A useful compendium for all that went down in GE2020. The 2020 Singapore General Elections were an unprecedented one – who would ever have expected to vote during a pandemic? But as much as the results essentially maintained the status quo, there was still plenty of drama that emerged in the weeks leading up to it, and if you’d like to relive that chapter of … Continue reading ★★★☆☆ Book Review: GE2020 – Fair or Foul? by Bertha Henson
A celebration of a literary pioneer in one book. Birthday parties are all about making the birthday boy feel good about himself. After all, it’s his special day. And in much the same vein, Robert Yeo at Eighty is exactly that, as it collects praise, tributes, memories, and even fan fiction inspired by his work into a single volume. Over the course of the book, … Continue reading ★★★☆☆ Book Review: Robert Yeo at Eighty – A Celebration (edited by Dr Ismail S. Talib)
Ashley Chan seems to have it all figured out. University student by day, she’s somehow managed to find a night job that she’s good at pays the bills, and she enjoys, to a degree. The only ‘problem’? She’s an escort, and can’t tell anyone about it, lest they end up ruining her career and future in ultra-sensitive and conservative Singapore. That secret identity has led … Continue reading By The Book: An Interview with Ashley Chan and Gerrie Lim, co-authors of Scarlet Harlot – My Double Life
Revealing the life of a Singaporean sex worker in this tell-all memoir. It’s 2020, and high time we acknowledge that sex work is, well, work. And with an entire industry founded upon it, it’s perhaps surprising that we have yet to really hear about the life of someone who’s built their entire career on it, not least because of how popular culture and our conservative … Continue reading ★★★★☆ Book Review: Scarlet Harlot – My Double Life by Ashley Chan and Gerrie Lim
Keep calm and carry on. With how awful 2020 has turned out to be, it’s more important than ever to embrace the idea of mindfulness, and learn how to take care of our mental health so we don’t fizzle out all of a sudden with no warning. And according to PK Poniah, who has a masters in guidance and counselling, one way of doing that … Continue reading ★★★★☆ Book Review: Calm – A Journal For Myself by PK Poniah
Crime-solving child sleuths take to Singapore’s offshore islands. I’ll admit, despite it being the fifteenth book in the series, this is actually the first Sherlock Sam book I’m reading. But even as a newcomer, it’s easy enough to dive into the fast-paced exploits of our local child detectives. And this time around, Sherlock Sam and the Wonderful Watson Online Detective Agency are taking their adventure … Continue reading ★★★☆☆ Book Review: Sherlock Sam and the Seafaring Scourge on Sentosa by A.J. Low
Capturing the intersection of a tumultuous adolescence and national tragedy through beautifully wrought language. The bildungsroman form has long been a staple of literature for good reason – there’s something inherently powerful about reliving someone else’s childhood alongside them, finding those all too familiar roads you’ve both walked down and the confusing feelings of first love and adolescence. What makes Danton Remoto’s Riverrun more than just your … Continue reading ★★★★☆ Book Review: Riverrun by Danton Remoto
A meander through the annals of time that leaves us wanting more. Because of the controversial plan to exhume its graves to make way for more land, Bukit Brown is probably Singapore’s most well-known cemetery, and whose significance is both historical in value and as an integral example of our country’s almost uncaring approach towards preservation when it comes to progress. In Sun Jung’s novel … Continue reading ★★☆☆☆ Book Review: Bukit Brown by Sun Jung
It’s been five years since The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye was first published, and since then, has gone on to win a slew of awards, ranging from the 2016 Singapore Literature Prize for English Fiction, to three Eisner Awards in 2017 for Best Writer/Artist, Best Publication Design, and Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia. But for graphic novelist Sonny Liew, life hasn’t changed … Continue reading By The Book: An Interview with Sonny Liew, creator of The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye
A genre-breaking graphic novel presenting the history of Singapore with charm, accessibility and power. I first picked up a copy of The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye when I learnt about its Eisner nominations back in 2017. While I’d previously read creator Sonny Liew’s shorter work in anthologies such as Kazu Kibushi’s Flight or Liquid City (edited by Sonny), a full-length graphic novel from the cartoonist was unexpected, to … Continue reading ★★★★★ Book Review: The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye (5th Anniversary Edition) by Sonny Liew
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