Odeon: An Ode

“Written with a poet’s eye, a historian’s instinct for excavation and a brother’s heart, Odeon by Theophilus Kwek tells the story of those whose fates are entwined with 331 North Bridge Road, a narrative anchored by the life of Fazley Elahi Rubel. Clear-eyed about the precarity of being a migrant worker in an economy that values utility and margins above all else, the book tenderly traces Rubel’s hopes and heartbreaks, his friendships and community, and above all, his vision for change, which continues beyond his time here.

In Singapore, where a square metre might shapeshift from year to year, a building can be, in turn, a monument of pride, a site of entertainment or political activity, or a much-needed refuge. But Odeon compellingly reminds us that a building—and, by extension, a country—is defined not just by function, but by the oft-invisible hands that labour it into existence. Whether you’re already familiar with Rubel’s life, or freshly encountering the stories behind one of Singapore’s most iconic old theaters, Odeon is a powerful, stirring read.”
—Jemimah Wei, Author of The Original Daughter

“Theophilus Kwek’s Odeon: An Ode is a quietly powerful and excellent read that elegantly weaves together history, memory and humanity through an address in downtown Singapore.

This poignant work of creative nonfiction captures life’s treasured—and tortured—moments, creating a tale of two individuals whose vastly different journeys reveal how place, chance and circumstance can both unite and divide lives.

At the heart of this book is a beautiful and deeply moving tribute to a friend, a brother and a brave, generous soul who taught us that while lives may be finite, kindness, love and the connections we forge continue to ripple through the world.”
—Charmaine Leung, Author of 17A Keong Saik Road

“In the three acts of Odeon: An Ode, Theophilus Kwek presents us with a literary palimpsest. The fragmentary, elliptical narrative excavates layers of history at the intersection of Cashin Street and North Bridge Road. As Kwek digs deeper, a contemporary building gives way to a construction site, to the Odeon Cinema, and to a cabaret with meeting rooms upstairs where anticolonial activists and union leaders gathered just after the end of the Second World War.

Three figures wander through this landscape: Kwek’s close friend Fazley Elahi, whom we know as Rubel, the migrant writer and activist; schoolteacher, unionist and later President of Singapore, Devan Nair; and the author himself. Through this process of inhabitation, the built environment becomes a landscape of both the body and the mind. The remembered past is a prosthesis that, no matter how skilfully reimagined, cannot quite reconstitute what has gone missing. History’s sediments are disturbed and distorted: the strata of coloniality emerge unexpectedly from the surface and mix with personal relationships and affective ties. Odeon pays tribute to a place, two men’s lives and the difficulty of remembering otherwise.”
—Philip Holden, Scholar of Singapore and Southeast Asian Literature; Author of Heaven Has Eyes

“A few worlds unravel in this ode. Kwek’s narrative melds past, present and future, displaying shifting infrastructure against the familiarity of street names. He emplaces Odeon, Bras Basah Complex, the Istana and a worker’s dormitory into history and culture, making a stab at the amorphousness of change.

Yet Kwek also unfurls two human figures—Bangladeshi migrant worker Rubel and former Singapore President Devan Nair. One is at the ‘bottom’ of the work ladder; the other rose to the top. Both faced immense life changes, and both have died. Kwek breathes life into them, resurrecting their values and purpose. Rubel, ailing from cancer, built a thriving literary culture despite a lack of accommodation; Devan Nair remained an exceptional union leader committed to workers. Kwek insinuates they are the bricklayers who built a constancy of care, love, hope and camaraderie.

He cleverly juxtaposes a physical building—the 23-storeyed Odeon—with these two human forms whose spirits rise higher than the newly restored infrastructure. Odeon is a metamorphosis, inviting us to look beyond vacuousness to find what anchors.”
—Braema Mathi, Writer, editor, human rights activist and founder-President of TWC2

“In this moving ode to time, place, comradeship and sacrifice, Theophilus Kwek honours the gifts and generosity of one man, his brother Rubel, and in so doing, shows us that this city of migrants, so restless for change and progress, has yet to learn the true value of human dignity.”
—Ng Kok Hoe, Senior Research Fellow, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy; President, HOME

Theophilus Kwek has published five collections of poetry, two of which were shortlisted for the Singapore Literature Prize. In 2023, he was the youngest writer and first Singaporean to be awarded the Cikada Prize by the Swedish Institute, for poetry that “defends the inviolability of life”. His essays have appeared in the Times Literary Supplement, Columbia Journal, Wasafiri and elsewhere. Odeon is his first book of creative nonfiction.