閱讀雨天

　　被稱為「新加坡幾米」的知名繪本作家阿果的夢幻作品——一個關於尋找的故事，一本老少咸宜的繪本。

　　尋找是一個過程，必須走出去。故事里，主人翁為了尋找不孤獨，走進山裡，他因此找到好多東西。這些或許不能說是東西，渺小、永恆、自由、緩慢、信任、平靜，還有山的歌聲、水的圓舞曲，它們是一些感悟、一些心情、一些對自己人生境況的瞭解。雖然抽象，當你覺悟到人的渺小和天地之永恆，就能更仔細地觀看周圍的萬物；當你呼吸著緩慢和平靜，才能把匆忙的腳步放慢，恢復生命應有的節奏。

　　處於大自然美景之中，它給予我們的，不只是一個嗟嘆、一個感慨，如果你願意給自己多一些時間，願意往內心去尋找，或許會感覺到自己與世界多了一些默契，也感覺到和自己的內心世界更親近一點。 

　　借著這尋找，作者把讀者帶入繽紛的田園世界。仔細看這一幅幅圖畫，滿樹金黃，一地落葉，那是什麼季節？可以代表憂鬱，也可以代表豐收後的歇息，不管是何者，是時候重新出發了；在鄉間的巴士站等待，不知下一趟車子何時會來，不如走入山裡，立刻去發現新的風景。

　　通過作者的畫筆，我們遇見了參天大樹、彩色的池塘、蔚藍天空的白雲、蒲公英的世界、飄雨的山巒、綠油油的田野、漫天彩霞，月色籠罩的小鎮……如果你願意花一點時間，在這一幅幅畫里停留，讓想像飛翔，時間或許只是像故事主角抱著的那個沙漏那樣只完成短短的一週期，可是你的心境，卻隨著畫面顏色的改變，經歷從早到晚一天的起伏。對，顏色可以是心情，也像是我們的生活歷程，青紅藍綠，每個階段都有各自的美麗。

　　《尋找》是作者在韓國原州土地文化館居住期間完成的作品。書里的插畫靈感都源自土地文化館周遭的風物。

“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

Shezlez the Self-Proclaimed is an absurdist story about a poor man’s ambition to organise his own political party in an unnamed country characterised by moral apathy, poverty and heartless bureaucracy. Upon his first speech, so rousing as to attract the attention of the Progressive Party, Shezlez finds himself embroiled in a corrupt scheme of deceit and backstabbing in the leadup to the upcoming mayoral elections. A Machiavellian tale of political ambition, Shezlez the Self-Proclaimed examines the fickleness of loyalty, and interrogates the perennial question of whether the pursuit of power, no matter how idealistic its genesis, can ever remain a noble quest.

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.

Sequel to Josephine Chia’s 2014 Singapore Literature prize-winning book, Kampong Spirit - Gotong Royong: Life in Potong Pasir, 1955 to 1965.

Kampong life in Singapore did not end in 1965 with her independence.

In Josephine Chia’s new collection of non-fiction stories, the phasing out of attap-thatched villages, the largest mass movement in Singapore, is set against the backdrop of significant national events.

Weaving personal tribulations—her teenage angst—and the experiences of villagers from her kampong, Josephine skilfully parallels the hopes and challenges of a toddling nation going through the throes of industrialisation and rapid changes from 1966 to 1975.

These delightful, real-life stories, sprinkled with snippets of her Peranakan culture, reveal the joie-de-vivre of gotong royong or community spirit, despite impoverished conditions, in the last days of kampong life.

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.

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.

　　2013年，於曉丹帶著年幼的女兒離開中國，遠渡重洋來到了陌生的國度，新加坡。這一年，她剛從職場退居，正式成為了眾多陪讀媽媽大軍中的一員。

　　每年八月，新加坡一年一度的重量級PSLE考試季陸續開始。看著一批又一批還稍顯稚嫩的孩童走出考場，你是否想過在備考時只有學習的枯燥日子中，他們走的每一步都是為了成為更好的自己？本書就是這樣一本以日記的形式，揭開媽媽與孩子從考試的一年前就「共同」備戰和經歷會考的書。

　　本書分為七輯：PSLE備戰、生活、興趣班、DSA、經典誦讀、電腦網絡和手機、情緒。文中記錄和描寫著媽媽和女兒親密陪伴的成長經歷，但也映射出千千萬萬對有著相似經歷的母女和家庭。在相同的社會時代背景下，孕育著許多看似不同卻又相似的家庭，而作為社會和家庭中梁砥柱的中年父母們，無法規避任何社會的浪潮，更無法迴避孩子的自然成長，父母和孩子只能勇往直前。然而，只要我們願意，就可以改變前路上的一點點。

　　作者記錄了快兩年的日記中，都是和女兒在小六生活、學習中經歷的點點滴滴，有奮鬥，有焦慮，有矛盾，有吵鬧，有親情，也有友情，有天下父母對子女共通的愛和關懷，這些都如實地譜寫成一段深刻難忘的成長歲月。

作者簡介

　　於曉丹，2002年畢業於大連工業大學化學工程專業，2013年來到新加坡工作、學習和生活。自2009年開始關注並熱愛兒童教育和家庭教育，堅信每個孩子都是好孩子，每個父母都可以成為更好的父母。熱愛中國書法，是2021年新加坡書法協會第35屆「陳景昭書法獎」獲獎者， 「王才貴讀經教育」的踐行者和推廣者。

In This Together: Singapore’s Covid-19 Story is a dramatic insider account of the first two years of the pandemic.

It is a story of suffering and resilience, of miscalculation and foresight, and of grumbling yet cooperation.

The book is written by journalists of The Straits Times who have been in the thick of covering the ongoing crisis.

More than 300 people were interviewed, including the President of Singapore, the Prime Minister, business owners and survivors of the disease.

Through their recollections, the book chronicles how the country came together to fight the virus, even as everyone has had to stay resolutely apart while doing so.