I'm out of inspiration
Hello fellow book lovers,
Not going to lie, it’s been a while since I'm a bit more personable on our newsletter.
I am actually out of ideas! It’s one of those days. I contemplated writing a newsletter on my favourite shops in Toa Payoh. I thought it would be a great way to encourage people to explore the area and also save on packaging by picking up their book orders, but my project is quite incomplete as I haven’t tried some of the new shops here, so it’s a work in progress.
Then I’ve also thought about a newsletter on food. I love talking about food. However, I haven’t tried any recipes from Lala-land: Singapore's Seafood Heritage–our latest cookbook, so UGH, that is out of the window too!!
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Share what you want to read!
I've been sending out this newsletter for a while, and with so many of you subscribed, I wanted to hear from you to make sure it stays interesting.
What would you like to read? Should I continue recommending new titles, or would you like to see lesser-known book titles which deserve more love? I would love to hear your thoughts on how to make this newsletter more than just a list of new books or promotions.
Drop a comment below to share.
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On my to-read list
I say "to read" because our team have been all assigned to read EBFP manuscripts this month and I have to read all five to get back to my personal reading list.
The Breast Years of Your Life
by Dr. Tan Yah Yuen and Dr. Lim Siew Kuan
This wellness guide, written by two renowned breast cancer doctors, covers more than just understanding the disease and its treatments. It offers a holistic approach with practical tips on diet and exercise, and even includes traditional Chinese medicine and healthy recipes. The book also focuses on post-cancer life, offering guidance on managing emotional health, rediscovering intimacy and connection, and planning for topics like pregnancy after survival.
The Punkhawala and the Prostitute
by Wesley Leon Aroozoo
Today I learnt what a Punkhawala is. It’s a servant who manually pulls a ceiling fan for their masters. The role of the Punkhawala is usually carried out by an Indian servant or even an Indian convict labourer who is serving his sentence in Singapore, which was a penal colony back then.
Like whoa, he has only one job. I mean, what could be going through his mind while pulling a fan all day?
Even lesser known are the Karayuki-sans, Japanese prostitutes in Singapore. Did you know that we have a Singapore Japanese Cemetery Park in Hougang, which serves as the final resting place for them and for members of the Japanese community in Singapore, including civilians, soldiers, and individuals who were executed for war crimes?
Our textbooks only covered the stories of our British colonisers and philanthropists—their worldview and success stories—while overlooking lesser-known figures like the Karayuki-sans, who were marginalised and often shied away from.
Utama
by Ng Yi-Sheng
Our team has been recommending this book so much that I feel like I should be cheating on my manuscripts to read a chapter (at least)!
It’s a novel that reimagines the rise of Sang Nila Utama through the eyes of those who shaped his path. The story is full of historical detail, from his 39 wives to the monsters and nagas that became legend, and of rajas who bent their knees and yielded their thrones.
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Worthy Five: Ng Yi-Sheng
Five recommendations by Ng Yi-Sheng, author of Lion City, Utama and Twisted Temasek
A video worth watching:
I'm fascinated by history, especially its forgotten eras and intersections. So I'm recommending the viral YouTube video "History of the Entire World, I Guess" by Bill Wurtz, which is a surprisingly inclusive and expansive summary of the last 10 billion years with an adorably kooky aesthetic. Because of this guy, the average terminally online millennial does know that the Majapahit Empire existed!
A question worth asking:
"What was here before me?" This is something I got from the artist Zarina Muhammad, who's been a huge influence on both Utama and my story "Garden" in Lion City. She's curious about the hyper-specific histories of the locations where we work, sleep, and play; how they reveal unexpected layers and echoes of the past.
I live in Bukit Timah, which doesn't have much of a record in precolonial stories. But it does appear in the 19th century as the location of pepper and gambier plantations (which were horribly damaging, both ecologically and for Chinese labourers), as a site of an early 20th century granite quarry which became the nature reserve, as the broader neighbourhood of Kampong Chantek, where B.N. Rao's landmark horror film Pontianak(1957) was filmed.
A word worth knowing:
It's a Malay word: "rindu". It conveys a beautiful and intense longing for someone or something missing. It appears in the folk song-turned National Day song Di Tanjong Katong—"Duduk sekampung, lagikan rindu," which means, "We live in the same village, yet I pine for you."
What's important about this word is that it communicates something important about Southeast Asian aesthetics. Sorrow and beauty are thoroughly compatible; a story is beautiful if, like the Panji Tales, it involves lovers who are separated and must wander the world to be reunited.
An activity worth doing:
Domestic tourism! There's an organisation called My Community which organises free heritage tours of Singapore neighbourhoods—not touristy stuff downtown, but in residential districts like Clementi, Redhill, Tiong Bahru. I've joined a bunch of their volunteer-led walks, as well as their annual My Community Festival, which features after-hours tours and visits to houses of worship. My friend and doppelgänger Choo Lip Sin is the Chairman! (Seriously, we keep on being mistaken for one another.)
I also recommend the excursions led by Jayden Seah at Hey Lad Tour, which focus on Buddhist and Taoist heritage. Ironically, there's a lot of ignorance even among Chinese Singaporeans about our own historical spiritual beliefs. These aren't free, but they're still really affordable!
A piece of advice:
"When in doubt, say yes."
That's what I said when I was asked this years ago at a Zoom talk for NTU film students. I was thinking about how, as an artist-activist in Singapore, I've ended up doing so many different projects in different fields and genres: poetry, fiction, drama, performance art, spoken word, journalism, screenwriting, blogging and public protest. How often I've felt nervous or unqualified, and how I've ended up having really rich and complex experiences because I decided to go beyond my comfort zone.
I recognise that this won't be the best advice for everyone: some folks don't have the luxury of time and support networks to do work that doesn't pay decently. But in kiasu Singapore, I think it's worth it to remind yourself that sometimes taking unexpected paths can have marvellous payoffs.
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Our Events Page
We have an events page on our site now! Check it out from time to time to join authors' events, book launches, readings, workshops and activities for kids.
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Here's the gif of the week–from my favourite sitcom, Kim's Convenience:
Warmly,
Chloe
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