Sharlene Teo's Reading List

"In terms of the really extensive historical accounts of Singapore, quite a few of the canonical ones are pretty old now. There’s one by CM Turnbull , for example, that dates from 1977, and of course these historical accounts are always inflected by the politics of the writers. Obviously colonial accounts of Singapore tell a particular, subjective story, as do most texts of history-making. Singapore: A Biography came out a few years ago, in 2013. It’s a balanced book and it takes us through the development and history of Singapore. A lot of it is compilations of oral histories, because that’s where the rich, documentary material lies. I like the way it’s both a deeply academic book, written in a very clear and straightforward manner, and also written quite lyrically. One of the authors, Yu-Mei Balasingamchow, is a novelist and a short story writer, and you can really tell that influence. There’s a kind of writerly eye to it. It’s just a fascinating and very, very useful overview of the dynamic, multi-layered essence of Singapore in history. Yes, it’s a colossal undertaking. For most people my age, I would say it’s a very, very good resource. It’s quite approachable as well."

"Everyone now assumes Singapore is all about Crazy Rich Asians , a film that has eclipsed everything else as the dominant pop cultural reference point, particularly from the Western perspective. This book is a good starting point for people who are unfamiliar with Singaporean society or who perhaps have a less complex, more cursory impression of the country. Also, it’s a good book to approach in light of the hyper-emergence of China as a significant world power. The fact is a lot of Singaporean Chinese are descended from China. There’s an interesting power relation there, a connection to China, but not quite. “Ponti is a portrayal of, and a love letter to, the country that I grew up in.” People who are curious about what it is that makes contemporary Singapore society pretty singular could look to this book. It sheds light on basic class differences and social inequality. These are issues which most Singaporeans have always been aware of. Frankly, Singapore is quite a classist society and fairly materialistic. The book is very, very illuminating because there is a massive difference between low income, mid-income and very affluent Singaporeans. Of course, these income differences and brackets affect everyone in every society, but this book is incredibly nuanced. To look at these detailed case studies of that and to read more thoroughly about it gives you a better understanding of the economic and social conditions that affect everyday Singaporeans. It’s true. That’s why it’s so interesting. In terms of Singapore as a society, some things are very accessible and there’s the widely-held knowledge that, for example, the cost of food is pretty good. It’s kept quite low. On the other hand, there are other things, like associated living costs, that make life quite difficult—though obviously not difficult in a way that you could transpose to some other countries and economic models."

"How We Disappeared is a historical novel about the Japanese occupation of Singapore. It’s a sweeping epic and tells the tragic story of a young girl who gets taken as a comfort woman. This is an essential read. It’s a wonderful introduction to Singaporean literature and where Singaporean literature is headed. It’s incredibly beautifully written and very understated. It narrates a very painful and formative period of Singaporean history which doesn’t get talked about that much. There’s the whole social group of the comfort women. These are women that have been marginalised and not even acknowledged, historically, until fairly recently. It is a necessary narrative that people need to engage with more, about the costs of the war. That’s why, as a work of fiction, it’s a great introduction to Singapore, especially for readers who might not be aware of this period of time or these historical occurrences. They’re treated as traitors. It’s just terrible. It’s a horrible experience that has parallels throughout Asia. Women had to undergo this and it was deeply traumatic. I don’t think so. We are educated fairly comprehensively in school about the traumas of the Second World War. It also gets drummed into us by local television series. For example, Channel 8, the Chinese/Mandarin TV station, has quite a lot of war genre series. It’s something that growing up I was always aware of, but it’s positive that now books like How We Disappeared are reaching a wider audience outside of Singapore as well."

"Yes, she’s a political columnist. This book is a compilation of articles she has written over the years under a couple of broad categories. So she’s got one about the class divide, which This is What Inequality Looks Like touches on as well. Then there’s “Brave New World Disruption,” local politics, partly politics and the legacy of Lee Kuan Yew, who passed away a couple of years ago. He was basically the founding father of Singapore. Yes, that’s true. There’s the age-old complaint everyone makes about overcrowding and competition for jobs and opportunities, about gentrification. There’s a huge and constant influx of expats, both white collar as well as blue collar. Every time there’s a huge influx of immigration—just as you see in the United Kingdom—that generates a certain amount of friction and hostility. So, there is that. Support Five Books Five Books interviews are expensive to produce. If you're enjoying this interview, please support us by donating a small amount . There’s also the space aspect. Having to queue for ages for everything is quite a Singaporean thing to talk about, but now even moreso. The book is useful, especially as a Singaporean that doesn’t live in Singapore anymore. It’s very, very Illuminating for me. It’s basically a compilation of the ongoing hot-button debates. Singaporeans love to debate and argue."

"What I like about it is, firstly, that it’s told from the much-welcomed perspective of a Singaporean Indian. In Singapore, other cultures do not tend to get as much space as the majority, which is the Singaporean Chinese perspective. It’s a wonderfully written, witty work of fiction that looks at parallel narratives. It’s a story of migration, firstly about a woman who moved to Singapore from India at a particular time in the 40s. Then it fast-forwards to pretty much the present day, to 2014, and you get some wonderfully incisive depictions of contemporary living—things like office politics or just what it’s like to live in the city. There’s wonderful evocation of detail there. It’s quite understated, and handled really well. Get the weekly Five Books newsletter It’s an ongoing social issue which I’ve heard about from people firsthand. Preference is given to people who hold a Singapore passport, and it’s unfair, as all draconian immigration laws are in the UK as well. When people try to impose a cap on immigration numbers and people have to earn above a certain income bracket—no matter how long they’ve established their lives in a particular place—that’s unfair. It’s very much about the treatment of women and looking at issues of migration, borders, citizenship and belonging. How do we claim where we belong? How long do you have to live somewhere, how do you earn that right? It is very safe, that is absolutely true. That’s another thing that I really liked reading this book: none of the details ring false. It does really incisively describe the kind of claustrophobia and complacency that comes with living in such a safe, really well-developed city. Yes, it’s multilingual. It’s not completely segregated at all. You do get the sense that it’s pretty cosmopolitan and multicultural."