Will Singapore take home the Poetry World Cup?

What seemed unlikely has actually happened. Singapore has made it to the Finals of the World Cup. In poetry, that is. It’s the closest thing to this small country ever bagging the real thing.

Singapore has certainly been on the roll. Jacob Silkstone reported that Singapore “recorded the biggest win of round one and received the most votes in round two”, followed by “top form… recording a comfortable win over Trinidad & Tobago to set up a semi-final with Tunisia.” The semi-final match against Tunisia garnered even more votes for Singapore, “the highest-scoring game of the tournament so far”.

That’s until Saturday afternoon when Pakistan knocked out Laos, with close to 400 votes. That sort of figure from the host country will be tough to beat for Singapore, the Little Red Dot that approaches this game with back-slapping fun and laid-back candour.

Of who should win the World Cup, Singapore’s poet-delegate Desmond Kon Zhicheng-Mingdé was quoted as saying: “We’re all winners in this game. All of us who participated and joined in the fun. It’s a game of appreciation. Of appreciating one another’s wordsmithery, and each of our poems. These poems are no less than gifts to the reader.”