Abstract: Chia Joo Ming is undoubtedly one of Singapore’s most famous Chinese writers of the Mesozoic era. He is a computer engineer by profession and a novelist by avocation. Educated as the last generation of Chinese school’s students, he demonstrated in his early writings a strong sense of social criticism that is prevailing in modern Chinese literature. Since the 1990s, his works, however, are characterized with the constant theme of Xungen (searching for cultural roots) in Singaporean Chinese history while retaining a realistic concern with current issues in Singaporean society. That seems to be the reason why he has been considered the most distinguished writer during the Mesozoic era in Singapore. There are two phases in Chia’s career: the first one focuses on urban narrative, whereas the second one is dedicated to the search for historical roots. This paper reads this division of literary creation against the historical development of Singapore as a nation and tries to discuss the formation of the spirit of Singaporean intellectuals in their literary creation.

Key words: Chia Joo Ming, historical writing, the last generation of Chinese school students, Xungen, reconstruction of Nanyang images