He is currently (from January, 2001) enrolled as a full time doctorial candidate in Translation Studies at the National University of Singapore. His dissertation is a comparative study of the five English versions of the classical Chinese novel Hong Lou Meng or A Dream of the Red Chamber. Adopting Venuti's (1995) dichotomy of foreignizing and domesticating translations, the study focuses specifically on the various renditions of the titles and honorific expressions that are used as terms of address/reference in the Chinese novel with reference to the cultural values the renditions embody.