2025年4月——新書上架

About the Book

Sex workers in Singapore — and most places around the world — tend to be dehumanised, glamourised or sensationalised by the public and media alike. Rarely do mainstream narratives centre sex workers’ voices and agency. The Missing Anthology presents fifteen bold new voices from sex workers, whose writings resist society’s simplistic assumptions about sex work. In these works, authors recount their lived experiences, share their struggles and triumphs, and imagine different futures for the sex industry.

Born from an open call and writing workshops organised by Project X — the only non-profit organisation in Singapore that provides social, emotional, and health services to people in the sex industry — these pieces daringly experiment with form, genre, and perspective. In these pages, you’ll find two “chickens” discussing their dreams while blowing up a condom; pieces on the dynamics of domme-ing and servicing second-hand hearts; essays on the importance of activism and its obstacles; short fiction exploring fantasies of violent liberation; tender letters to loved ones and younger selves that reflect on their journeys and how far they’ve come.

The Missing Anthology re-centres sex workers’ voices from the margins, bringing them into the conversation about an industry often treated as illicit and taboo. By doing so, it aims to address issues of inequality, social and economic mobility, stigmatization, and safety that are fuelled by misconceptions about sex workers and their profession.

Advance Praise

"I’ve been a sex worker since 2011, and even I found my eyes opened reading this collection. The stories, vignettes, and poems within feel like whispers of secrets, fragments of dreams, or the kind of raw, unfiltered honesty you only get from a deep chat with an old friend. Through the voices of Singapore’s sex workers, this remarkable anthology reveals the incredible diversity of joy, rage, hope, and humanity that exists in our lives.

Too often, others try to tell our stories for us — flattening them into stereotypes or sensationalised clichés. But this collection refuses to let those distant assumptions speak. These are our stories, told in our voices, with all the complexity and richness of lived experience. Reading it was deeply moving, at times heartbreaking, and profoundly real.

It is a rare privilege to see the world through these eyes — to be reminded of the shared, challenging, and beautiful gift of life in all its forms. I am honoured to recommend this work. It is vital, human, and, above all, true."

EVA OH, also known as 'Mistress Eva' — award winning International Dominatrix

"An inter-generational, inter-genre, and inter-spatial exploration of the lives of sex workers and their labour conditions in Singapore. Exciting, intimate, endearing, vengeful, repressed, and cathartic all at once, The Missing Anthology reflects the sweeping diversity of sex workers' experiences, motivations, and lives. From the streets of 80s red light districts in Singapore, the online chat rooms of the aughts, and the transgressive imagination of the empowered millennial, the anthology is a landmark publication that stabs a stiletto heel against the singular story and image of a deliberately misunderstood labour class. The stories of sex workers strain against a society’s ability or inability to accept its own desires and the people who work to fulfil them. This book is as necessary a reading as any about the nation, for behind these stories, the country finds an unwritten one of its own."

DIANA RAHIM — visual artist, writer, community worker and editor of Beyond The Hijab

About the Editors

Vanessa Ho (she/they) joined Project X in 2011 and became its executive director in 2019. Her tenure at Project X has provided her many valuable opportunities to meet and connect with sex workers in Singapore and around the world. She has also written and spoken extensively about sex work, human trafficking, rape culture, and LGBTQ rights in Singapore. Vanessa holds the view that if people can speak about sex, gender, and sexuality in open and in non-judgmental ways, society will become a safer place for everyone.

Raksha Mahtani (they/them) is a researcher-writer-facilitator and vice-president on the board of Project X. Notable contributions include working on the organisation's membership model, the voluntary industry exit programme, and report writing. Their master’s thesis research examines labour market hierarchies in Singapore’s sex industry, with research interests that nestle at the intersections of social inequality, friendship, migration, feminism, and multiracialism. Raksha has been published in rivulet 10 and Exhale, and has also performed spoken word as part of Sekaliwags and Mass Hysteria.

nor (they/them) is the Programmes Manager at Project X. Their favourite part of working at Project X is being able to experience the generosity shown by sex workers in telling their stories. Outside of Project X, nor is a multidisciplinary artist, poet and 1/6th of the Studio Ong collective.

• 小說真實地描繪了同志羣體在現代都市中的生存狀態。故事發生在北京這個繁華的大都市中，作者詳細描寫了像三里屯這樣的社交中心，展示了都市時尚的多元文化氛圍。無論是社交聚會中的喧囂，還是個體內心的孤獨與掙扎，這本書都以細膩的筆觸，將讀者帶入一個複雜而又真實的情感世界。
  
  
• 故事中的角色身份多樣，但他們面對的情感挑戰與生活困境卻是任何一個人可能經歷的。文韜對晚年孤獨的恐懼、小新對前任的執念、J在尋找自我認同中的迷茫和Nick在浮華生活中的寂寞，都讓讀者能夠從中找到自身生活的影子。家庭的壓力、職場的挑戰、愛情的波折，這些都是每個人在生活中可能面臨的問題。這些情感經歷，不僅具有強烈的現實感，並引發讀者對自身生活的思考與共鳴。
  
  
• 《Just JACK》不僅是一部描寫同志生活的小說，更是一部關於人性的作品。書中的角色在面在愛情與慾望、現實與理想之間的掙扎，種種經歷與任何人無異。小說還深入探討了LGBTQ+羣體在社會中的困境與抗爭。無論是面對家庭壓力的形婚，還是在職場中因性取向而遭遇的偏見，書中的角色們都在不同的環境中努力尋找屬於自己的平衡點與自我價值。

內容簡介

　　《Just JACK》展現了現代都市同志的生活狀態與情感糾葛。故事圍繞主角J、文韜、Nick、小新等人展開，他們在社交聚會中探討情感、友情、慾望以及如何在都市環境中尋找到自我認同價值與情感歸屬。這些角色在北京這座大都市中互相扶持，經歷了各種挫折、情感糾葛和生活挑戰。他們各自代表了都市同志羣體中不同的類型，通過他們的故事，作品探討了愛情、友情、家庭和尋找自我價值的複雜性，反映了現代都市生活中的多元與矛盾。

作者簡介

　　遼寧大連人，早年間混跡於北京，現居住於上海杭州兩地。從未想過可以成爲作家的理科生，每天都在做白日夢的空想家，喜歡觀察人類的敏感體質，經常後悔卻從不悔改的犟種。當一個人真正的開始爲自己而活的時候，他便很少再去向別人解釋自己的行爲。

序

關於我和你◎Ou.Y

　　2009年畢業的時候，我離開東北家鄉來到北京，像大多數年輕人一樣躊躇滿志地準備在這座大城市紮根生活，對自己的未來充滿信心。然而，與大部分年輕人的境遇差不多，異鄉的生活與工作壓力遠遠不是一個剛畢業的大學生可預料到的。我經歷了多次起伏，遭受過社會的毒打，偶爾也會被喂一顆紅棗之後繼續接受着千錘百煉。漸漸地，我發現與其妄想去征服這座城市，不如找到與之共處的方法。

　　怎樣與一座城市共處？它不是你的情侶，也不是你的朋友，它更像是一個容器——它可以包容你，包容萬物。可前提是，你要知道自己是誰、自己需要什麼，你才能在這個容器裏更好地生活。自我認知是一個漫長而又瞬間的過程，有的人在循序漸進的生活裏慢慢了解到自我的需求，有的人則在經歷劇烈變動後一夜長大。但無論過程如何，你最終要面對與處理的，還是你內心最深處的真實慾望。

　　這是一本關於在北京生活的四位同志的故事。他們在這座城市生活、戀愛、享受喜樂、遭受打擊、經歷挫折，相互取暖又自我療愈。這些故事的主線，或許我們都曾經歷過，它可能發生在你朋友們的身上，也有可能是你聽到的八卦，甚至可能就發生在你自己身上。書中的人物各自作出了不同的選擇，而我寫下這些故事的目的，是希望你可以從不同的角度看待生活的挑戰。我不能告訴你該怎麼做，或者哪些是對的哪些是錯的。在我看來，黑白灰之間並沒有絕對的界限。你如何看待問題，取決於你所處的立場和過往的經歷。每個人所處的環境、經歷和利益關係不同，所以對同一件事物的理解也就會產生差異。但你的選擇代表了你自己，因此，你要處理好自己的選擇，忠於自我。

　　在現實生活與網絡中，有關同志的討論此起彼伏，有正面的也有負面的聲音，各種觀點無非是試圖想說服大衆——我們是這樣的，我們是那樣的。有些觀點源自於個人認知的差異，而有些觀點的背後則是由利益驅動。但“觀點”不等於“真理”，它沒辦法適用於所有人。作爲一本現實主義題材的小說，我在書裏也輸出了許多觀點。我希望你能來反駁我的觀點，並不是因爲我喜歡與人爭辯，而是希望你能更多運用辯證的角度去看待問題，培養獨立思考的能力，避免掉入人云亦云的思維模式中，找到最合適你的立場，幫助你完成自我的成長。

　　書裏的很多故事來源於真實生活，我的朋友們是我的靈感繆斯。我在生活中並不是個很愛說話的人，更多時候是在默默地觀察着身邊的人事物，我想象他們當下的心態，觀察他們的表情，甚至試圖預測他們接下來要說的話。這些都成了我一種很奇特的“癖好”。所以，看起來雲淡風輕的我，內心常常在模擬一出大戲，導致很多的想法不吐不快。當你沒有合適的人選（我覺得並不會有）去分享你內心諸多想法的時候，寫作就成了你唯一的出路。

　  起初只是試着寫幾個小故事，沒想到把自己沉浸在寫作之後又是個話癆。筆下的四位主角彷彿都有了呼吸與血肉，他們的故事像是有了生命一般自主的得到了延展，內容越寫越多。我似乎看到了他們的成長與困境，也引起了我的好奇心想一探究竟，看看接下來會如何發展。這本書的內容尚不足以能涵蓋他們的完整故事，希望有一天，他們的故事能得以延續。

　　最後，我要感謝兩個人。一位是我最好的朋友李先生，謝謝他長久以來的陪伴，這份友情格外珍貴。另一位是鄭先生，沒有你，便不會有這本書。

　　謝謝。

目錄

關於我和你◎Ou.Y

第一章：Gay and the City
第二章：Date Night
第三章：我有一個小祕密
第四章：One Night In DES
第五章：不安感
第六章：Love in Bangkok
第七章：談談情，說說愛
第八章：前任的魔咒
第九章：分手指南
第十章：人人都有病
第十一章：謊言、婚紗與尿不溼
第十二章：心碎時刻
第十三章：我

_________

英文書名：Just JACK
ISBN：978-981-94-0829-0
出版社：新文潮出版社私人有限公司
出版日期：2025年4月
分類：長篇小說、當代小說、酷兒小說
系列：他山之石004
規格：210mm (H) x 148mm (W)，583頁

　　楊榮文先生從1988年至2011年5月，從政23年，先後擔任新聞及藝術部、衛生部、貿工部及外交部長。焦點出版推出《楊榮文：凝思集》中文版，收錄了他對世界、歷史、政治、經濟、華文華語和哲學等廣泛課題的看法。

　　全書分三輯，第三輯除了梳理新加坡邁向文化藝術都會、醫藥樞紐以及與世界經濟接軌的歷程；與建國總理李光耀共事的點點滴滴，也談他對智慧生命的看法、人生感悟：

　　我偶爾覺得自己仿佛浮木，在歷史長河中，隨着大大小小的歷史浪潮漂流。其實，人人都是生命大河上的浮木，有的較大，有的更靈巧，但多少都能掌控身邊的一些人和事。不過，我們終究無法左右這河的奔流方向。儘管如此，我們至少能選擇在哪個河段漂流，朝着心之所向前行。

　　2020年是新中建交30年週年，《聯合早報》和華文媒體集團旗下英文電子雜誌“思想中國”（ThinkChina）推出雙語圖片集《奠基人足跡：新中建交30年》。新加坡已故建國總理李光耀和中國已故領導人鄧小平是當代新中關係的奠基人，談及兩國關係，不能不提起這兩位領航者之間的交往。這本全綵雙語圖片集循着奠基人的足跡回溯兩國友誼。

　　A bilingual pictorial retracing the footsteps of the founders of Singapore and China, to commemorate 30 years of diplomatic relations of the two countries.

譯者簡介

　　賈開吉任教於大學文學系，曾參與編寫《大學語文》等教材，並在各期刊上發表學術論文多篇。對文學研究有濃厚的興趣，曾翻譯多部英文經典著作。

About the Book

A country’s history is like a jigsaw puzzle. The bigger picture of how a country and its people came to be can be pieced together through multiple narratives, perspectives, and stories. In Silk, Silver, Spices, Slaves, Lio Mangubat reaches back into the depths of colonial archives and brings to life long-lost stories that would otherwise have been footnotes in Philippine history.

Featuring 13 essays inspired by his podcast series The Colonial Dept., Mangubat spins tales of galleons, triads, fickle spirits, long-lost maps, and the secret history of otters. In these pages, learn about how the entire country became mad for baseball; how Mexican fighter pilots flew dangerous missions over the Philippines during World War II; or how American occupiers fell victim to a mysterious illness called “Philippinitis".

Beyond revisiting days gone by, Mangubat also connects the threads of each story to the wider tapestry of world history — and how these can unspool even up to our current time. A masterful storyteller and podcaster, he proves that the past can loom larger than the present.


Praise for Silk, Silver, Spices, Slaves

"Mangubat appears, more than anything, deeply invested in cultivating a joyful exploration of the country’s past."

Mekong Review
"Mangubat links past and present, knows a good character when he sees one, and writes engagingly .... Short-story collections are often a prelude for something longer: perhaps Mangubat can be the one to write a Filipino history that resonates with a wider English-speaking public. Silk, Silver, Spices, Slaves is proof that there’s more than enough material."

Asian Review of Books
"We are, all of us, made of stories, Mangubat reminds us. Our families’ and individual lives’ tales are irremovable from the tidal wave of local and global stories. No story is too small, no person too inconsequential, as we all have parts to play in the never-ending drama of nation building."

Ex Libris Philippines
"For all intents and purposes, every chapter of Silk, Silver, Spices, Slaves is a masterclass in RRL (Review of Related Literature)-writing, with Mangubat normalizing the practice for an enriched hold of history.While we see the same technique in the succeeding chapters, every page always surprises us as the author turns something we already know into its head and digs deep into the recesses of the past."

Esquire Philippines
"Philippine history is bursting at the seams with politics, intrigue, and  momentous events. With thousands of islands and several entry points serving as bases for business and exchange, there's no doubt these exchanges have resulted in byproducts that have left a mark on the culture. Author Lio Mangubat's podcast-turned-book Silk, Silver, Spices, Slaves mines these many cross-cultural meetings and engagements to make unraveling the archipelago's past one entertaining ride."

SPOT.ph
"Silk, Silver, Spices, Slaves tackles a wide range of topics, some peculiar and others a marvel to ponder."BusinessWorld

About the Author

Lio Mangubat is the creator of Philippine history podcast The Colonial Dept., which features long-lost stories from the country's past under Spanish, British, American, and Japanese rule. He is currently editor in chief of publishing house Summit Books, and is based in Manila. Follow him on Instagram at @liomangubat and @thecolonialdept.

About the Book

Malaysia is no easy country to analyse, or even to understand. With so many narratives about the country, its peoples, and its histories, the noise generated — both online and off — can be as deafening as that of any rave party.

Since 2019, Malaysians have lived through a unique period in the country’s history. Amid the Covid pandemic and its many challenges, Malaysia experienced three prime minister changes, and countless other political dramas and plot twists.

Signals in the Noise is not just a book on politics, though. Moving with ease between different sociopolitical and socioeconomic discourses, this collection of Ooi Kee Beng’s columns and commentaries — published between 2019 and 2023 — showcases more than ever his talent as a historian and philosopher, alongside his prowess as a political scientist. This wide-ranging collection is a must-read beginner's guide to Malaysian politics. It also highlights Ooi’s love for his hometown of Penang, his concern for the environment, and how the arts define a society and its perceptions of the world.

About the Author

Dato’ Dr Ooi Kee Beng is Executive Director of Penang Institute. He entered think tank work in 2004 and was Deputy Director of Singapore’s ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute in 2011-2017, where he remains attached as Visiting Senior Fellow. His homepage can be found at wikibeng.com.

About the Book

In the humid dark of a eucalyptus-scented room, a woman named Hui lies on a mattress telling stories about herself to her listener, a little girl. She talks about her identity as the child of an immigrant, her feelings about being in a mixed-race marriage, her opinions on mental health. But as her stories progress, it becomes clear a volatile secret lurks beneath their surface. There are events in Hui’s past that have great significance for the person she’s become, but that have gone missing from her memory. What is it, exactly, that is haunting Hui? Who is the little girl she talks to? And who is Hui herself? 

As the conversation continues, what unfolds is a breathtaking, unexpected journey through layers of story toward truth and recovered identity; a memoir that reenacts, in tautly novelistic fashion, the process of healing that author Shze-Hui Tjoa moved through to recover memories lost to complex PTSD and, eventually, reconstruct her sense of self. Stunning in its originality and intimacy, The Story Game is a piercing tribute to selfhood and sisterhood, a genre-shattering testament to the power of imagination, and a one-of-a-kind work of art.

Praise for The Story Game

"A unique memoir that constantly undermines and reworks itself as it braids together episodes from the author's life, a destabilising approach that calls into question how accurately we can remember the past while we are still processing it."
Jeremy Tiang, writer and translator

Reading The Story Game is nothing short of an immense privilege. Shze-Hui Tjoa writes with her heart on her sleeve and the sanctity of her soul risked on every page. I wish every writer could pay testament to life—and our tricky relationship to the writing of life—the way she has done so earnestly, thoughtfully and playfully here.
Daryl Qilin Yam, writer, editor and author of Be Your Own Bae

Shze-Hui Tjoa has written a book that understands that stories are built out of erasure and silence, but they are also made from a relentless belief in transformation. To tell the story, again. And maybe this time, we might finally reveal what is hidden, even from ourselves. What a beautiful, brave act this book is of reclaiming, forgiving but also of un-naming. Sometimes stories teach us to say yes. This one reminds me we can also say No.
Lawrence Ypil, author of The Experiment of the Tropics

The Story Game is a truly inventive memoir told in the form of autobiographical essays that ask what it means to be political in body and mind while aspiring to always be more than we are. Nothing is as it seems in this memoir that’s both reflexive and reflective, and Shze-Hui Tjoa’s careful excavation of disembodiment’s nature knits together the very mind-body separation her memoir interrogates in a journey of healing that will have the reader questioning the narratives we cling to in order to survive. What emerges is an act of courage, confrontation, and intimacy rendered in beautiful, lucid prose.
Jemimah Wei, author of The Original Daughter

About the Author

Shze-Hui Tjoa is a Singaporean writer who lives in Edinburgh, UK. Her debut, The Story Game, was named a best nonfiction book of 2024 by Electric Literature and Paste Magazine when it was first published in the US and Canada. Shze-Hui is an editor at Guernica and Adi Magazine. Her writing has received support from arts organisations in the US, Portugal, Singapore, and Morocco. You can read her author interviews and find out more about her creative philosophy via her website, www.tjoashzehui.com.