the largest Singapore based Chinese-language newspaper with a daily circulation of about 176,000. Published by Singapore Press Holdings , it was formed on March 16, 1983 as a result of a merger between Nanyang Siang Pau and...
. He has over ten publications in various genres of creative writing
Creative writing
Creative writing is considered to be any writing, fiction, poetry, or non-fiction, that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, and technical forms of literature. Works which fall into this category include novels, epics, short stories, and poems...
. His works, such as the essay collection, The Last Years of Kreta Ayer - which is also used as a GCE A Level text in Singapore; poetry collection In Fact I am in Love with Time ; and short story
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
collection The 21 Dreams of Liang Wern Fook (21, 1992) showed a new direction for Singapore Chinese literature. These books recorded the changes in modes of feeling and expression
Emotional expression
In psychology, emotional expression is observable verbal and nonverbal behaviour that communicates emotion. Emotional expression can occur with or without self-awareness...
brought about by the peer pressure
Peer pressure
Peer pressure refers to the influence exerted by a peer group in encouraging a person to change his or her attitudes, values, or behavior in order to conform to group norms. Social groups affected include membership groups, when the individual is "formally" a member , or a social clique...
and complexity of life in a post-modern society.
Today, Liang runs a Chinese language enrichment
Enrichment
Enrichment may mean:*Education. *The process of adding nutrients to cereals or grain: see food fortification.*The process of adding sugar to grape must during winemaking in order to achieve a higher alcohol content of the wine, more commonly referred to as chaptalization.*Behavioral...
centre for primary and secondary school students, set up in 1997, with his wife
Wife
A wife is a female partner in a marriage. The rights and obligations of the wife regarding her spouse and others, and her status in the community and in law, varies between cultures and has varied over time.-Origin and etymology:...
. He is still involved in the music business through writing one to six songs a year. He would offer his work to the singer whom he thinks is most suitable for the tune
Tune
Tune may refer to:* A melody* A tune-family* A tune , a short piece of instrumental music, usually with repeating sections, and often played a number of times* British slang term, often said when referring to a piece of music that is enjoyed...
. His most recent popular hit was Joi Chua's "Watch The Sunrise With Me" , released in 2004.
Academic career
Liang went into academiaAcademia
Academia is the community of students and scholars engaged in higher education and research.-Etymology:The word comes from the akademeia in ancient Greece. Outside the city walls of Athens, the gymnasium was made famous by Plato as a center of learning...
in 1990, when the xinyao movement started to become more commercialised. Peers like Eric Moo ventured abroad to develop their careers as pop stars. Others, like Billy Koh of Ocean Butterflies and Paul Lee Wei Shiong, set up their own companies and started to groom new talent. Liang, instead, chose to pursue his PhD
PHD
PHD may refer to:*Ph.D., a doctorate of philosophy*Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*PHD finger, a protein sequence*PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company*PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
at Nanyang Technological University
Nanyang Technological University
Nanyang Technological University is one of the two largest public universities in Singapore with the biggest campus in Singapore and the world's largest engineering college. Its lush 200-hectare Yunnan Garden campus was the Youth Olympic Village of the world's first 2010 Summer Youth Olympics in...
(NTU), writing a thesis
Thesis
A dissertation or thesis is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings...
on the poems of Tang dynasty
Tang Dynasty
The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...
poet Meng Haoran
Meng Haoran
Meng Haoran was a Chinese poet during the Tang Dynasty. Unsuccessful in his official career, he mainly lived in and wrote about his birthplace....
. He graduated
Graduation
Graduation is the action of receiving or conferring an academic degree or the ceremony that is sometimes associated, where students become Graduates. Before the graduation, candidates are referred to as Graduands. The date of graduation is often called degree day. The graduation itself is also...
with a PhD in Chinese studies in 1999.
Currently, Liang teaches once a week as an adjunct assistant professor at NTU's Chinese studies department. He also lectures at the National University of Singapore and the National Institute of Education
National Institute of Education
The is an institute of the , Singapore.NIE, Singapore, provides all levels of teacher education, from programmes to for in-service teachers and executive for Principals, Departmental Heads and other school leaders. NIE also administers postgraduate programmes that lead to the award of in...
.
Honours
In 1988, Liang received gold medal awards from both the National University of Singapore's Arts and Social Sciences Faculty and the Nanyang Technological University's Chinese Studies Department.In 1990, Liang was voted "Most Popular Writer" by local students in a poll
Opinion poll
An opinion poll, sometimes simply referred to as a poll is a survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions of a population by conducting a series of questions and then extrapolating generalities in ratio or within confidence...
organized by Lianhe Zaobao. In 1992, he received the National Arts Council
National Arts Council Singapore
The National Arts Council of Singapore was established in September 1991 "to nurture the arts and make it an integral part of life in Singapore.-History :...
's first Young Artist Award. He won the Singapore Book Prize in 1996. In a 2003 poll conducted by the Composers and Authors Society of Singapore (Compass), Liang was voted "Person Who Best Represents the Xinyao Spirit". The same poll placed seven of his songs among "the ten greatest xinyao songs", with "Friendship Forever" (细水长流) in top position.
Apart from these, Liang's other achievements include: Sing Music Highest Honour Award (1988), Xinyao Festival Best Lyrics and Music Award (1989), Singapore Hits Highest Honour Award (1994), Singapore Hits Best Local Lyrics Award (1995; 2001; 2003; 2005) and the Meritorious Award from Compass (1999), and Best Original TV Series Theme Song at the Asian Television Awards
Asian Television Awards
The Asian Television Awards is an appreciation to recognize and reward programming and production excellence in the Asian television industry. Held every December, the Awards draws about 1,400 entries each year from a wide range of broadcasters, including free-to-air TV stations and pay-TV...
(2002)，Outstanding Achievement Award(Music) at the Singapore Entertainment Awards(2010), Best TV Drama Theme Song Award at the Star Awards（2010）.
In 2010, Liang was awarded the Singapore Cultural Medallion
Cultural Medallion
The Cultural Medallion is a Singapore cultural award conferred to those who have achieved artistic excellence in dance, theatre, literature, music, photography, art and film....
.