It's Easy to Cry
Subhas Anandan
Singapore: Marshall Cavendish Editions, 2015
ISBN: 9789814561525

Subhas Anandan passed away on 7 January 2015 at the age of 68. He was Singapore's the best-known criminal lawyer, having led several landmark cases that shaped the face of criminal law in Singapore.

In this volume It's Easy to Cry, this foremost champion of pro bono work moves away from depicting gruesome murders and delves instead into the emotions behind the crimes. He writes about cases where deep and complex emotions are displayed, like the mother who lied and pleaded guilty to save her son. He also shares his thoughts on the many people who have affected him in one way of the other and the legal system in Singapore.

One More Chance: The Story of Benny Se Teo From Heroin Addict to Restaurant Boss
Colin Cheong
Singapore: Armour Press, 2014
ISBN: 9789814597425

By the time he was in Primary 5, Benny Se Teo was packing opium and running the packets to his father’s opium den in Chinatown. At 15, Benny had his first puff of pot, then one night, he bought a straw of heroin and his troubles truly began.

In jail after his umpteenth arrest, he began to bleed in his stomach and had to be rushed to hospital. In those hours, he remembered the Saviour he had accepted in 1980 at the first halfway house he had been sent to. And he remembered the pain he had caused his family - especially his mother. He decided to get clean and stay clean.

This is Benny’s story - of how his faith and the faith his friends placed in him, turned him from a hard-core heroin addict into a restaurant boss. But it is more than a story of a wasted youth - it is also a primer for young people who have the idealism and drive to start businesses that can help society and make the world a kinder place.

Did You Know?: Professor Chao Tzee Cheng
Brenda Tan
Singapore: Pearson, 2012
ISBN: 9789810619817

Professor Chao Tzee Cheng was Singapore's foremost forensic pathologist for more than 30 years. He helped the police in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and even West Africa to solve many murder cases.

His passion for solving crimes was driven by his strong sense of justice. Find out how he became the best forensic pathologist in Singapore and how he solved some of the most shocking crimes in South East Asia!

The Making of Captains of Lives: Prison Reform in Singapore: 1999 to 2007
Chua Chin Kiat
Singapore: World Scientific, 2012
ISBN: 9789814383820

This book tells a story of successful prison reform that brought the recidivism rate of prisoners down from 44% to 24%. In the process of this reform, the entire Prison Service was transformed from a custody focused mindset to a rehabilitation centred culture. This change was wrought despite the lack of enthusiasm of the then political leadership.

The author describes his personal role in the reform effort, the methodology used to engender change in organizational culture and the struggles for the soul of the prison service and the hearts and minds of all those involved. These include organizations involved in the aftercare of ex-offenders, volunteers who came forward to assist in the efforts and the families and employers of offenders and ex-offenders. The journey ends with the Yellow Ribbon Project that now embodies the rehabilitative efforts for ex-offenders.

The Making of Captains of Lives is a personal account of a public sector leader who has helped built a highly efficient prison system in Singapore, providing a strong case study for successful change management and public sector leadership. It will encourage the hearts of all those civil servants who believe in serving their nations and societies by devoting themselves to a worthy cause in their day-to-day work.

Close Watch: A Nation's Resolve to Secure Singapore
Ben Nadarajan
Singapore: Straits Times Press, 2012
ISBN: 9789814342193

Close Watch documents Singapore’s efforts in countering the threat of terrorism since the country was stunned by the arrests of several Jemaah Islamiyah members here following the 11 September 2001 attacks on the United States. This book details what goes on behind the scenes as the authorities endeavour to keep the country safe from terrorist attacks. The whole-of-government approach to the threat is augmented by contributions from a cross-section of society, from the private sector to religious organisations and members of the public. Together, their collective vigilance is a testimony to the whole-of-nation effort in keeping our home safe.

The Prosecutor
Glenn Knight
Singapore: Marshall Cavendish, 2012
ISBN: 9789814302333

Glenn Knight was Singapore’s first Director of Commercial Affairs and Deputy Public Prosecutor until his illustrious career of public service came to an abrupt end. This book covers both the personal and professional landscape of this former top crime buster and high-flier, and details the highly publicised cases he handled including the Adrian Lim murders, and the Pan-El and JB Jeyaretnam cases. It also describes his learning experience working with major legal personalities like Mr TT Rajah, AG Tan Boon Teik, Singapore’s first Chief Justice Wee Chong Jin, Justice FA Chua, Justice Choor Singh and Mr David Marshall.

This is Business!: My Life as a Singapore Gangster II
Foo Yin Tung
Singapore: Marshall Cavendish Editions, 2012
ISBN: 9789814382021

Away from prying eyes, in hidden alleys and on invisible streets lies an underworld, privy only to those who know where to find it. A world built on trust, loyalty, blood and fueled by money and power.

Foo Yin Tung has worked hard to get to where he is. He now oversees his gang's online gambling and casinos and has a plan to expand his territory; a plan that will not only see him recognized by his chief, but also rid him of a rival gang.

But blood begets blood and Yin Tung soon finds himself embroiled in the middle of a war - a war for territory, for pride, and to protect the ones he loves. Immerse yourself in this compelling, gritty and honest account of one man's life in the underbelly of Singapore.

Making Singapore Safe: Thirty Years of the National Crime Prevention Council
Susan Sim
Singapore: Marshall Cavendish Editions, 2011
ISBN: 9789814361286

This is the story of how the NCPC has quietly worked with grassroots organisations, industry and the government to transform an apathetic public into a proud movement of community activists. It explains how this bold experiment in harnessing the community complemented the Singapore Police's "radical" move to neighbourhood policing, allowing a zero-tolerance approach to crime that is governed by public consensus, not fear. The NCPC story is also about how vulnerable groups - the old, the young, the guest worker - are being empowered to fight back against crime, whether it be molestation, snatch thefts, phone scams, robberies or cyber predation. It is the story of how the Council caused the ban on bar-top dancing to be lifted, and why every fifth-grader will soon be playing computer games in school. This book also tells the NCPC story in images familiar to all Singaporeans.

Criminal Intent II: True Stories From Changi Prison
Wong Kim Hoh
Singapore: Singapore Prison Service, 2011
ISBN: 9789810880026

Criminal Intent II is a second collection of another 14 riveting interviews with offenders who are serving time in prison and ex-offenders who are re-building their lives after their release. The offenders' and ex-offenders' frank accounts of what went wrong and how their lives - and those of their loved ones - have been affected make compelling reading and offer life lessons for all.

Yellow Ribbon: True-Life Accounts of Ex-Offenders and Their Second Chance at Life
Shawn Wee & Looi Wan Teng
Singapore: Marshall Cavendish Editions, 2011
ISBN: 9789814328739

Drug abuse, peddling, smuggling, and even murder: what happens after those convicted of these crimes are released? They have done the time and paid the price, but can they really change?

Upon release, many ex-offenders struggle with the stigma of having done time. They are released from prison or drug rehabilitation centres, only to find themselves imprisoned by something far more intimidating than steel bars, barbed wires and towering walls - prejudice. Viewed with suspicion, they face difficulties in securing jobs and reconciling with their loved ones. But all they need is a chance to prove themselves.

Yellow Ribbon is a book that chronicles the lives of eleven ex-offenders in Singapore who have managed to break free of the "second prison". Through their own determination, the support of those around them, and initiatives like the Yellow Ribbon Project, they have managed to overcome the odds and secure for themselves, and their families, a better, brighter future.

The Right Mistakes: My Life as a Singapore Gangster
Foo Yin Tung
Singapore: Marshall Cavendish International, 2011
ISBN: 9789814302951

"Today I am 22 years of age. I used to be a person who was working in the complex streets of Geylang and the black market. I was a gangster in three different criminal organizations. Robbery, assault, peddling drugs, extortion... At the end of everything I have done in the underworld, I have never brought goodness to anyone around me. People who know me and those who don't, I have never given them something pleasant to smile about."

As a child, Foo Yin Tung seemed to have a particular affinity for trouble. Despite his best intentions, his actions and decisions always seemed to land him on the wrong side of the law. Without the support of a loving family, Yin Tung was drifting and furthermore, angry - and he didn't know why. With his father in jail and his mother working tirelessly to provide for her only child, Yin Tung was left to his own to make sense of his world and fend for himself. The death of his beloved grandmother and constant teasing by peers over the absence of his father drove him to fill the void in his world with friends who gave him the support he never had, the security he never knew and worth he never felt. But this came with a price, and with eyes wide open, Yin Tung fell headlong into a secret, illegal world, where bravery and loyalty were valued above all. But eventually Yin Tung had to come face to face with the reality of his world and into confrontation with all that he had been running from.

With piercing honesty and brazen boldness of youth, Yin Tung recounts his experiences of being in a gang, his brushes with law and examines the events that brought him there. What made him who he is today? Was it his own choices, or the choices of others? And does he have the agency to decide what he will become? More than just a shocking story of a boy losing his way, The Right Mistakes is about a boy trying to make sense of his life and change it for the better.

Blood Lust
Alex Josey
Singapore: Marshall Cavendish, 2009
ISBN: 9789814276214

The Tenth Man - Gold Bar Trials:
The true story of the murder of a gold merchant and his two employees reads like a fast-paced thriller.

From the sinister excitement of the plotting and the merciless, savage execution of the victims, to the hiding and waiting for eventual retribution, this will prove one gripping read.

The Murder of a Beauty Queen:
This is the story of a man found guilty on circumstantial evidence, of the murder of his beautiful, sensuous, rich and widowed sister-in-law. Not until the condemned man appealed did a witness admit he had committed perjury—given false evidence. Confessing, this was the first time in Malaysia’s legal history that a witness in a murder trial had been convicted and sentenced to long-term imprisonment for perjury.

The accused was finally acquitted. Had he been hung and the perjurer exposed later, this perjurer would most likely have been hung in accordance to the law that demands a life for a life in these circumstances. With carnal and carnage in flux, this is a trial not to be missed.

Cold-Blooded Murders
Alex Josey
Singapore: Marshall Cavendish, 2009
ISBN: 9789812618924

The Trials of Sunny Ang:
Bankrupt and desperate for money, a brilliant psychopath planned the perfect crime. Sunny Ang selected his victim with care. Jenny was a young divorced bar girl with little schooling, flattered that an educated, charming man should notice her. He seduced her and promised marriage. He also insured Jenny's life for a million dollars; the sum would go to his mother if she died an accidental death. Then he plotted murder: first, an unsuccessful car accident, and then the fatal scuba diving trip off the dangerous waters of Sisters Islands. Jenny went down and never came up. Only a cut flipper was found.

Without a body, the prosecution had no medical evidence and no witnesses to claim unnatural death. How did the law finally catch up with Ang?

Pulau Senang - The Experiment that Failed:
In 1965, 18 convicted criminals were sent to death fro murder - a haunting testimony to the failure of a bold experiment to reform seasoned criminals in a goal without bars. Right to the end, Daniel Dutton, director of the model penal settlement, could not believe that the men he had befriended and worked so hard to rehabilitate would want to destroy him. Too late he realised the extraordinary hold secret society leaders had over their men.

Pulau Senang reconstructs the events that led to the tragedy and the trial, and throws light on a question that has never been answered satisfactorily: Why did the experiment fail?