Sing to the Dawn

Sing to the Dawn is a story by the American author Minfong Ho, which was originally published as a short story and was awarded first prize by the Council of Interracial Books for Children in New York City in 1975.[1] It was later extended to a full-length novel.[2]

Sing to the Dawn
AuthorMinfong Ho
CountryThailand
LanguageEnglish
GenreShort story
PublisherWilliam Morrow & Co
Publication date
1975
Media typePrint (Hardcover & Paperback)
Pages160 pp
ISBN0-688-41690-X
OCLC1103075
LC ClassPZ7.H633 Si

Plot summary

Dawan, a young village girl who lives in Thailand at Bangkok gets first place in an examination and wins a scholarship to study in a city school. Her brother, Kwai, places second in the examination and is initially jealous, creating a rift between the two previously-close siblings. This hostility is further exacerbated by Dawan's father, who feels that the city is no place for a girl, and that Dawan should give in to Kwai and let him go to the city instead of her. Dawan faces major obstacles at every turn, and eventually overcomes these obstacles and proves to herself and to others that she is fully capable of handling the scholarship and the responsibility it entails. But she faces the disapproval of her father, who is convinced that city life and further schooling are not for a girl. Dawan's determination to overcome these obstacles and to prove to herself, as well as others, that she is worthy of seeking the prize is an important experience for her and her readers.


Film, TV or theatrical adaptations
  • Sing to the Dawn was adapted into a critically acclaimed musical by Singaporean composer Dick Lee in 1996 and was directed by Steven Dexter. The musical has proved extremely popular after its initial run, and has been restaged several times, including a restaging by the Singapore Management University's production house in 2003 and a joint production between Raffles Institution and Raffles Girls' School in 2004.
  • A full-length feature animation based on the book was produced in collaboration by MediaCorp Raintree Pictures, the Media Development Authority of Singapore and Infinite Frameworks, and was released on 30 October 2008, with the Chinese title of 曦望.[3][4] The movie was localised into an Indonesian version with the title "Meraih Mimpi" and released on Indonesian cinemas on 16 September 2009.[5]
gollark: Rough idea for what to say:
gollark: School is really just... not that good, often.
gollark: It's quite <:bees:724658256605085840> how insistent the government is that everyone !!MUST!! go to school or there will be horrible mental health issues.
gollark: I really should write up and send in a proposal for part-time remote school.
gollark: Hmm, apparently opening universities would be horrible and bad for public health but schools are fine? This is very inconsistent.

References
  1. minfong ho - Biography. Authors Guild. Retrieved on 2006-10-17.
  2. by Hui Bing Ang "A stylistic analysis of Minfong Ho's Sing to the dawn : how it constructs its fictional world and positions the reader" link for thesis
  3. Media Development Authority - Raintree Pictures, the MDA and Silicon Illusions Collaborate To Produce Animated Feature Archived 2005-01-08 at the Wayback Machine. Media Development Authority of Singapore. Retrieved on 2006-10-17.
  4. Sing to the Dawn Archived 2006-10-08 at the Wayback Machine. Radio Singapore International. Retrieved on 2006-10-17.
  5. Indonesian Site of "Meraih Mimpi" Archived 2012-11-24 at the Wayback Machine


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