Suffian Hakim

Suffian Hakim bin Supoano (born 24 July 1986) is a Singaporean media professional and author known for his novels, Harris bin Potter and The Stoned Philosopher and The Minorities.[1][2]

In this Malay name, the name Supoano is a patronymic, not a family name, and the person should be referred to by the given name, Suffian Hakim.

Suffian Hakim
Suffian Hakim circa 2018
Born	Suffian Hakim (1986-07-24) 24 July 1986 Singapore
Occupation	Writer, media professional
Language	English
Nationality	Singaporean
Alma mater	Saint Joseph's Institution, Singapore
Genre	satire parody comedy
Notable works	Harris bin Potter and The Stoned Philosopher The Minorities
Spouse	Shelby Sofya Segar

He is an alumnus of Saint Joseph's Institution.[3][4]

Biography

Suffian started writing at a young age. He cites early validation as a writer when he was ten years old, when his school submitted his creative composition for a national essay competition. While studying at St Joseph's Institution, he wrote a dramatic sketch that won first place in a school competition. This gave him early inspiration to pursue writing as a career.[4]

He then attended St Andrew's Junior College, where he studied mathematics, chemistry, and economics instead of literature. Upon failing his GCE 'A' levels, Suffian attended Ngee Ann Polytechnic, graduating in 2009 with a Diploma in Mass Communication.

During his polytechnic studies, he attended an acting module taught by Singaporean actor and director Alaric Tay.[4]

Suffian works as a media professional. He has worked as a screenwriter for Mediacorp productions The Noose and Random Island, and also written for August Man magazine.[4]

Literary career

Described as "one of the most whimsical, creative and unpretentious young voices in Singapore literature" ,[5] Suffian began dabbling in writing satire while in Ngee Ann Polytechnic, uploading Little Red Riding Tudung and Three Shades of Brown (a parody of Fifty Shades of Grey) to his blog.[1]

Harris bin Potter and the Stoned Philosopher

He also started writing a parody of Harry Potter where the main character is re-cast as Singaporean Malay during this time, also uploading it to his blog.[1] The stories were then shared widely on social media in Singapore when they were re-launched online in 2013. Following an extensive crowdfunding effort, Suffian self-published 300 copies of Harris bin Potter and the Stoned Philosopher (2015) [6] as one of Publishizer's first book project efforts.[4]

Harris bin Potter was then re-printed with 500 copies,[6] and has since also enjoyed a third print run. It will be re-published by Epigram Books in 2019.[7]

The Minorities

In 2017, Suffian self-published his second novel, The Minorities, before it was picked up by Epigram Books in October 2018. While maintaining his trademark levity, the novel takes on issues such as ethnicity, immigration, and assimilation in its underlying social commentary.[5]

Style and Influences

Suffian is known for his humorous, satirical writing style, usually employing popular culture references, word play, offbeat characters,[8] and sometimes absurdist situations in his works. While they tend to be humorous, his books also explore issues of ethnicity, identity and assimilation.[2] Literary academic Gwee Li Sui said of the author, "Suffian has the grand talent of writing silly for hours."[9]

In multiple interviews, Suffian has cited Terry Pratchett, Douglas Adams and Neil Gaiman as his influences.[10]

Awards

In 2017, he was also second runner-up for the Esquire x Montblanc Fiction Writer Prize for his short story, Sang.[11]

In recognition of his work, Apple Singapore named Suffian one of their Red Dot Heroes in 2018.[12]

Works

Novels

Year	Title	Publisher	Notes	ISBN
2015	Harris bin Potter and the Stoned Philosopher	Self-published		ISBN 9789810792671
2017	The Minorities	Epigram Books	Suffian self-published this initially in 2017.	ISBN 9789811140242

References

1. Yusof, Helmi (2018-01-25). "An Insider Guide To Singapore". Business Times. Singapore Press Holdings. Archived from the original on 2018-12-01. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
2. Sim, Walter (2018-02-05). "Suffian Hakim's The Minorities takes on topics such as ethnicity and injects salt-of-the-earth humour". Straits Times. Singapore Press Holdings. Archived from the original on 2018-12-01. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
3. Nah, Gerard. "SJIOBA Annual Report 2016" (PDF). SJIOBA. Saint Joseph's Institution Old Boys' Association. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
4. "Dream Chasers: Interview with Author Suffian Hakim". The Everyday People of Singapore. 2017-03-24. Archived from the original on 2018-12-01. Retrieved 2018-12-01.
5. Sim, Walter (6 February 2018). "Suffian Hakim's The Minorities takes on topics such as ethnicity and injects salt-of-the-earth humour". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 2018-12-01. Retrieved 1 December 2018.
6. Tan, Jeanette (24 February 2017). "Harris Bin Potter, a S'pore boy wizard, is now a full-length book out in stores soon". Mothership.sg. Archived from the original on 2018-12-01. Retrieved 1 December 2018.
7. Wong, Joshua (18 March 2018). "Making magic with words". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 2018-12-01. Retrieved 1 December 2018.
8. Tan, Min Yan. "The Minorities". ELLE Singapore. Singapore Press Holdings. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
9. Gwee, Li Sui (2017-08-25). "Three Self-Published Books to Read". BuySingLit.sg. BuySingLit. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
10. Ng, Michelle. "5 books written by Singaporean authors you should read". TimeOut Singapore. TimeOut. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
11. "Authors & Speakers - Suffian Hakim". Singapore Writers Festival. National Arts Council Singapore. 2018. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
12. Tan, Derrick (2018-08-07). "Apple celebrates Singapore's 53rd National Day with localised Memojis". Esquire Singapore. Indochine Media. Archived from the original on 2018-12-01. Retrieved 13 October 2018.