Good books set in Singapore?

March 22, 2008 8:29 AM

Please recommend some books set in Singapore.

I'll be spending some time in Singapore and I like to get in the mood for travel by reading literature set in my destination. Amazon searches are failing me on this one, can you help? I am partial to mysteries and sci-fi/ fantasy, but anything well-written and entertaining will do. The writers can be Singaporean or not - I just want to soak in the setting.

posted by Mr Bunnsy to media & arts (15 comments total)

Disneyland with the Death Penalty.
A classic.
posted by bru at 8:47 AM on March 22, 2008 [2 favorites]

Also: I do marketing in the afternoon Mom!
posted by bru at 8:48 AM on March 22, 2008 [1 favorite]

I have no idea whether it's reasonably available, but Paul Theroux's "Saint Jack" is about a brothel owner in Singapore in the 70s, which happens to be the time I was there, or "there" in the sense of working in the Brunei offshore oil fields, and coming into Singapore for leave and such. It was a very different place then. When you're there, ask old-timers about how Bugis Street used to be.
posted by missouri_lawyer at 9:07 AM on March 22, 2008 [1 favorite]

"Saint Jack" is currently, and inexpensively, on Amazon.
posted by missouri_lawyer at 9:09 AM on March 22, 2008

Spider Boys, by Ming Cher--about street kids. fiction.
posted by RedEmma at 9:28 AM on March 22, 2008

This I read when I was a kid. It kept a male teenager's attention through to the end, and I remembered the title, so it may not be as "paperback romance" as it first appears.
posted by Leon at 11:26 AM on March 22, 2008

Seconding Saint Jack, for a look at the seamy chaos that was once part of Singapore before that was all cleaned up (wayyyy before I was born).

Stella Kon's Emily of Emerald Hill is a great play centred on a Nonya matriarch. Emerald Hill is a charming little enclave just off the Orchard Road shopping strip, and you can still see the Peranakan-style conservation shophouses there, although several have been converted into watering holes.

For a more recent attempt at describing modern Singapore and the confusion of a cosmopolitan, try Hwee Hwee Tan's Mammon Inc. I personally found this rather clumsily-written, but it did get some popular acclaim. You can read it in its entirety as a downloadable pdf on the National Library's online repository here.

You didn't ask for poetry, but you may try Colin Cheong's Void Decks And Other Empty Places, which does a good job of capturing the authentic Singapore heartland. I find it more satisfying than Roger Jenkins' From The Belly Of The Carp (also available as pdf here), which can be quite cheesy and touristy sometimes. But you asked for setting, and I think both provide that.

You may also like to check out some of Alfian Sa'at's writings online (unpublished, blog-style) here. Some choice pieces.
posted by hellopanda at 11:32 AM on March 22, 2008 [1 favorite]

My mother (who is from Singapore) enjoyed Tanamera, by Noel Barber. She said it was a fast, entertaining read. It's about two families, one British, one Chinese, and as you can imagine, there's an epic romance. It's set in Singapore during the 1930s and '40s.

Empress of Asia is a fictional account of a Canadian WWII vet remembering his time serving in Asia--his pivotal experience takes place in Singapore at the time that the Japanese invaded and occupied. It's very well-written, but only part of the story takes place in Singapore.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 11:48 AM on March 22, 2008

Two of my favorite books, The Teenage Textbook and the sequel, The Teenage Workbook, are written by Adrian Tan. They are both set in Singapore and are funny stories about relationships and college. The only problem is that they're difficult to find, you might want to try a used book search. They paint a pretty good picture of Singaporeans, I think.
posted by bertrandom at 12:44 PM on March 22, 2008

Breaking the Tongue is a quite good novel set right before and during the Japanese occupation of Singapore.
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 1:49 PM on March 22, 2008

The Singapore Grip. A singular portrait of the place that existed immediately before WWII.
posted by Phred182 at 2:18 PM on March 22, 2008

For a more contemporary view of Singapore as it is today, consider Complete Notes from Singapore: The Omnibus Edition by Neil Humphreys. Humphreys is a British humor writer who spent a number of years living in Singapore. His writing is light and humorous and his writing offers some interesting, honest insight on Singaporeans' lives.
posted by jollyroger at 2:28 PM on March 22, 2008

The Feng Shui Detective is an entertaining bit of fluff set in contemporary Singapore, although the author lives in Hong Kong.
posted by Quietgal at 8:25 PM on March 22, 2008

The links for the Singapore National Library's online repository seem to lead nowhere now. You can navigate to the individual works through the main page.

I'm sure the National Library's Fiction Advisory Service could help you out too (just drop them an email or fill out an online form).

Happy reading!
posted by hellopanda at 10:16 AM on March 23, 2008

When I was a kid, I loved James Clavell's King Rat.
posted by the dief at 9:06 AM on March 24, 2008