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ENGLISH
Novels
i) Shanghai Girls by Lisa See
This novel tells the story of two sisters, Pearl and May, who leave Shanghai in the 1930s to find new lives and families in Los Angeles. Well-educated, sophisticated and beautiful, Pearl and May have to settle with arranged marriages to Los Angeles suitors to improve their social standing when their family faces bankruptcy.
As new immigrants in an unfamiliar land, the sisters face discrimination and a harsh life. Their love keeps them together, but the rivalry between them also leads one to hurt the other. Yet, despite the sacrifices and choices they make, the two heroines of this astounding novel hold fast to who they are – Shanghai girls.
About the author:
Lisa See, a Chinese American writer and novelist, is a best-selling author of Chinese historical fiction. Both her works Shanghai Girls and Snow Flower and the Secret Fan received honourable mentions from the Asian/Pacific American Awards for Literature. Her other work, On Gold Mountain: The 100-Year Odyssey of my Chinese-American Family, was a bestseller and has been adapted into an opera and an exhibition. She lives in Los Angeles.
ii) Gone Case by Dave Chua
Gone Case is the first Singaporean work to be made into a graphic novel. A touching yet unsentimental story about growing up in Singapore, Gone Case explores the paradoxes of life seen through the eyes of 12-year old Yong. Growing up in a Housing Development Board estate, Yong has to deal with numerous issues including family turmoil, run-ins with the neighbourhood gang leader and teenage angst. The novel won the Singapore Literature Prize (Commendation) in 1996.
About the author:
Dave Chua has won numerous awards including the Golden Point Award for Father’s Gift in 1995 and the Singapore Literature Prize for Gone Case in 1996. He was also a recipient of the Arts Creation Fund in 2009.
Besides writing, Chua was involved in the production of Mediacorp sitcom Achar! and Peach Blossom Media’s children animation show Tomato Twins. He has also taught hypertext writing and digital video production at schools, and put together the Fantastic Film Festival and Animation Nation 2005. He is the co-founder of Pulse Pictures, an independent film distribution company.
Short Stories
i) “Shooting an Elephant” by George Orwell [from the book, Stories from the Raj: from Kipling to Independence ]
First published in 1936, this short story by George Orwell describes the experience of the English narrator, called upon to shoot an intruding elephant while working as a police officer in Burma. Although he is unwilling, the narrator does so against his better judgment because he does not want to appear like a fool in front of the crowd that is expecting him to do the job. Witnessing the elephant’s slow and painful death adds to his anguish and sense of helplessness.
About the author:
Eric Arthur Blair (1903-1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, is regarded as perhaps the twentieth century’s best chronicler of English culture. His work is marked by intelligence and wit, an intense opposition to totalitarianism, and reflected his keen sense of social injustice and local sentiments.
Orwell is best known for his novels Nineteen Eighty-Four (published in 1949) and Animal Farm (1945) – they have together sold more copies than any two books by any other twentieth-century author. “Shooting an Elephant” was written based on his life as an imperial policeman in Burma, a valuable experience which also led him to write Burmese Days (1934) and the essay “A Hanging” (1931).
ii) “A Thousand Years of Good Prayers” by Yiyun Li [from the book, A Thousand Years of Good Prayers]
“A Thousand Years of Good Prayers” is a short story in the debut story collection of the same title by Yiyun Li. Mr Shi, an elderly widower and retired scientist, arrives from Beijing to spend time with his divorced daughter Yilan in America. Even as his daughter keeps a distance from him, he is determined to help her sort out her life in this new country, driven by his belief that parents are part and parcel of their children’s lives for as long as they live.
Adapted into a drama feature film directed by Wayne Wang, this story won the Golden Shell Award for Best Film at the 55th San Sebastián International Film Festival in 2007, with actor Henry O taking the Best Actor Award for the film.
About the Author:
Yiyun Li is a US-based author who grew up in Beijing, China. Her stories and essays have won critical acclaim and were published in The New Yorker, The Paris Review, and Zoetrope: All-Story. Two of the stories from A Thousand Years of Good Prayers, namely “The Princess of Nebraska” and “A Thousand Years of Good Prayers”, were adapted into films. The collection A Thousand Years of Good Prayers received the 2005 Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award, the 2006 Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award, Guardian First Book Award, Whiting Writers’ Award and California Book Award for first fiction.
Poems
“Father and Son II” by Felix Cheong [from the book, Sudden in Youth: New and Selected Poems]
About the Author:
Felix Cheong Seng Fei is a poet and a recipient of the National Arts Council (NAC) Young Artist Award for Literature in 2000. He has published works including Temptation and Other Poems (1998), I Watch the Stars Go Out (1999), Broken by the Rain (2003) and Sudden in Youth: New and Selected Poems (2009). Cheong is also an active promoter of the Singapore literary arts scene and facilitates various creative writing workshops.
CHINESE
Novels
i) Memoirs of a Country Boy (久别了的郡望 ) by Oh Kian Tee (胡建弟)
This novel tells of the author’s own formative years in the present-day Marsiling area in the 1970s. The author’s memories of simple village life and growing up with Hokkien-speaking neighbours transport modern city dwellers back to those days of yore and remind us of Singapore’s nostalgic past.
About the author:
Oh Kian Tee, a Singaporean, was born in a village in Singapore in the 1970s. He has a Masters in Chinese Studies from the National University of Singapore and is presently teaching the Chinese Language. Memoirs of a Country Boy has won praise from renowned local authors and educators, and is his first book.
ii) Studying Abroad (留学博客 ) by various authors
This book is a collection of 40 articles by 9 Singaporean undergraduates which were published in a regular column in Lianhe Zaobao. Written in simple, clear language, the book shares the thoughts and experiences of these young people studying and living in foreign lands, as well as their growing up angst. The relevance of topics to the young has won the book many teenage fans.
About the authors:
The authors are 9 Singaporean undergraduates who are studying overseas in China, the United Kingdom and the United States. Among the young authors is Tan Wei Biao, 25, who is currently a final-year student in Fudan University, Shanghai. In 2005, one of his poems won a second prize in a local poetry competition. Another author, Wang Shuyang, came to Singapore from Shenyang, China in 2000 on a Ministry of Education scholarship. In 2005, she won a SPH Overseas Scholarship, which brought her to Cambridge University for her first degree and then to Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies for a Masters Degree. She joined Lianhe Zaobao as a journalist in July 2010.
Short Stories
i) “Parting Gaze” (“目送”) by Lung Yingtai (龙应台) [from the book, Mu Song (目送) ]
This is a short but touching story of the relationships between a mother and a son, a daughter and a father. Through the eyes of a mother sending her son off to a tertiary education overseas, and a daughter watching her father age with the years, the author paints a moving story of life in transition.
About the author:
Lung Yingtai, a celebrated writer, cultural critic and professor of literature, is known for her sharp and candid writing. She has written numerous books and essays, which have great influence in the Chinese-language world in China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Singapore, Taiwan and the USA. She was also a former Cultural Minister of Taipei (1999-2003) and established the Lung Yingtai Cultural Foundation, a non-profit organisation committed to providing platforms for cultural exchanges and intellectual dialogues. Her book, Wild Fire (1985) was published when Taiwan was under Kuomintang’s one-party rule and widely regarded as having influenced the democratisation of the island.
ii) “Set Sail” (“出航”) by Liau Hong Chi (廖鸿基) [from the book, Hai Shen De Xin Chai (海神的信差) ]
This story portrays the delicate relationship between a fisherman father and his daughter. The father was thrilled when his daughter finally wanted to go on a fishing expedition with him but his joy soon turned to sadness when he realised that she did it not to spend time with him but with her boyfriend who wanted to make the trip. It becomes the loneliest trip of his years out at sea and he becomes resigned to the fact that his relationship with his daughter has moved on to a different phase in life.
About the author:
Liau Hong Chi, an award-winning Taiwanese author, is known for his stories about life at sea. His career as a writer began when he became a fisherman at 35 years old. Having been actively involved in whale and dolphin research from the 1990s, he has written numerous stories which document the lives of fishermen and reflect his passion for the sea.
Poem
“The Story of Chopsticks” (“筷子的故事”) by Quek Yong Siu (郭永秀) [from the book, Kuai Zi De Gu Shi (筷子的故事) ]
About the Author:
Quek Yong Siu is an award-winning poet, published author and versatile musician. A man of many talents, the current President of the Association of Composers is also a full-time lecturer and has served on many judging panels for local and overseas literary and music competitions. He also contributes music reviews to the local Chinese newspapers on a regular basis and is a guest DJ on radio music programmes. His poem “The Story of Chopsticks” has been published in works including Kuai Zi De Gu Shi and & Words: Poems Singapore and beyond.
MALAY
Novels
i) Colours (Rona) by Ishak Latiff
In this third anthology, Colours (Rona), Ishak Latiff paints the diversity of life in a colourful and thought-provoking manner. A mix of suspense, mystery, love and loyalty greet the reader as he meets the lively characters of 12 stories who deal with different challenges in life.
About the author:
Ishak Latiff is a prolific writer who has written various award-winning Malay short stories such as “AOD@eternity.com”, “Nirmala”, “Romie & Julie” and “Nadi ke Nadi”. His love for short stories gradually branched out to scriptwriting for theatre, radio and TV. “Aku”, his first theatre script, won him the best script award at the Festival Teater Remaja in 1983, while his contributions to the script for TV drama “Anak Metapolitan” bagged it the best drama award in the Pesta Perdana 2001.
Ishak’s first anthology of short stories entitled Saga – Antologi Cerpen Ishak Latiff won the prestigious Anugerah Persuratan in 2007. The success of this book inspired him to write a second anthology, Sketsa – Antologi Cerpen Ishak Latiff which was published in 2008. Ishak was a Malay Language teacher for 20 years prior to joining the School of the Arts (SOTA) in 2008 as Lead Teacher for the Malay Language.
ii) Verses of Love (Ayat-Ayat Cinta) by Habiburrahman El Shirazy
Verses of Love tells the story of Fahri, a poor but bright student from a remote village in Indonesia, who overcomes obstacles in life to uphold his pure ideals. He wins a scholarship to pursue his studies at the Al-Azhar University in Cairo Egypt and marries a rich and beautiful German-Turkish student from Cairo. Just as Fahri begins to adjust to his new role as a husband and a father in an affluent household, the unexpected happens. He gets arrested and imprisoned for a crime which he did not commit. Undeterred by the harsh environment of life behind bars, Fahri is determined to seek justice with the help of his beloved wife.
Verses of Love was made into a movie and released in Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia in 2008.
About the author:
Indonesian novelist and poet Habiburrahman El Shirazy has several published works to his name. His works have garnered tremendous praise among Malay readers in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei, and one of his earlier works, Ayat-Ayat Cinta was made into a movie. His other novels include Diatas Sajadah Cinta (On the Carpet of Love), Ketika Cinta Berbuah Surga (When Love Bears Heaven), Pudarnya Pesona Cleopatra (The Fading Charm of Cleopatra), Ketika Cinta Bertasbih (When Love Praises God, two volumes) and Dalam Mihrab Cinta (In the Pulpit of Love).
Short Stories
i) “Through the Gateway” (“Gapura”) by Yazid bin Hussein [from the book, Kumpulan Cerpen Satu Macam Penyakit]
This is a captivating story about Tengku Aman, an elderly man who goes on an incredible journey through time. Having spent most of his days at a centre for the elderly, Tengku Aman leads a monotonous life trapped by circumstances. When he stumbles upon a dimensional gateway, it offers him a chance to revisit a past of unfulfilled promises and a glimpse of the future.
About the author:
Yazid bin Hussein has written drama scripts, poems, Malay literature essays and short stories. His most notable work is Awang Belangga, a trilogy that revolves around the folklores of the world. Some of his works have also been published in Malay newspapers such as Berita Harian and Berita Minggu. Yazid received the Young Laureate Awards in 2007 in recognition of his contribution in promoting the Malay Language and Literature. A teacher by profession, he is currently pursuing his PhD in Malay Studies at the University of Malaya and is an active member of the Angkatan Sasterawan ’50 (The Association of the 1950 Writers).
ii) My Wife, Zelga (“Isteriku Zelga”) by Fauzani Azima Mawi [from the book, Aktivis Jurnal Akademik Jilid VII]
This is a science fiction story about the relationship between a man and a robot named Zelga. After a series of failed relationships, the narrator, a bachelor in his 40s, decides to get married, not to a human, but to a robotic clone from Japan. The marriage marks a turning point in the narrator’s life and the two live blissfully as husband and wife for 8 good years until Zelga breathed her last.
About the author:
A young and aspiring writer, Fauzani Azima Mawi is by profession a Malay Language teacher at the Sembawang Primary School and uses her love of writing to instill a passion for the written word among her students. She will be taking her passion and career to the next level by pursuing a degree in Malay Language at the University of Malaya.
Poem
“Something Changes Everything” (“Sesuatu Mengubah Segalanya”) by Abdul Ghani Hamid [from the book, Petikan rasa = Extracts of feelings: a collection of poems & paintings]
About the Author:
Abdul Ghani Abdul Hamid is an award-winning writer, poet and artist and has contributed to Malay literature and the arts in Singapore since his schooldays. Writing primarily in Malay, he has hundreds of poems, short stories, essays, newspaper articles and plays to his name. As a painter, he has participated in more than 60 exhibitions since 1950. He is also the founding member of Angkatan Pelukis Aneka Daya (Artists of Various Resources) and the recipient of three prestigious literary awards: the Anugerah Tun Seri Lanang (1998), the Southeast Asia Write Award for Malay Poetry (1998), and the Cultural Medallion (1999).
TAMIL
Novels
i) Generations (Thalaimuraigal or (தலைமுறைகள்) by Neela Padmanaban (நீல. பத்மநாபன் )
Generations (Thalaimuraigal) is considered one of the top ten novels in Tamil modern literature and was the first Tamil novel by Neela Padmanaban which shot him to fame. Spanning three generations and revolving around the relationship between a brother and sister, this classic story contains a gripping sequence of events and is at its core a beautiful depiction of human relationships. The novel has been translated into English and 11 other languages. It has also been made into an award winning movie called Magizhchi.
About the author:
Neela Padmanaban is a distinguished Tamil novelist, short story writer, poet, critic, and essayist based in Thiruvanathapuram, a southern city of India. When he turned thirty, he shot to fame with the publication of his first novel, Generations (Thalaimuraigal). Neela has written an impressive suite of works – these include numerous long fiction, short stories, poems, essays and a novel in Tamil, several collections of short stories, poems and essays written in Malayalam, and a volume of essays and a poetry collection in English.
ii) Krishnan Vaitha Veedu (கிருஷ்ணன் வைத்த வீடு) by Vannadhasan (வண்ணதாசன் )
This book consists of 12 short stories reflecting the lives of many who reside in the city of Chennai. The stories reflect how human minds yearn to live and stay in one place, even though in reality, the place that one stays in usually is not the place where one wishes to live. The constant changes drive many to move and adapt to different environments for survival. First published in various popular dallies, these stories received rave reviews from the publishers and the public.
About the author:
Vannadhasan is a popular Tamil short story writer who lives in Tirunelveli. He started writing in the Tamil magazine Deepam in 1962 and is still actively writing today. His words, filled with love and affection, reveal the innocent love of humans and make his readers realise the value of life. Vannadhasan has won many awards including the Kalaimamani State Award, Illakiya Sinthanai Award and Pavalar Award. His works include Kalaika Mudiyatha Oppanaigal, Thoatathuku Veliyilum Sila Pookal, Samaveli, Peyar Theriyamal Oru Paravai, Kanivu, Nadugai, Uyaraparathal and Krishnan Vaitha Veedu. He has also written poems under the pen-name Kalyanji.
Short Stories
i) “Home” (“Veedu” or “வீடு”) by Kanagalatha (கனகலதா) [from the book Naan Kolai Seyum Penkal Short Stories (நான் கொலை செய்யும் பெண்கள்) ]
This is a simple tale of a woman and her special bond with her flat. When the woman is asked to vacate the place she has come to call home, she recalls the journey she made from Penang to Singapore and shares with the reader all the beautiful memories that her flat left her.
About the author:
Kanagalatha (Latha) is a poet and writer. She has published two collections of poetry in Tamil: Theeveli (Firespace) (2003), and Paampuk Kaattil Oru Thaazhai (A Screwpin in Snakeforest) (2004). Her short story collection Naan Kolai Seyum Penkal (The Women I Murder) won her the Singapore Literature Prize in 2008.
Kanagalatha’s poems and short stories have also been published in Words, Home and Nation (1995), Rhythms (2000), Fifty on 50 and Tumasik (2009), and various Tamil literary journals in India, Malaysia, France and Sri Lanka. Her bilingual poems “Still Human” were also featured in the MRT: Poems on the Move series on the MRT trains by the National Arts Council (1996), while “Karanguni” was displayed in the MOVING WORDS 2011 show case of Singaporean literature on the MRT network by The Literary Centre (2011). She is currently the Sunday editor of Tamil Murasu, Singapore’s Tamil daily newspaper.
ii) “The Photographer” (“Kannadithundu” or “கண்ணாடித் துண்டு”) by Indrajit (இந்திரஜித்) [from the book, Veetukku Vanthar (வீட்டுக்கு வந்தார்) ]
This is a story about a magazine photographer who is driven by his love for photography and works for passion rather than for money. The reader also gains insight to the progress of the publishing industry as it transits from the 1960s to the late 1980s.
About the author:
Indrajit has published two short story collections, two poetry collections and a collection of articles. His second short story collection, Puthitaaga Irandu Mugangal (Two New Faces) has won the book prize from the Association of Singapore Tamil Writers. Apart from his full time job in the media industry, he contributes his writings to various publications in Singapore, Malaysia and India.
Poem
“Tempavai” (“Mother Singapore” or “தே ம் பாவை”) by Murugathasan ( முருகதாசன் ) [from the book, Tempavai (தே ம் பாவை) ]
About the Author:
Murugathasan is a poet who came to Singapore from India at the age of 16. He has written more than 1000 poems in traditional style, and composed many folksongs on issues such as devotion, patriotism, community and nature. To date, he has published nine books of poetry and has been honoured with titles such as Paaththen Ral and Villisai Vendhar. He also has a good number of awards to his name, including the Montblanc-NUS Centre for the Arts Literary Award (1998), the Thamizhavel Award (2003) and the Singapore Literature Prize (2010) for his 13th book, Sangamam.
The short stories are also available in MobileRead so you can READ on the GO!
Refer to Catalogue, for availability of our selected novels at the libraries.
