Today’s round the world reading adventures take us to Singapore, with How We Disappeared by Jing-Jing Lee.
Going into this book, my impressions of Singapore were purely of the modern country. If I had to summarise my knowledge, it would be: island city-state, skyscrapers, specifically Marina Bay Sands (surfboard skyscraper), Gardens by the Bay, prosperous, humid, big moths.
Wikipedia tells me that Singapore is not just the main island, it’s actually made up of 65 islands and islets, and the surface area of the country has increased by 25% since independence in 1965 as a result of land reclamation projects. As an infrastructure-fiend, this is fascinating! Looking on Google Maps, I can also see that it has a surprising amount of green space, despite the high population density.
I also know very little about the history of Asia in general, and Singapore was no exception. As well as providing more insight into modern Singapore, this book also introduced me to a period of its twentieth century history.
I’m really enjoying my Reading the World challenge – I haven’t specifically been choosing historical fiction, but most of the books I’ve read so far have touched on history, and how that has shaped the countries as they are today. As a history student, I find this fascinating!
How We Disappeared was my book club’s choice earlier this year. I’m not sure I would have chosen it for myself based on The Storygraph’s tags – dark, emotional, sad. These tags are accurate, and despite appearances to the contrary, I do quite like reading cheerful books! However, while I agree with these tags, it was still a very worthwhile read.
This book has some incredibly distressing content, so I would recommend caution. You can find trigger warnings for this book on The Storygraph page linked above.
Featured Image: Photo by Bna Ignacio on Unsplash
How We Disappeared by Jing-Jing Lee
How We Disappeared is told from three perspectives: We have Wang Di’s voice as a teenager in the 1940s and an elderly lady in the year 2000, plus Kevin, a 12-year-old boy, in 2000.
Through ‘Young Wang Di’, we learn about Singapore during the Second World War, starting with the Japanese occupation, and their taking of women and girls as ‘comfort women’. I had heard this term before, but from this book I’ve learnt the extent to which it trivialises the hellish conditions which these women found themselves in. Tied with the ostracization of these women during and after the war, it really does not do these women (who were sex slaves, there is no other way to put it), justice.
In the ‘Old Wang Di’ storyline we see the character grieve her recently deceased husband while trying to solve the mystery of his life before they met. This grief is compounded on top of years of trauma from her wartime experiences. One of the things which stuck with me from this storyline was Wang Di’s illiteracy. How she navigates the world, and how this affects her life. There is a scene where she needs to sign a hospital form, and the process in place for people who can’t do that suggests it’s not unusual and she isn’t shamed about it (a welcome relief as I don’t think I could have taken another sad event). As I mentioned above, my prior knowledge of Singapore was minimal, so this juxtaposition of an illiterate portion of society with the modern and prosperous city was an eye opener, and I suppose evidence of the changes to the city in since the war.
Kevin’s storyline is also quite dark as he’s got a lot on his plate. At times he seems either older or younger than twelve. He’s dealing with grief of his own, bullying and reconciling himself to his place as a poor person in a wealthy society. Outside of this, he’s doing some investigation into his own family.
I don’t think I can separate what I liked and didn’t like about this book very neatly. It made me sad and angry, while also containing unbearably tender moments. I wish that Kevin’s storyline had been better developed and slightly less depressing. A bit of a tonic to the relentless horror I was reading in the other narratives would have been welcome. However, I really liked Kevin as a character, and really appreciated how his interactions with other characters were laced with compassion, so I wish I had seen more of that.
The afterword of this book talks about giving these women who were deliberately forgotten a voice, and I think it succeeds in doing that. It’s a book which left me needing to have a sit and a think (and a BIG cry) when I finished it. In some ways it reminded me of Pachinko by Min Jin Lee, a Korean multi-generational saga exploring inter-generational trauma and the result of Japanese occupation.
Other Books from Singapore
Once I’ve started reading about a country, I find myself very inspired to pick up more books and learn more about my new passion-place. English is the lingua franca in Singapore which means there are lots of options available. My eye was drawn to these five books set in Singapore.
Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan: I’ve read this one – it’s an absolute romp of a novel about three super-rich families in Singapore and the backbiting which occurs within and between them.
The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye by Sonny Liew: A graphic novel offering a unique way to learn about the history of Singapore.
Ponti by Charlene Teo: another story told from three perspectives in different time periods, this one tackling female relationships.
State of Emergency by Jeremy Tiang: This book is fiction set within fact – again covering a long stretch of history from different perspectives, but with a focus on the leftist movements in Malaysia and Singapore.
Ministry of Moral Panic by Amanda Lee Koe: A varied short story collection offering a wide range of Singaporean characters – I think all the stories might have a contemporary setting.
Singapore Travel Ideas
I’d love to visit Singapore one day. Here are the attractions which are currently at the top of my list, but these are really the tip of the iceberg.
Marina Bay Sands: I fear I won’t be able to afford to stay here, so a trip to the observation deck and the ArtScience museum will have to do!
Gardens by the Bay: Indoor and outdoor gardens, and the chance to discover a new fear of heights from the Supertree Observatory? I’m in!
National Museum of Singapore: A chance to learn more about the history of Singapore.
Asian Civilisations Museum: A museum celebrating the people of Singapore and Asia more generally.
National Gallery: The world’s largest collection of Southeast Asian art.
Singapore Art Museum: This art gallery is dedicated to contemporary Southeast Asian art.
The Merlion: I’d need to stop at Merlion Park for a photo with Singapore’s most famous resident.
What Singapore books would you recommend to people?
