散文

　　找美食，是許多人的愛好，但要怎麼吃出菜的優劣，怎麼從吃當中認識飲食文化，遙想當年？本書作者黃長彥，筆名江夏二郎，行醫多年，現任康盛醫療集團執行董事兼總裁。他是一名英校生，卻應邀以中文在《聯合早報·副刊》撰寫美食專欄〈泛泛之輩〉，一寫就是三年半。如今他把專欄文章連同兩篇新作收錄在這本中英雙語的書中，把他對於美食的心得，以及飲食行家言傳的行內知識，與大家分享。

　　This bilingual book is compiled from a gastronomy column in Lianhe Zaobao, written and translated into English by Dr Wong Chiang Yin (alias Jiang Xia Er Lang 江夏二郎), the Executive Director and Group CEO of Thomson Medical Group. He is a medical professional with an eye for finer details about eating well. He shares with us many interesting observations and insight about everyday dishes and the culture of eating.

　　《優1周》是新加坡唯一匯集娛樂、生活、保健及親子的綜合雜誌。疫情期間，《優1周》推出的國內游系列深受讀者歡迎，作者羅倫斯策劃撰寫的《趴趴走慢跑游獅城》、《趴趴漫遊森呼吸》、《 穿街走巷趴趴樂》，帶讀者走進樹林、海邊、蓄水池，甚至組屋區等地，發掘在地旅遊的樂趣。全書圖文並茂，提供各種有用的資訊和建議路線，說是與大自然互動的「寶典」。

If you’ve ever wondered why people keep talking about Palestine, or the point of keeping up with a long-drawn conflict in the Middle East and what difference you could possibly make, this book is for you. Political analyst and podcaster Walid Jumblatt Abdullah takes on questions that Singaporeans have often raised about Palestine, laying out answers that clarify and inform. 

Walid examines myths (“Could Gaza Have Been Singapore?”) and sheds light on the double standards of Western powers, to whom human rights seem to matter, except for where Palestine is concerned. Explaining how the Palestinians have been systematically dehumanised for decades, the book highlights how they continue to exist nevertheless, their very existence an act of resistance. 

Why Palestine? is an illuminating starting point for newcomers to the issue, and a passionate primer that seasoned activists will welcome for capturing the heart and hope of a long-disenfranchised people and those who support them.

　　作為在「語文前線」奮鬥的華文老師

　　穆軍老師是這一片茂盛花圃的園丁

　　她用一雙善於觀察的慧眼

　　用一支飽蘸勤奮之墨之筆

　　用對華文教學的摯愛

　　用對莘莘學子的深情與無私

　　捕捉師生間稍縱即逝的瞬間

　　將這些點點滴滴記錄下來

　　寫就這本趣味故事，惠及你我

　　本書涵蓋大大小小25個篇幅，使學習和故事相結合，集知識和趣味於一體。

　　全書內容聚焦於華文華語教學的專業知識和技巧上面。作者筆下所寫均為教學過程中碰到的專業問題。每一個故事都切實具體地反映新加坡的某一種語言現象，無不取之於學校華文教學前沿的「源頭活水」。這一串串的故事都通過作者輕鬆有趣的筆觸展示出來，讓讀者讀來不覺煩悶，反而甚覺有趣。 

　　這本書的作者穆軍老師，來自於華文教學的第一線，具有超過三十多年的教學經驗，對發生在教學過程中鮮活的例子隨手拈來，毫不費力。

　　其繁復多彩的內容，會引領讀者來到一個華文學習的花圃，裡面栽種著語言幼苗之盎然稚氣，趣味鮮花之奼紫嫣紅，語法規範之刪繁就簡。讀之，定會讓讀者如入勝境，欣喜不已。在品味故事，為之捧腹之余，也許會心一笑，也許若有所思，也許頗有斬獲。

陳亞鳳博士序言摘錄：

　　「穆軍是個用心、善於洞察的老師……她能夠有針對性地糾錯，讓學生知其然也知其所以然。

　　字裡行間，能感受到穆軍對學生的期待和愛護是兩者並存，平衡取向的。」

作者簡介

　　穆軍，1987年畢業於陝西師範大學中文系。2006年獲南洋理工大學國立教育學院教育學碩士學位。

　　從事過電視台新聞記者、編輯、大學教師、大學學報編輯，大學校長辦公室秘書等職業，現為本地中學華文教師。新加坡作家協會理事，教育部推廣華文學習委員會閱讀與寫作組委派駐校作家。

　　寫作上擅長創作散文、微型小說和詩歌，作品散見於各報刊。2004年由中國西安旅遊出版社出版散文集《走近獅城》，2012年玲子傳媒出版散文集《生命中的溫差》，2016年由水木作坊出版散文集《愛的禮物》，由赤道風出版社出版詩集《秀色詩篇》，2020年由水木作坊出版小說集《風信子見證》。

Mummy, why do you always have to leave for 17A…

17A Keong Saik Road recounts Charmaine Leung’s growing-up years on Keong Saik Road in the 1970s when it was a prominent red-light precinct in Chinatown in Singapore. An interweaving of past and present narratives, 17A Keong Saik Road tells of her mother’s journey as a young child put up for sale to becoming the madame of a brothel in Keong Saik. Unfolding her story as the daughter of a brothel operator and witnessing these changes to her family, Charmaine traces the transformation of the Keong Saik area from the 1930s to the present, and through writing, finds reconciliation.

A beautiful dedication to the past, to memory, and to the people who have gone before us, 17A Keong Saik Road tells the rich stories of the Ma Je, the Pei Pa Zai, and the Dai Gu Liong—marginalised, forgotten women of the past, who despite their difficulties, persevered in working towards the hope of a better future.

This New Edition of This Is What Inequality Looks Like by Teo You Yenn features a new Afterword by the author, and a Foreword by Kwok Kian Woon, Professor of Sociology at the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

What is poverty? What is inequality? How are they connected? How are they reproduced? How might they be overcome? Why should we try?

The way we frame our questions shapes the way we see solutions. This book does what appears to be a no-brainer task, but one that is missing and important: it asks readers to pose questions in different ways, to shift the vantage point from which they view ‘common sense,’ and in so doing, to see themselves as part of problems and potential solutions. This is a book about how seeing poverty entails confronting inequality. It is about how acknowledging poverty and inequality leads to uncomfortable revelations about our society and ourselves. And it is about how once we see, we cannot, must not, unsee.

“One of Singapore’s most visible poets, Pang grows with each book. In his poems we hear a voice unhurried, confident, and capable of carrying diverse humors, and read a rhetoric shaded to ironies, surprising us with glimpses of contemporary experience that affirm yet mock, celebrate and unsettle. His poetry adds a rich and complex presence to the critical mass of urban literature now fully emergent from Singapore. His poems, at once recognizably national and international in reach, offer a fresh edgy energy to this tradition.”

- Professor Shirley Geok-lin Lim, Winner of the Commonwealth Poetry Prize, 1992 and author of Joss and Gold

Disability is neither strange nor distant. Part autobiography, part reflections of social advocate Cassandra Chiu’s experiences as a person living with visual impairment, A Place For Us is the story of the first woman to be a guide dog handler in Singapore and the first Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum in Southeast Asia who happens to be blind.

Cassandra’s story starts with her growing-up years in 1980s Singapore, chronicling how her life unfolds with the onset of Stargardt disease, which causes progressive vision loss. From pursuing an education, navigating motherhood, to building a career as a psychotherapist, Cassandra openly discusses the attitudes towards disability and her journey towards true independence with her guide dog Esme.

In inimitable frankness, A Place For Us offers an illuminating perspective of a person living with disability beyond the pity party of her life, and advocates for a more equal and sustainable future for people with disabilities.

Advocates and activists in Singapore contribute to policy discussions and positive change through a combination of deft manoeuvres and patient politics. Yet civil society is often unacknowledged, their skill and labour instead frequently misunderstood, even earning them the label of “troublemakers” or “enemies of the state.”

This collection of essays and interviews is a candid reflection on the intentions, beliefs and strategies behind the practice of advocacy across a spectrum of causes. The contributors come from varying backgrounds and include academics, artists, lawyers, journalists, non-profit and advocacy organisations, student and community organisers. They share practical insights into their aims and community-building work, and the tactics they employ to overcome obstacles, shedding light on how to navigate a city-state with shifting socio-political fault lines and out-of-bound markers.

With an introduction, “It is Time to Trim the Banyan Tree”, by Constance Singam, and a conclusion, “Their Struggle is Ours to Continue”, by Suraendher Kumarr.

Ethos Books has also partnered with the Community for Advocacy and Political Education (CAPE) to produce The CAPE Handbook to Advocacy in Singapore. Authored by CAPE and produced by Ethos Books, this concise guide dispels misconceptions and offers practical action steps, easing readers into strategies for effective advocacy and activism in the city-state.

Contributors: Alex Au, Alfian Sa’at, The Community for Advocacy and Political Education (CAPE), Cherian George, Corinna Lim, Disabled People’s Association, Irie Aman, Kenneth Paul Tan, Kirsten Han, Ng Kok Hoe, Pink Dot, Reetaza Chatterjee, Remy Choo, SG Climate Rally, Suraendher Kumarr, Thirunalan Sasitharan, Walid Jumblatt Bin Abdullah

Disability is all around us—among people we meet, the media, sports, our own family and friends. Undeniably, all of us have or will one day come to experience or encounter disability. But how can we reckon with the realities of those who live with disability, or its reality in our own lives? In a city-state slowly moving towards inclusion, how do those meant to be 'included' feel about such efforts? Not Without Us: perspectives on disability and inclusion in Singapore is a groundbreaking collection of essays that takes a creative and critical disability studies approach to centre disability, and rethink the ways in which we research, analyse, think and know about disability in our lives. Across multiple domains and perspectives, the writings in this volume consider what it means to live with disability in a purportedly inclusive and accessible Singapore.

(Book cover description: The central visual of the cover is a photo. This photo, taken by photographer Isabelle Lim, is of two performers in the centre of a spacious room, where the wall and floor are both decorated with brown and gold patterns. The foreground is lit by a bright yet warm light, which illuminates the side profiles of the two men against the blackness behind them. Closer to the camera is the rapper Wheelsmith. Clad in a mustard  yellow cap and blue denim jacket, he is riding his wheelchair toward the left of the picture. At a slight distance behind him, and in the midst of walking in the opposite direction, is fellow rapper ShiGGa Shay, sporting an orange, white, and blue puffer jacket and a bun of electric blue hair."

On the book cover, this photo is accompanied by the Book title "Not Without Us" in all-capitals, beige text against the black background on the top of the photo. The subtitle in small caps "perspectives on disability and inclusion in Singapore" is printed in the center-right of the book cover. In the black background of the photo are light blue lines in the shape of Wheelsmith's and Shigga Shay's silhouettes, layered and expanding towards the top of the book cover to amplify their poses in the photo. The editors' byline is at the bottom of the book cover in black text.)

“This is a pathbreaking book. Not Without Us weaves together a rich fabric of voices exploring the politics and poetics of disability in Singapore. Moving between lived reality, representation and struggles for social transformation, the collection excavates hidden or forgotten pasts, documents struggles and community formation in the present, and hints at possible futures. The essay collection challenges contemporary discourses of and scholarship on disability in Singapore by centring disabled subjectivities. In the process, it opens up new spaces of empathy, praxis and critique.” —Philip Holden, Independent Scholar and Counsellor 

"It warms my heart to see another book on disability through the Asian lens. Not just any book or author, but a plethora of contributors who are leaders in the Singaporean disability scene. The tapestry of all the essays inspires the imagination to how we can truly create a place that all of us can call home. Inclusion isn’t just keeping the token seat available, or inviting someone disabled to the party, but truly paving the way forward for all of us to celebrate each other as individuals in all our different shapes, sizes and colours. Thank you Not Without Us for so eloquently celebrating ‘Nothing about us, without us’!" —Cassandra Chiu, Psychotherapist; Social Advocate and Author of A Place For Us

"Not Without Us is a richly edited and profoundly written collection of essays about disability in Singapore. It is part of a new and fresh movement to provide local knowledges and global perspectives to a field that has been for too long grounded in the West, particularly the US and the UK. The book will be extremely valuable not only to readers in Singapore but also to those throughout the world who seek a broader perspective on significant issues in disability studies, arts, policy and activism." —Lennard J. Davis, Distinguished Professor, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Illinois in Chicago

A glittering, bold, darkly funny novel about two sisters—one in New York, one in Singapore—who are bound by an ancient secret.

Sisterhood is difficult for Su and Emerald. Su leads a sheltered, moneyed life as the picture-perfect wife of a conservative politician in Singapore. Emerald is a nihilistic sugar baby in New York, living from whim to whim and using her charms to make ends meet. But they share a secret: once, they were snakes, basking under a full moon in Tang dynasty China.

A thousand years later, their mysterious history is the only thing still binding them together. When Emerald experiences a violent encounter in Central Park and Su boards the next flight to New York, the two reach a tenuous reconciliation for the first time in decades. Su convinces Emerald to move to Singapore so she can keep an eye on her—but she soon begins to worry that Emerald’s irrepressible behaviour will out them both, in a sparkling, affluent city where everything runs like clockwork and any deviation from the norm is automatically suspect.

Razor-sharp, hilarious, and raw in emotion, Sister Snake, a reimagining of The Legend of the White Snake, is a novel about being seen for who you are—and, ultimately, how to live free.

“Amanda Lee Koe’s tale of serpentine sisterhood will wend its way into your heart. Drawing equally from folklore and current events, this fearless novel entertains and delights. Beneath its beguiling surface, Sister Snake explores fundamental questions: Are our destinies determined by our bodies? What forms can family take? And what, in the end, does it mean to be human?”
—Rajesh Parameswaran, author of I Am An Executioner

 “I have had nothing bad happen to me except my own doing. I have let this cowardice envelop me, and I can’t shake it off. I will commit the worst thing you can ever do to someone who loves you: killing yourself. The scary thing is, I’m okay with that.” —Victoria McLeod, Singapore, March 30, 2014

Loss Adjustment is a mother’s recount of her 17-year-old daughter’s suicide.

In the wake of Victoria McLeod’s passing, she left behind a remarkable journal in her laptop of the final four months of her life. Linda Collins, her mother, has woven these into her memoir, which is at once cohesive, yet fragmented, reflecting a survivor's state of mind after devastating loss.

Loss Adjustment involves the endless whys, the journey of Linda Collins and her husband in honouring Victoria, and the impossible question of what drove their daughter to this irretrievable act. A stunningly intimate portrait of loss and grief, Loss Adjustment is a breaking of silence—a book whose face society cannot turn away from.

　　資深新聞工作者鄭明杉在2021年推出了《頭家青春夢》，為108位「頭家」記錄少年織夢、壯年追夢、中年圓夢的心路歷程，引起了廣泛關注，也受到了各行業老闆的歡迎。不過，本地青少年卻沒機會閱讀這本大型書籍。

　　為了讓青少年尤其是中學生有機會了解新加坡老闆們如何一步一腳印實現自己的理想，玲子傳媒特別從這108位「頭家」中，精選出各行業老闆的20篇創業和守業故事，並重新改寫和修訂，出版成學生讀本《老闆青春夢》，希望家長和老師們可以推薦給孩子和學生，作為華文課外。

　　出版社與作者在編選20位老闆的故事時，並不著重在老闆們的事業版圖或公司規模，而是遴選較有故事性、更有勵志性的故事，或者是學生可能認識、熟悉的本地品牌，希望能以此吸引更多學生閱讀，也希望孩子們在閱讀本書後，能向書中追求自己的理想事業。

"The poems in Patient History navigate a mother's illness through lush imagery and aquarium mind. The poems are also unafraid to refract illness and memory through different forms... in Patient History, the cataloguing of beautiful images acts as question marks to an uncertain mind, and the uncertainty amidst illness." —Victoria Chang, author of The Trees Witness Everything; Dear Memory: Letters on Writing, Silence, and Grief; and Obit

“Patient history” is a medical term describing the method by which doctors gather information about a patient’s past and present conditions. Yet, how much of a patient’s history do doctors really know, and how much agency do we have in determining our own histories?

Patient History is a whimsical exploration of the typically grim world of sickness and death. Woven from pop culture, fairytales, and East-meets-West childhood memories of growing up in Singapore, these fantasies are cotton candy sweet—osteoporosis becomes Singapore’s signature Chili Crab, a fistula transfigures into fairy, and organs are commemorated as a theme park.

When 7-year-old Anna told a lie to get out of trouble, she didn’t expect her older sister to go missing. Faced with her mother’s wrath and riddled with guilt, Anna tries to make amends as she grapples with the aftermath of her actions.

Until her daughter’s body is found, Su Lai refuses to believe that she has simply disappeared. Turning to a medium as her obsession to find her daughter escalates, the family is sucked into a web of pain and deceit that forces them to confront their own measures of loss. A masterful debut by Jinny Koh, The Gods Will Hear Us Eventually boldly interrogates the extent of familial love and expectation while unravelling the complexities of hope and redemption.

Hailed as “the definitive Singaporean novel”, this new edition of Heartland is accompanied by a new preface by author Daren Shiau and a publisher’s foreword that contextualises the novel’s imprint on the Singapore literary landscape since its first publication in 1999.

An iconic work, Heartland explores the paradox of rootedness and rootlessness in fast-changing Singapore. Set in the early 1990s, the novel follows the years of Wing Seng as he leaves school and is conscripted into full-time National Service. As Wing tries to reconcile his past with his future amid transitions through different phases of life, he finds meaning in his intense attachment to his surrounding landscape. Yet, as relationships and the years slip by, Wing is forced to question his own certainties and the wisdom of the people he values.

Set in Singapore’s heartland at the turn of the century, Heartland’s capturing of the texture of everyday life provides the backdrop essential to the bildungsroman’s exploration of identity, belonging and connection in an increasingly urbanised Singapore.