The Penang launch of Bernice Chauly's outstanding debut novel, Once We Were There (Epigram Books). Journalist Delonix Regia chances upon the cultured and irresistible Omar amidst the upheaval of the Reformasi movement in Kuala Lumpur. As the city roils around them, they find solace in love,...
Shadow play – known as wayang kulit in the Nusantara and acknowledged in the West as an early form of cinema – comes to life only when there is light. But its anomaly lies in the fact that it is only ‘alive’ by obscuring the...
By any measure, Poh Soo Kai has lived an extraordinary life at the forefront of the political struggle for justice and equality in Singapore. The publication of his long-awaited memoir, Living in a Time of Deception (Function8), and its Penang launch, offers an opportune moment...
All over the world, a ‘good girl’ is always quiet, obedient, knows her place and carries out her ‘duties’. A ‘bad girl’ is disobedient. A bad girl creates a sense of discomfort. A bad girl rebels against the place given to her in the world....
Once in a while a book comes along that captures the zeitgeist, the defining spirit of the times. Peninsula: A Story of Malaysia by Rehman Rashid lays claim to being just such an offering. It’s certainly a (very) personal memoir – including a loving account...