Wild Singapore
Geoffrey Davison, Ria Tan, & Benjamin Lee
US: John Beaufoy Publishing, 2012
ISBN: 9781906780722

The book starts with a look at Singapore's wild past: its biogeography from before human occupation up to 19th century changes and finishes with a look at the possible future of wildlife in the country. In between, there are full details on the current flora and fauna to be found in and on Singapore's reefs and rocks, mangroves and mud, lowland and swamp forests, and parks and gardens. A unique feature in each chapter is the 'Guided Tour' which takes readers to specific habitats to explore the trees, birds, plants and animals to be found there. Written by three expert authors, Wild Singapore provides an authoritative and entertaining survey of the wide spectrum of wildlife on the land and in the seas of Singapore.

Battle Story: Singapore 1942
Chris Brown
London: The History Press, 2012
ISBN: 9780752479569

The Fall of Singapore remains a crushing defeat that sent shockwaves around the British Empire during the Second World War. Singapore had always been seen as an impenetrable fortress that would protect the British Empire's stake in the Far East - a legacy of the great days of global dominion. The British Army were aware of the threat to Singapore and Malaya from the first days after Pearl Harbor, but they viewed the Japanese Army as an inferior fighting force, incapable of standing up to the defences and trained troops of the British. Yet, in December 1941 the Japanese launched a swift attack on the Singapore airfields, nearly wiping out the entire fleet of RAF frontline aeroplanes. On 10 December the Japanese also destroyed two of the Royal Navy's premier battleships off the Malay coast. Suddenly, the fate of Singapore rested solely in the hands of the Army. Despite having 90,000 British soldiers posted in Singapore they were quickly overwhelmed by the speed and ferocity of the invading Japanese forces, numbering 75,000 men. The brutality of the Japanese tactics and their sheer ferocity shocked the British and they were soon forced to retreat. By January/February 1942 the British last stand melted away and the Japanese swept into the city, slaughtering those who stood in their way. Over 100,000 men were taken prisoner and many thousands (possibly up to 50,000) residents of the city were massacred. To understand what happened and why read Battle Story.

Singapore Malays: Being Ethnic Minority and Muslim in a Global City-State
Hussin Mutalib
London: Routledge, 2012
ISBN: 9780415509633

The Malay population makes up Singapore's three largest ethnic groups. This book presents holistic and extensive analysis of the 'Malay Muslim story' in Singapore. Comprehensively and convincingly argued, the author examines their challenging circumstances in the fields of politics, education, social mobility, economy, leadership, and freedom of religious expression. The book makes a significant contribution to the understanding of Muslims in Singapore, and the politics of a Malay-Muslim minority in a global city-state. It is of interest to researchers and students in the field of Singaporean studies, Southeast Asian Studies and Islam in Asia.

My 1000 Days' Ordeal: A Spiritual Journey
Ching Cheong
Singapore: Straits Times Press, 2012
ISBN: 9789814342346

Journalists are always taught to cover the news, and not become the news. On April 21, 2005, Straits Times correspondent Ching Cheong broke that rule: he crossed the border into Shenzhen to investigate a manuscript of the memoirs of the late Chinese leader, Zhao Ziyang. That was the start of his nightmare. The next day, he was detained in isolation for more than three months, as the Public Security Bureau tried all manner of ways short of physical violence to get him to confess to spying for Taiwan. He was later "tried" in a Beijing court, his 20,000-word so-called "confession" the only evidence the State Prosecutor produced, and was summarily convicted of spying for "foreign powers" and sentenced to five years' jail.

His book re-counts in detail the emotional turmoil he felt at being "betrayed" by his desire to see China and Taiwan peacefully reunified, the tortuous circumstances under which he was compelled to write a "confession" of his alleged crime, and his struggle to come to terms with what he – albeit unwittingly – brought upon himself. He decided to write it "to contribute in a small way to wiping out the soil that produces such miscarriages of justice" in China, to make sure that he "had not gone to jail for nothing".

For the international legions of human rights activists, Ching's Ordeal describes, in very ordinary terms, how the Chinese authorities — or any other undemocratic regime — use "logic" and forms of mental torture to obtain "confessions". It shows up, without drama, the huge distance China needs to cover to become a country where the rule of law is not subject to politics. Most of all, it shows the "patriots" in the Chinese diaspora the gradient they have to walk to separate communist dictates from a culture of which there is much to be proud. Ching puts it simply: "I hope through the recounting of my story to bring attention to the situation of China's judicial system, so that we can together build a country that respects and protects the rights of a quarter of the world’s population."

The Diary of Amos Lee: Lights, Camera, Superstar!
Adeline Foo
Singapore: Epigram Books, 2012
ISBN: 9789810735180

When his diaries are stolen and published, Amos thinks his world is coming to an end. But what he doesn't realise is that he's going to become really famous! Adoring fan mail, girls throwing themselves at his feet and, with 5,000 friends on Facebook, yes… FINALLY! Life looks to be turning around!

But when a TV Director offers to adapt his diaries into a TV show, Amos learns that a new boy will take over from him in becoming Singapore's Most Famous Toilet Diarist! Filled with insane jealousy and a desire to right a wrong, Amos vows to do all that he can to stop the show. But will he succeed?

Under the Bed, Confusion
Wong Meng Voon
Singapore: Epigram Books, 2012
ISBN: 9789810736613

From a coffee shop assistant to a multimillionaire, from a dissident exiled on Pulau Tekong to a pampered dog, this collection of stories explores the psyche of Singaporeans from all walks of life. With sarcastic wit, and using a mix of realism, magic-fantasy and satire, Cultural Medallion Award winner Wong Meng Voon exposes the city's underbelly and gives readers darkly humorous yet philosophical insights into the residents of this tiny red dot.

Wong Meng Voon is a writer, editor and academic who has published eleven collections of short stories and mini-fiction. An accomplished translator, Dr. Wong has been awarded the Translation Prize by the National Book Development Council of Singapore. For his contribution to Singaporean Literature and the Chinese mini-fiction form, he has been awarded Singapore's Cultural Medallion, the S.E.A. Write Award and China’s Life-long Achievement for World Chinese Mini-Fiction Award.

Teaching Cats to Jump Hoops
You Jin
Singapore: Epigram Books, 2012
ISBN: 9789810736576

A chain-smoking student with a violent past. A girl with a penchant for rare turtles. A boy who sees a raging fire every time he opens his exam booklet. These are some of the students that Madam Tham encounters in her classes. While other teachers refuse to give them a chance, Madam Tham is determined to reach out to them. Funny and heartwarming, this collection of short stories by Cultural Medallion Award winner You Jin explores issues like failed relationships, delinquency and the pressure of school and society. You Jin's insightful portrayals are based on her real life experience as a teacher of twenty-nine years.

Under the pen name You Jin, Tham Yew Chin has published 157 books to date in Singapore, Taiwan, China, Hong Kong and Malaysia. Her collection of work includes novels, short stories, travelogues and essays. The first recipient of both the inaugural Singapore Chinese Literary Award and the Montblanc-NUS Centre for the Arts Literary Award, You Jin was an educator in the Singaporean school system for twenty-nine years. She was awarded Singapore’s Cultural Medallionin 2009.

Penghulu
Suratman Markasan
Singapore: Epigram Books, 2012
ISBN: 9789810735357

Pak Suleh cannot stop thinking about his island. He yearns for Sebidang, the island where he was the penghulu, the village head. But Pak Suleh was forced to relocate to a small high-rise apartment in urban Singapore. What is the price of the relentless onslaught of redevelopment? What personal stories get left behind in the inexorable march of progress?

Written by Cultural Medallion Award winner Suratman Markasan, originally in Malay, this poignant novel sheds light on the untold struggles of Malays in Singapore due to rapid urbanisation. Will Pak Suleh continue to live in the past? Will he be able to thwart the plans of his son-in-law, a newly elected Member of Parliament of the governing party? Will the penghulu return to his island?

Born in 1930 in Pasir Panjang, Singapore, Suratman Markasan completed his studies at Sultan Idris Training College in 1950, before joining the teaching service and enrolling in Nanyang University, where he majored in Malay and Indonesian Studies. He was appointed Assistant Director for Malay and Tamil studies at the Ministry of Education and lectured at the Institute of Education until 1995. He has received the S.E.A. Write Award, the Montblanc-NUS Centre for the Arts Literary Award, the Tun Seri Lanang Literary Award and Singapore’s Cultural Medallion.

Flowers at Dawn
Singai Ma Elangkannan
Singapore: Epigram Books, 2012
ISBN: 9789810735364

War is coming and Anbrasan's life is about to change forever. An immigrant from Tamil Nadu, Anbrasan arrives in Singapore in the 1940s, at a time when society is ripe for change. He is drawn by the charismatic Indian National Army leader Subhas Chandra Bose, and fights with the Japanese against the British. In this stirring novel of war, family and love, originally written in Tamil, Cultural Medallion Award winner Singai Ma Elangkannan explores the captivating story of India's struggle for independence through the lens of Anbrasan's political and sexual awakening.

Under the pen name Singai Ma Elangkannan, M. Balakrishnan has written six collections of short stories and six novels. His work has previously been translated into English and Malay, telecast on Radio Singapore and made into a television drama. A winner of both local and international short story writing competitions, Balakrishnan was the first Tamil writer to receive the S.E.A. Write Award in 1982. He has won the Tamizhavel Award (Gold), the Singapore Literature Prize and Singapore's Cultural Medallion.

The Ernest Mask
Xi Ni Er
Singapore: Epigram Books, 2012
ISBN: 9789810736590

Cultural Medallion Award winner and master of mini-fiction Xi Ni Er turns his incisive eye on the social and economic landscape of Singapore in this debut collection of translated stories, originally written in Chinese. With irony and humour, Xi Ni Er's stories peel back the veneer of official history and reinterpret the ups and downs of almost half a century of nation building.

Known by his pen name Xi Ni Er, Chia Hwee Pheng has received the National Book Development Council of Singapore's Book Award, the Singapore Literature Prize, the S.E.A. Write Award and Singapore's Cultural Medallion. He has published eight books, including the poetry collection Kidnapping Times and the fiction collection The Unbearable Heaviness of Life.

He currently serves as President of the Singapore Association of Writers.

OB Markers: My Straits Times Story
Cheong Yip Seng
Singapore: Straits Times Press, 2012
ISBN: 9789814342339

Cheong Yip Seng's memoir is much more than just a "deep-background – off-the-record" of Lee Kuan Yew’s years as Singapore’s no. 1 newsmaker. It is a chronological and sensitive explanation of how the Republic’s newspaper of record was shaped by Mr Lee – and, more important, why he took it upon himself to do so.

This memoir could not come at a more appropriate time, when Singapore's third generation leaders find themselves in headwinds of public opinion the first Prime Minister dealt with with a firm hand. Whether times have changed and Singapore's current leadership can no longer deal with The Straits Times the way Mr Lee dealt with Cheong Yip Seng and his predecessors is a question this book throws up. The answer is a subject worthy of debate among the myriad self-appointed and untrained citizen journalists, who really should read this book for their own much needed enlightenment.

It is also for anyone interested in the future of Singapore, for its accounts of what constituted "out of bounds" up until 2006 show how such areas could possibly be navigated now. As Cheong's memoir of The Straits Times for more than four decades reveals, the rationale for the Singapore media model may be hard to accept for many liberals. But this model has been sufficiently successful to keep Singapore's newspaper of record one of the most successful in the world.

Shrines & Streetlights
Ho Ren Chun
Singapore: Ethos Books, 2012
ISBN: 9789810733896

Shrines and Streetlights signals the debut publication of poetry by a young, bright Singaporean, whose keen eye and alert spirit frame perspectives that belie a maturity beyond his eighteen years.

With a cadence that is simultaneously practiced yet fresh, a wide scope of objects are infused with poetic symbolism. Ranging from dragonflies to the moon, these poems find meaning in both the mundane and the magical; steeped in the elegant aura of observance but melancholic in a sense of loneliness and yearning. Often winding through Singaporean streets, yet finding itself in intimate moments, Shrines and Streetlights juxtaposes the old and the new, youth and age. It compares love and loss, and reconciles life and death. These themes intertwine to capture the intricacy of human realities often fraught with both passions and miseries, and most poignantly, help us understand their inextricable link.

Before We Forget: Grandmother's Garden and Other Stories
Jeremy Boo (ed.)
Singapore: Hachisu, 2012
ISBN: 9789810729479

Dementia does not discriminate. Doctors have no cure. This book brings together the stories of more than 30 people, including writers like Mr Wang Says So and Mr Miyagi, filmmaker Boo Junfeng, and photojournalist Bob Lee, on what happened when their loved ones had dementia. The poetry, prose, photographs, artwork, and illustrations in this book speak of exhaustion, guilt, acceptance, strength, love, and courage.