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About the Author

There are obscure emotions that reside in every one of us, where language cannot reach, because its waters are too deep. A lot was going on in 1979. Most Malay villages were long gone or in their dying days. Malay rock began its unstoppable rise with the emergence of its first influential rock band, while drugs were just across the street. And on one Friday night that year, during the final months in the life of the once major Malay village of Engku Aman in Geylang Serai, 15-year-old Alia left her house and vanished without a trace. In the aftermath of her disappearance, the protective layers in the lives of three other young people who knew her begin unpeeling as they struggle to make sense of her disappearance and their lives in a period of immense social and cultural change.

A poignant coming-of-age historical novel that captures what it might have felt like to live in Engku Aman, for which there is little formal historical accounting. While there are many historical novels in Sing Lit that centre the Chinese Singaporean experience, Neverness centres the Malay experience and immerses readers in the heyday of Malay rock. Suitable for both young adults and adults.
“A powerful excavation of the hidden histories of a kampung near Geylang Serai. Told through the eyes of a young girl on the threshold of the adult world, Neverness focuses on various forms of loss: a missing person whose absence leads to the discovery of secrets, a kampung lifeworld about to give way to HDB flats, and the inability to articulate socially proscribed love. Yet the novel also rediscovers the soundscapes, tastes, and sensations of a now-vanished world. The new music of Malay rock band Sweet Charity blends with the soundtracks of old P. Ramlee movies and the songs of Vera Lynn, and folktales are passed on from generation to generation and reinterpreted. Neverness, with its retrospective glance, asks us to contemplate the new uses of stories of the past in the present, in a modern Singapore urban landscape that has undergone profound an irreversible change.”
—Philip Holden

“Absorbing, evocative and written with passion yet with restraint. I found myself following the narrative crumbs Fairoz metes out. Before long, the reader is immersed in the milieu, walking alongside the narrator, seeing what she sees and what a journey it is. It is a world that is at once familiar but which no longer exists and a world I didn't know I missed as much as I did—my father grew up in the same kampong, my grandparents were resettled to the HDB block next door to the Geylang Serai market.”
—Tan Pin Pin, Film Director

“Neverness is the shawl that is blown by the winds of transience, forever lost from the eyes of callousness, yet precious as the golden bracelet of lost memories of a bygone era that was Engku Aman; a fleeting social history that is drowned in the tragic river of redevelopment.”
—Isa Kamari, novelist

“For a real-life-inspired narrative, the setting is imperative. Whether in a work of fiction, non-fiction, or film, the setting acts as a representation of a certain period, and it buffers the plot that an artist tries to bring. If one tries to portray the time of the United States in the 1960s to 1970s, the setting cannot neglect dominant images such as “John F. Kennedy”, “Vietnam War”, “counterculture”, “the moon landing”, “Martin Luther King”, “Woodstock” and “Watergate”. In other words, the setting provides a form of interweaving. In the work of Neverness, the writer sets Singapore in the final years of a Malay village in Geylang Serai, before it was demolished in the early 1980s to make way for the construction of flats. Focusing on the impact of the disappearance of a 15-year-old teenage girl on the lives of three other acquaintances, the story is constructed against the backdrop of Singapore which is going through years of upheaval in terms of social and cultural change. The writer not only captures the counterculture that affected Singapore at that time but also the influence of Malay music culture during the 1950-1970s period—from P. Ramlee to Ramli Sarip & Sweet Charity. Songs, movies, and music are not just a genre but also a reminder of where we were at a certain time. These elements are well inserted in this novel for the appeal of the Singaporean Malay generation that lived through that period or maybe as a reminder for the contemporary generation.”
—Associate Professor Dr Muhamad Takiyuddin, Author of 65 Tahun Muzik Rock di Malaysia

“Fairoz Ahmad beautifully weaves the mystery of Alia’s disappearance and the real events that happened in Singapore in the 1960s and 1970s. For readers who have never experienced kampong living, this novel gives a vivid insight to the lives of residents of Engku Aman who struggled with day-to-day problems in post-independence Singapore. The novel is almost like a social commentary of the Malays who lived within Geylang Serai. Every character portrayed in the novel was ‘perfect’ in his/her imperfections. I find myself invested in the stories which they wanted to tell.”
—Hidayah Amin, author of nine books on Malay history and heritage including the award-winning Leluhur: Singapore's Kampong Gelam

“In the throes of 1970s modern Singapore, Neverness offers an evocative glimpse into the lives of the minority Malays grappling with rapid societal transformations. Set against the backdrop of the last few families remaining in Engku Aman Geylang, this compelling social critique illuminates the challenges faced by a community on the brink of displacement.

As most of their neighbors have already relocated to new HDB areas like Geylang Baru, Chai Chee New Town, and Marine Parade, these families confront the stark realities of changing social, political, and environmental landscapes. Through the eyes of a teenage girl, trained to embody the perfect woman amidst shifting tides, Neverness vividly captures the essence of traditional values, psychic depths, and emotional turmoil.

Her journey, fraught with psychological and physical struggles, is portrayed with raw realism. Hungry for new experiences in the burgeoning city life, her story resonates with the universal quest for identity and belonging. Fairoz Ahmad masterfully weaves a narrative that is both deeply personal and poignantly reflective of a community's endurance in the face of inevitable change.

Discover a richly engaging novel that not only tells a story but also preserves the essence of a disappearing world, chronicling the intricate dance between tradition and modernity in a rapidly evolving Singapore.”
—Jamal Ismail, Recipient of the Anugerah Tun Seri Lanang 2023

“Set within late 60s-70s Singapore, this prolific novel captures the social conditions of working poor Malay households and restless youths falling between the cracks in the once familiar village of Lorong Engku Aman, Geylang. Fairoz powerfully depicts their anxieties, concerns, hopes and resignation amid the final stages of demolition of their village and impending resettlement looming large, while exploring their turn to simple pleasures-music, song and film that inspired and soothed both the young and old. Against the turbulence, he skilfully wove the entwined lives of four teenagers. Through their adventures, joy, escapism and confusion, he reflected on friendships formed, tragically lost and left unspoken. Fairoz’s deep reflections through his protagonists also depict the powerful grip of traditional beliefs, myths, conventions and taboos that bind and their impact on lives in an era of rapid change.”
—Noor Aisha Abdul Rahman, Associate Professor, Department of Malay Studies, NUS
Fairoz Ahmad works at the intersection of strategy and social impact. For his contributions to community development, he was awarded the National University of Singapore's Outstanding Young Alumni Award (2017) and United Kingdom's Commonwealth Point of Light Award (2018).

His previous work, a collection of short stories called Interpreter of Winds, was published by Ethos Books in 2019. The book was a reflection of his experiences and observations growing up Muslim in a world too busy, too distracted, to understand one another.

Fairoz graduated from the University of Oxford with a Master of Public Policy (Distinction), under a Chevening scholarship.

Authors

Neverness

Interpreter of Winds