The Riot Act

“Pegged to the Little India riots, Sebastian Sim’s The Riot Act is a surrealistic retelling that strikes at the heart of cynicism driving Singapore’s culture wars; interwoven stories poke entertainingly at our country’s political shenanigans, but satire becomes brutal realist fiction when we realise the author is merely holding up a tilted mirror to everything that is wrong with our society.”
—Cyril Wong, Judge, Epigram Books Fiction Prize 2017

Sebastian Sim grew up in a two-room HDB flat with parents who were part of the pioneer generation of independent Singapore.

Not one to shy away from the road less taken, he has travelled around the world to soak up different experiences and cultures, and tried his hand in diverse industries: a bartender at Boat Quay, an assistant outlet manager at McDonald’s, an insurance salesman, a prison officer in a maximum security prison, and a croupier in a casino.

He published three Chinese wuxia novels between 2004 and 2012, and his first English-language novel, Let’s Give It Up for Gimme Lao! (2016), was shortlisted for the 2015 Epigram Books Fiction Prize.