Cory pushed off the blanket and shivered as the chilly draft from the air conditioner penetrated her flimsy nightgown. She wondered whether the aircon was the reason for her recent migraines, especially at night. Or was she coming down with the flu? Again?
She plodded towards the bathroom, paused before the switch, and decided not to turn on the light. The faint illumination filtering through the window cast a calming glow upon the space. She felt a wave of relief as she sat on the cold toilet seat and relieved herself.
With her head nestled in her hands, she drifted into a drowsy state. Time stretched and blurred, an indeterminate period of restful tranquillity enveloping her. Yet, just as her fatigue began to consume her, her head sank forward, jolting her abruptly awake, as if some dark force had yanked her from the depths of sleep.
Alamak?, I went to sleep on the darn toilet bowl? Crap!
She laughed aloud as she pushed the flush lever and then dragged herself back to the bedroom.
Must crank up the thermostat.
Must not sleep on the toilet seat.
Must drink some water.
She waddled to the kitchen and picked up the steel water bottle; a stray beam of light streaming in through the window glinted off the bottle cap and made it look like a spacecraft with pilots ready to lift off.
Just as she was about to take a swig, she heard a scurrying sound that made her freeze in fright.
Hesitantly, Cory switched on the kitchen light.
Is that a rat?
A roach?
A lizard?
A ghost?
The Singapore Strain, authored by Raju Chellam is a fictional story about a new and scary variant of Covid-19 that changes the victims’ DNA and alters perceptions and attitudes to make them environmental activists. Get a copy to read this page-turning story today!
Fiction Frenzy brings forth an excellent curation of books that span across genres like romance, fantasy, crime, mystery, and contemporary fiction. Browse the collection below!
Grab your copy now!||
Death and the Maiden
Who wouldn’t cry when they realize that they are dead?
The capital beyond twilight is full of nocturnal birds squealing annoyingly on electricity poles. Who would have known that they were messengers of death who perform music to send souls to the underworld?
Stella is a ghost boy in a skirt who lives in an abandoned tower in the middle of the capital. He calls himself the Eleventh Floor Theater Administrator. Every evening he wakes up to repeat the same routine, caring for lost children, watching a spectacular parade of the Defeated Gamblers. The boy wonders why the Reaper whom he lived with had not yet sent his soul away.
What secrets are the Reaper keeping from him? And what is he being protected from?
Grab your copy now!||
Deplorable Conversations with Cats and Other Distractions
Lucky Lee has everything—wealth, charm, money, good looks—and does very, very little with it. He’s content. He’s happy. He takes for granted that life is good and always will be. But then his sister, the go-getting, successful, famous TV chef Pearl Lee, dies, horribly, and suddenly. Lucky is devastated. As he struggles to live without the big sister who’s always been the dominant, often relentless force in his life, the inconceivable happens—her cat begins to talk to him. It wants to know where Pearl is. It questions his eating habits, his outfit choices, his life. It hogs the TV. It tells him stories. Now grief-stricken Lucky has a major problem: he may very well be mad.
Grab your copy now!||
Harmony Heights
Harmony Heights is anything but harmonious. In this nineties-style block of condominium located in a forgotten part of town resides a microcosm of bourgeois Malaysian society. From retired judges and doctors to CEOs and homemakers with side hustles, the residents in this apartment pride themselves on being model citizens.
But beneath the veneer of civility and respectability, lies a hotbed of secrets and skeletons that reveal the true nature of these residents. How will they respond to the trials and tribulations which life throws at them? Will they all manage to keep up appearances when their private affairs and exploits are exposed? Harmony Heights is a peephole, allowing you to look in, to watch the unfolding lives of cheating husbands, ambitious women, unconventional families, and witness explosive (literally) situations. If you look close enough, you might just see someone you know. Are you ready to keep a secret?
Grab your copy now!||
Love on the Second Read
Emma Morales, tenacious romance book editor and proud cat lady, knows romance, but love? Nope. Thank you very much.
Enter nerdy science fiction and fantasy editor Kip Alegre, who quotes JRR Tolkien for breakfast and knows heartbreak all too well.
When Emma gets a career-changing sci-fi romance manuscript which may just save their publishing house from folding, she knows she must work with Kip if she wants to succeed.
Sounds simple enough, right? But when the well-meaning meddling best friends, an obsessive ex-boyfriend, and a beautiful ex-fiancée get into the picture, the job doesn’t seem so simple anymore. What starts out as a friendly-flirty-literary smackdown between Emma and Kip by quoting authors from Emily Henry to Brandon Sanderson grows into something deeper than either of them had signed up for.
The deal was to edit the book, not their lives.
Emma and Kip may be willing to read the manuscript over and over again, but will they be willing to give love a second read?
Grab your copy now!||
The Showgirl and the Minister
Sydney, 1966. Flower power is in full swing. The Cold War is at its height.
Somewhere in Kings Cross, Singapore’s former Chief Minister Lim Yew Hock is missing. Now the Malaysian High Commissioner to Australia, he had left his home in Canberra without a word of where he had gone.
Is he dead? During his reign as Chief Minister, he had cracked down hard on the Communists, and they will want to settle scores with him.
Is he in hiding from mounting debts? Lim is known for his punts on the horses on weekends.
Or is he mixed up in Cold War espionage? One of his ministers, Chew Swee Kee, was alleged to have received money from the CIA – and there’re rumours Lim had his share of it.
And how is a 19-year-old stripper, Sandra Nelson, Russian by birth, involved in this shady business? Is she Lim’s honey trap?
Private detective Dave Chen has to unravel these tangled knots of political intrigue and personal trauma – and confront his own demons.
Written in poetic form by Felix Cheong and wonderfully illustrated by Arif Rafhan, The Showgirl and the Minister is inspired by the real-life disappearance of Lim over ten days in 1966.
Grab your copy now!||
No Room in Neverland
All Gemma Young remembers of her childhood are her regular visits to the idyllic, imaginary Neverland before her mother fell sick.
When Gemma meets Cole, a disenchanted boy who stirs up more than just memories of her adventures in Neverland, she begins to piece together her half-forgotten childhood: her mother sick with longing for Neverland, the accident that ripped her family apart, and her father who abandoned her when she was a child.
But now, Gemma’s near-obsessive quest to find her father sends her spiralling deeper into Neverland just like her mother had. As the boundaries blur between the real world and Neverland, Gemma must sift through fact and fiction, discern between truth and make-belief, to find out what happened to her mother and rebuild a new life with her father.
Grab your copy now!||
Sudden Superstar
What happens when one goes from obscurity to celebrity, overnight?
Thirty-year-old Arya Alvarez is a travel manager at Isle Z, a luxury travel company in Singapore where she creates bespoke trips for celebrities and influencers. Discretion is her specialty at work and personal life: few people know that she’s fled her home city, Manila, to get away from the scene of a devastating break-up.
When she travels to Svaneti, in the Republic of Georgia, Arya briefly encounters the mysterious Dave in a remote village high up the Caucasus mountains. Intrigued, she posts his photos on Instagram-which goes viral the very next day. Turns out, Dave is Davit Nadibaidze, a famous yet reclusive artist who’d retreated from the public five years ago and Arya is the first person to see him since he disappeared.
In less than 24 hours, Arya gains hundreds of thousands of followers. She’s deluged with invitations to talk shows, influencer parties, and celebrity junkets, all as her social media apps overflow with DMs, tags, and comments, both nice and nasty. Men are suddenly vying for her attention, including her ex, Jake.
Arya tries her best to step up, but she also struggles. What she really wants is to finally get over her painful break-up, find herself and a fresh start. But can she really, when she’s caught in this complex whirl of viral fame?
Grab your copy now!||
Frappes for Three
Maya Joseph is a Penang girl who dreams of becoming a writer despite her father’s objections.
Chong Mei Li is a stylish fashionista who wants to make her mark in the fashion world, although her parents want her to preserve their legacy by taking over the family business in Sabah.
Rohan Das, born and raised in Delhi, needs to work hard and secure a good job to support his middle class family. As the first born son, there’s a lot of pressure for him to excel and little room for him to explore his own interests.
As luck would have it, their paths cross at Maestro University and this unlikely trio soon become good friends. They each have their own dreams and aspirations, but struggle with the burden of family expectations, difficult lecturers and self-doubt. But no matter what happens, they’re always there for each other.
This story of love, loss and self-discovery reminds us that university life, often bittersweet, carves us into the people we are today. And many of the lessons we gain are learned outside the classroom with our dearest friends.
Grab your copy now!||
For the Win
Eighteen-year-old Nathaniel Carpio has been having chicken inasal with his best friend Elena Dizon at their favourite sidewalk grillery for four years now, and he likes that things are always the same. But then, on a particularly bad day, Lena whips out a silly six-peso coin to comfort him, and-with the moment holding nothing and everything at the same time-Nat realizes that he’s fallen in love with her.
It only makes sense that when Tala Tales Games-local developer of their favourite real-time strategy game Mitolohiya-offers college scholarships to a select few, the two of them should go for it, right? Nat certainly thinks so-there’s nothing better than spending the rest of his life with Lena doing something they both love.
But just when Nat’s game plan is coming along nicely, in pops a new challenger-Rafael Antonio, the world-renowned Filipino voice actor for the hero Apolaki in Mitolohiya. Now, star-struck Lena spends all her time bonding with her online idol, and Nat starts to feel more and more like a boring Non-Playable Character with zero chance against the Big Final Boss.
With the scholarship program underway and his future hanging in the balance, Nat embarks on an epic quest to compete with the celebrity in a real-world PvP match he’s not ready for. But in the midst of life’s frustrating glitches, epic wipeouts, and disastrous rage-quitting, is winning over his best friend the right strategy after all before it’s Game Over?
Grab your copy now!||
Finding Us Again
Bryce and Nora fall in love in their last year of high school. They worry about their relationship surviving after graduation but are separated sooner when Bryce’s father is transferred and Bryce has to leave.
Bryce promises to write but not in a conventional way. He promises to leave messages behind pictures in hotels where his father works. He tells Nora if she finds his messages, they are meant to be together.
Years pass and Bryce leaves messages for Nora as promised, but wonders if it may be more of a habit than anything else.
Bryce and Nora have moved on to other partners over the years and while Bryce still leaves messages for Nora, she has mostly forgotten his promise until she finds an old photo of Bryce. She begins to search for his messages and succeeds in finding one.
This action is enough for fate to trigger a series of serendipitous events that will bring Bryce and Nora together again but at what cost and who will pay the price?
Grab your copy now!||
The American Boyfriend
Phoebe Wong would do anything to escape a British winter. But it may cost her more than her airfare.
Sunsets, tacos and margaritas all sound perfect to exhausted forty-three-year-old single mum Phoebe with a dead-end job in Southwark. When her long distance boyfriend in New York invites her to meet him in Florida, she couldn’t wait to jump on a plane with her toddler. Arriving with her teething child at her boyfriend’s Key West ‘vacay home’ before him, she is robbed on her first night. With no money, cards or passports, she is grateful for the support of friendly locals. At a BBQ, she meets an old expat British businessman. Her boyfriend arrives eventually, apologetic, and takes her out to a posh seafood dinner. But when the British expat is shot that night in the same restaurant’s car park, Phoebe is trapped in a put-up job, and her boyfriend’s delayed arrival is suspiciously timed. If this place has turned darker and chillier than London, she wants out.
Will she be able to pull herself and her daughter away from danger?
Grab your copy now!||
Mami Suzuki: Private Eye
Beneath the sheen of its orderly streets and obedient populace, all is not well in the port city of Kobe. Business is as brisk as the Haru-ichiban spring breeze for Mami Suzuki, hotel clerk by day, private investigator by night.
Who’s stealing from Japan’s biggest pearl trader? Where’s the master sushi chef and why are his knives missing? How did the tea ceremony teacher’s brother really die? And what does an island of cats have to do with a pregnant Shinto shrine maiden?
From the Kobe wharfs to the rugged Japan Sea coast, the subtropics of Okinawa, and a remote island community in the Seto Inland Sea, each new adventure ends with a universal truth – that there are two sides to every story of misfortune.
There’s a story for every reader, waiting to be discovered.
We invite you to come visit our exclusive Fiction Frenzy display at the Books Kinokuniya Main Store in Singapore until 15th April 2024!
Did you know that the ASEAN Super App market is estimated at $4 billion in revenue and will have a projected increase to $23 billion in 2025? Well, in most Super Apps, the four usual services included would be ridesharing, food delivery, online banking, and e-commerce through FinTech.
Let’s look at the structure of the Super Apps, its value prepositions, and dig in deeper to have a greater understanding and probe the question: Why are Super Apps a hit in Asia?
Some examples of Asian dominance in the Super App space include China’s WeChat and AliPay, India’s Paytm, Singapore’s Grab, Indonesia’s GoTo, Vietnam’s Zalo, and South Korea’s Kakao. Further in this chapter, get some answers on how Super Apps have been successful in the East and not so much in the West.
Structure of Super Apps and its Value Proposition
Super apps are the phone’s ultimate go-to app
Because these apps are handy and save time, end consumers value the convenience of use and search of products and services in an all-in-one app. Consider it a clone of your home screen where you can access all of the services you need to organize your everyday life in one app!
Has a high open-rate for at least one service or function
Gojek, which is based in Indonesia, and Grab, for example based in Singapore, began as a ride-sharing app and then added features such as instant messaging and an e-wallet. GCash in the Philippines began as a mobile wallet for payments, branchless banking service, and a payment centre but has now expanded to include multiple verticals within the app. Whatever purpose a Super App was created for, it excelled at it, allowing it to evolve into an ecosystem of services.
End customers’ wallets are easily accessible
Why should your customers keep their money in a different app when you have direct access to their wallets? Many apps with aspirations to be Super Apps provide this vital function, e-commerce platforms such as Lazada and Shoppe introducing their own e-wallet feature to make payments easier for their customers.
Partnerships with other platforms are encouraged and welcomed
Super Apps are similar to shopping malls, how are they similar to shopping malls? Well, they feature a variety of stores offering a variety of services. Their ability to be open to collaborations and partnerships is the exact reason they are who they are. Other platforms can be smoothly incorporated into the ecosystem they’ve created thanks to their app framework. Goama, a gamification platform, has relationships in over twenty-four countries and offers a carefully curated library of addictive games.
Super App’s value proposition is to cover every online and offline demand of an internet user by replacing Amazon, Instagram, TripAdvisor, Booking.com, Venmo, Tinder, and PayPal with a single app.
One Stop||Neha Mehta
One Stop, written by Neha Mehta, talks about the appeal of convenience and efficiency in the hustle and bustle of today’s world. Get a copy to learn more about the digital revolution caused by Super Apps.
In our tower, whichever floor that is, somebody is plastering the wall.
I can feel it. It is like how I am aware of the black rain that seeps through the ceiling. The droplets fall into the potted plant that I have been raising. New green leaves are sprouting from the small ornamental plant whose name I do not know. Each branch pokes through the ribs buried in the earth, resembling the bronchi that spread within the lungs and around the heart. I look up at the rows of clay pots above—they are also full of flowers. Among the colourful blooms, I am only familiar with the little hogweeds, a species that seems to grow anywhere and everywhere. Their name, which anyone can recall, really suits their pig-headedness. If I were the me that I used to be, I would have been able to name more than a thousand types of plants. Someone used to tell me while stroking my hair, ‘Sweet child. You have a green thumb. You can grow anything . . .’ I don’t exactly agree with the title of ‘sweet child’, since that is not me at all. The latter part is true, though. I really do have a green thumb. That is why everywhere I go, the plants are all very happy.
Where I live right now is the dressing room of the theatre on the eleventh floor of a high-rise tower. This tower was abandoned even before it was completed. It has become our domain. I am in-charge of keeping the eleventh floor clean and tidy, which is why I sometimes have to bring myself to run up and down and keep my relationships with the others going. The Gamblers on the floors above like me. Aunties and uncles seem especially delighted when they see me at the window where they fall past every evening. A group of lost children on the floors below keep following me around. I do not like kids. You can even say that I hate them. Even though my age is not that of an adult and I have lived through almost the same number of years as them, I do not consider myself one of them. It is even more annoying when they stop before the theatre doors and keep pestering me to allow them inside. Once they get in, they refuse to let go of my limbs. One time, they even pulled off the ribbon that Vikal had tied for me. It flew down into the bushes beside the building, and there was no way for me to retrieve it.
‘Twinkle, twinkle, Little Star . . .’
Holding each other’s hands, they form a circle and start to sing. ‘How I wonder what you are . . .’
‘Shut up!’ I yell. They smirk, elbowing each other in the hips. Perfect timing, as always. They all show up not long after the sun sets, their irritating giggles and laughter echoing all over the tower’s nooks and crannies. Crossing my legs on the shiny padded chair, I ask them the same old question.
‘What do you guys want?’
‘Twinkle, twinkle, Little Star . . . Parva Stella, tell us a story.’ ‘Why do I have to tell a story to brats like you?’
‘Because the new girl won’t stop crying.’
The group parts down the middle, revealing an unfamiliar little girl who’s sobbing and rubbing her eyes. I look at the group of eight useless noisy children, boys and girls aged between five to ten years. They remind me of the Lost Ones from Peter Pan. The two eldest boys had appointed themselves as leaders and have been fighting for the role of Peter Pan. Since there can only be one Peter Pan, I think they look more like Ralph and Jack from Lord of the Flies, who never see eye to eye. The most annoying thing is how these imps keep multiplying and now it is only getting worse.
‘Are you the newcomer?’
I crouch down beside her and try to ask her name. She keeps shaking her head like people do when they are confused. The girl looks to be about seven years old and is wearing an expensive- looking dress—that has already become dirty—with a cartoon princess on it. Her face is covered with tears. The girl has been crying so much that her skin is starting to bruise.
‘All right, stop crying. Which story would you like to hear?’ ‘Bean Princess,’ a girl says and is immediately booed by the group’s leader.
When I make a disapproving sound, he interrupts with, ‘I want the King with the Donkey’s Ears.’
‘I’ve told you that donkey king story a million times.’
‘But I want it!’ the boy screeches. The rest of them start to disagree.
‘I’m tired of the donkey king. I want Baba Yaga.’
‘No. The one about the dancing corpse in the woods is way better,’ a short kid declares.
‘No way. It’s too scary,’ a kid with glasses says. He glances at the newcomer’s dress and mutters, ‘Hey kid, is that the Little Mermaid?’
The newcomer stops crying and nods quickly. We are all relieved. At least now we know that she has something of a favourite. The act of consolation won’t be as difficult anymore.
‘Then, Stella, tell us the story of the Little Mermaid,’ they conclude.
‘Hmph. All right.’ I drop myself onto the quilted armchair and rest my chin on one hand, posing as the female protagonist among all the extras. ‘Have any of you been to the sea?’
Amid the group of kids on the theatre’s floor, some raise their hands, saying that they have, and some merely say no. Most of the time, their answers are ‘no’ or ‘can’t remember’. They are too young to remember the world in their own way, yet they know stories from every corner of it.
‘What does the sea look like, Stella?’ a tall boy asks with a curious tilt of his head.
‘There’s a lot of water there,’ a boy with freckles cuts in. ‘Stella’s told us before.’
‘How much?’
‘A lot, a lot,’ the same boy says, spreading his arms wide. ‘Shut up. I’m asking Stella, not you.’
I look at the newcomer and ask, ‘Do you know that at the edge of the land, there is a vast body of water?’
The girl and the Lost Ones run around, all saying that they do not know.
‘The water body at the edge of the land is called the sea. Humans have only explored one-twentieth of it. There’re still so many oceans that they haven’t been to. Like the Milk Sea, the Blood Sea, the Perpetual Still Water, the Bone Sea—’
‘What’s the Bone Sea?’
‘It’s the graveyard of the sea people. Their last resting place when their lifespan is over.’
‘Have you ever been to the sea graveyard, Stella?’ ‘No.’
‘Why not?’
‘If you keep asking about something unrelated, I won’t tell the story anymore.’ I tip my chin up. ‘The reason why I haven’t been there is the same as why you lot don’t get to be in heaven. Because you’re brats.’
‘Then you’re just like us,’ the leader of the group talks back. ‘You’re a brat too.’
‘Just stop,’ Leader Number Two says. ‘We’re getting nowhere with the Little Mermaid because of you.’
I pretend not to care about them, turning back to the newcomer and continuing.
‘In the land of a vast water body called the sea, there live the sea people. They’re without souls. Their bodies turn to sea foam and become one with the sea graveyard when they die. Except when they’re in love. A requited one.’
‘Ew!’ One of the girls makes a face.
‘This is the story of a little mermaid who falls in love with a human—’
‘A beautiful mermaid, right, Stella?’
‘Yes, she’s a beautiful mermaid. Her hair glows like stars, her eyes are the same colour as the sea.’
The beautiful mermaid with long, lovely hair has been living her beautiful life. Until that one fateful night, when everything changes . . .
‘Please continue, Stella.’
I close my eyes and images appear behind my eyelids. Above our tower, a sperm whale is dashing through the sky, calling out to other whales in deep frequencies.
‘Mmm.’
The sound of someone plastering the wall has quietened down. Outside the tower, the wind is bringing forth the smell of grief from the capital city along with its evening bustle. Nocturnal birds on the power lines are chittering, relaying some important news. It seems like there’s a wildfire in the north, heavy rain in the south (the soil is getting healthier again), and a flood in the north-east. The world keeps on turning and there’s nothing that we can do about it. We cannot save anyone. ‘Poor them, poor them, poor them,’ they harmonize. The story about a mermaid goes on.
‘Scylla is a shoal, Charybdis is a whirlpool.’ I try to make my voice solemn and respectable, but the new girl will not stop sobbing. I have witnessed this same scene so many times that I’ve become used to it. All the newcomers always cry their eyes out on their first day.
It is only normal.
Who wouldn’t cry when they realize that they are dead?
Death and the Maiden, written by Apinuch Petcharapiracht and translated to English by Danaya Olarikded and Pimpida Pitaksonggram is out now and available at Kinokuniya Singapore, Amazon Singapore, Kinokuniya Malaysia, MPH Books & Eslite MY.
On the occasion of Singapore’s 58th National Day, we share with you non-fiction book recommendations from our bag of books that tell you more about the Country’s rich culture, arts, history, and politics.
Find your next non-fiction read below –
Chickpeas to Cook and Other Stories by Nilanjana Sengupta
Chickpeas to Cook & Other Stories||Nilanjana Sengupta
The Votive Pen by Nilanjana Sengupta
The Votive Pen: Writings on Edwin Thumboo||Nilanjana Sengupta
Exploring Southeast Asia With – Liu Kang, Master of Colours by Eva Wong Nava, Jeffrey Say and Quek Hong Shin
Exploring Southeast Asia with Liu Kang||Master of Colour
Beyond Storms and Stars – A Memoir by Noeleen Heyzer
Beyond Storms and Stars||Noeleen Heyzer
Eggs for Dinner: A restaurateur who sees the world differently by Guy Wachs
Eggs for Dinner||Guy Wachs
Far From My Hospital Bed – Reflections on the Pandemic and Society by Teresita Cruz del Rosario
Far From My Hospital Bed||Teresita Cruz del Rosario
Threading Worlds: Conversations on Mental Health – Singapore and Mental Health by Hun Ming Kwang
Singapore and Mental Health||Hun Ming Kwang
A Nation’s Disgrace: Singapore’s Shocking Scandals by Balvinder Sandhu
A Nation’s Disgrace||Balvinder Sandhu
Explore Singapore’s literature through our list of fiction books by local voices. Click here for more.
Celebrate the spirit of inclusivity, strength and hope with us as we move #OnwardAsOne and commemorate the 58th National Day of Singapore. Add these exciting reads to your #TBR today!
Celebrate Pride Month with these captivating reads that honor diverse voices and experiences. From thought-provoking fiction to engaging short stories, this curated list of LGBTQIA+ literature offers a compelling journey through love, identity, and resilience.
Delve into the list below to discover your next captivating read –
The Heart of Summer Stories and Tales||
Award-winning stories and tales about the rites of passage in our lives-love and loss, gladness and grief, departure and return-written in the realistic and fabulist modes by one of Asia’s best writers.
No Wonder, Women||
A collection of stories about women loving women, and the relief and sadness that come with learning to love another and oneself.
A Paradise of Illusions||
A story of love, courage, and compromise set in the multi-cultural backdrop of pre-war Penang.
The Zero Season||
In post-WWII Paris, a Cambodian student radical and French drifter play a dangerous game of lust and revenge.
Orchids of the Rainforest||
Six Indians strive to embrace their sexuality and their own notions of relationships in a conservative yet urban Asian metropolis.
Riverrun A Novel||
A rite-of-passage novel in the life of a young gay man growing up in a colourful and chaotic dictatorship.
The Dogs||
Haunted by a childhood tragedy, a man looks back on his past and rediscovers a new meaning to his life.
Now available at bookstores near you in Southeast Asia and internationally via Amazon. Get your copy today!
This mental health awareness month we asked our team members about the things they do to take care of their mental health. Read below to know their mental health mantra!
Nora Nazerene shares with us, ‘I never miss my daily runs. Running is my alone time—it clears my head and always helps me find a way through muddled thoughts.’
Ishani says, ‘I have frequently found myself drawn to meditation and the at-home prayers routine to find balance and peace. Working in content means ideas and thoughts keep demanding attention, but a growth state of mind is hard to achieve if one is constantly churning in the here and now. My morning or evening prayers, or a meditation session, help me reset everyday. As someone who has recovered from #burnout, I am mindful of anything that disturbs this peace. I highly recommend meditation, especially when you feel you have lost control of the day!’
Pallavi shares with us, ‘Mental health is a fairly new addition to my understanding of an overall healthy life. All my life, I have had to struggle with body weight issues and to now realise that a lot of it starts from how we feel about ourselves rather than how we appear has been a revelation. Since the epiphany, one of the most important mental health mantras has been to give myself grace. Most of us are our own worst critics, never giving ourselves a break, never taking a moment to appreciate the good we do, and always focusing on our failures and flaws. Giving oneself grace means that we accept who we are as we are, for both the good and the bad, the virtues and weaknesses. Treat yourself as well as you’d treat others means interacting with yourself with kindness and consideration.’
Chaitanya shares with us, ‘My mantra is to read a real angsty romance. Brownie points if it has a second chance trope!’
Rupal tells us, ‘Differentiate between big and small battles. Set boundaries. Take the time off. Breathe. Reflect. Restart. These are the few things, or more like actionable points that I have slowly-and-gradually implemented, and it has significantly helped in maintaining a healthy balance at work and personal front. I resort to music, books, coffee and conversations when I am in a loop, and giving yourself a break when your mind gives a hint is the best favour you do on yourself. So take that hint, address it well, soak in that day and take one step at a time.’
Garima says, ‘I get overwhelmed quite easily and that knowledge has now allowed me to identify triggers that cause anxiety and to deal with them accordingly. Understanding yourself and what your mind and body need is the key. Also, sunlight! It is an excellent way to uplift your mood and reduce stress.’
Share with us the things you do to elevate your mood and uplift your mental health here.
We are proud to present our list of translations of well-loved works from Southeast Asia’s literary canon, connecting today’s discerning readers with the the essence of another era. We are honored to not just make them accessible in the current literary landscape but also to reinforce their relevance amongst readers.
Keep an eye out for the upcoming English translation of Luha ng Buwaha. Coming out in 2023!
The Preying Birds||Danton Remoto
Mga Ibong Mandaragit is hailed as Hernandez’s epic masterpiece as it is the first socio-political novel that exposes the ills of society as evident in the agrarian problems of the 50s. This novel continues the flaming social realism in the novels of the Philippine national hero, Dr Jose Rizal.
Radiance and Sunrise||Danton Remoto
A tale of love and loss set against the rising tide of socialism in the early years of the American occupation of the Philippines. In addition to being one of the first long narratives in the Philippines that provoked the mood of society, it also motivated the cause of the Hukbalahap (Hukbo ng Bayan Laban sa Hapon, literally the “people’s army against the Japanese occupiers” during World War II). This is the first English translation of the book.
The Genealogy of Kings||Muhammad Haji Salleh
A history of the Malay Peninsula and the islands of the Archipelago. The Genealogy of Kings (Malay: Sulalat al-Salatin or Sejarah Melayu, is a literary work that gives a romanticised history of the origin, evolution and demise of the great Malay maritime empire, the Malacca Sultanate. The work which was composed sometime between the 15th and 16th centuries, is considered one of the finest literary and historical works in the Malay language.
Prisna, Vol 1||Chancham Bunnag
Prisna, Vol 2||Chancham Bunnag
Prisna takes place in 1938 in Phra Nakhon, Thailand, during a time when men and women were not equals. Marriage for women meant security, not love. This is the story of a young modern Siamese girl and her quest for true love.
Penguin Southeast Asian Classics are now available at all leading bookstores near you and internationally via Amazon. Add them to your reading list today!
The year is 2023. You have a new perspective to most things, and you have your reading goals set in place. But weren’t these the same goals that you didn’t follow in 2022?
Take a pause; don’t set a goal for the number of books to read this year. Let it flow, let your reading habits breathe, let your headspace decide what to read next, and not your #TBR pile. Feel invited to take a pause and look at reading from a new perspective.
Read the unconventional way
Often, we read books as a task, as something we need to get off our checklist for the day and more often than not, this leads to slump. Reading when we don’t have a headspace to read that particular book, reading when we don’t like what we are reading and when it doesn’t align with our thoughts. Next time, when you attempt to read something, read about it and what it talks about first, analyze if you are in that headspace, and then pick it. Never worry about finishing a book (though finishing one gives closure) for it can wait.
It should be for pleasure; it should be for imagination. Let the words sink in. Let, what you are reading, soak your mind for a while and that’s when the real process begins. Of reading mindfully. This January, read No Wonder, Women by Carissa Foo, a collection of stories about women. A glimpse into the lives of women who are trying to love without unloving themselves. You will fall in love with yourself, and the art of telling stories – it easily offers both.
Give books the time they deserve
I have often come across books that need more understanding of the scenarios than usual. You won’t want to read a historical fiction without knowing about the events it is associated with. In such cases, highlight more, read more, read diversified perceptions about it, and you’ll feel a sense of fulfillment. Fulfillment of knowing what the author is talking about, without jumping in the sea cluelessly. Pick a book that interests you, read an article associated with it, listen to a podcast where the speaker is talking about a different idea about the event and you’ll be more interested in getting back to the book. You might enjoy reading Destination: SEA 2050 A.D. It’s an anthology that’s based on scientific projections. It showcases the world of the year 2050, the same year when 90 percent of the planet’s coral reefs are expected to decline, when plastic is found inside 99 percent of all the world’s seabirds, when there is severe water shortage in Asia, and so much more.
Read to reconnect
There is a book for everyone, and there is a book on everything. Pick an author whose writing you adore, see what they like to read and maybe that way you stumble upon your next read too. Quite often, we get influenced by what’s out there, and quite often we get influenced by who we trust. Reading is just that, putting faith into something that could ignite that spark in you. Reconnecting with our older selves sometimes help, re-reading books help, and often reading new books from the authors we liked earlier, helps. So, give it a try and maybe you’ll enjoy the journey you have earlier experienced, only this time you’ll find more things in that book that you missed last time. Try reading We Are Not Alone Here by O Thiam Chin who has also written before, The Dogs.
Consume a book the way you want
Be it an audiobook, be it on your e-reader, or you like carrying the paperback around – it’s your wish and there is no correct way of consuming art. You could be the one who likes to knit and listen to the audiobook alongside, you could be the one who relies on their e-reader and read multiple books at the same time, or you could be the one who carries one book for a week and believes in the process of annotating with pencils , highlighters and colorful tabs. There is no correct way of reading. Surprisingly, you could also switch the mediums and often that increases your capacity to read more on a particular day. Whether you are on your way to the office in a public transport or are on your evening run, a good book’s company can never disappoint. Read this exciting book titled Kopi Dulu by Mark Eveleigh that talks about a journey of 15,000 kilometres – by rail, road, on foot and under sail – through about 50 Indonesian islands, shining a light on what has been described as the world’s most invisible country.
As the clock strikes midnight, and we hit the refresh button. A new day is upon us.
But shouldn’t it be more in the flow, rather than a goal setting process?
It’s a thing with New Year’s Day – most of us wish to start everything afresh – including the books we want to read. This year, however, make it count not by the number of books you read, but by the lessons you learn, and fulfillment you get. This is a safe space for your to rediscover your love for reading.
Happy Reading, and happy rediscovering-your-love-for-reading!
Nora Nazerene shares with us, ‘
Ishani says, ‘I have frequently found myself drawn to meditation and the at-home prayers routine to find balance and peace. Working in content means ideas and thoughts keep demanding attention, but a growth state of mind is hard to achieve if one is constantly churning in the here and now. My morning or evening prayers, or a meditation session, help me reset everyday. As someone who has recovered from #burnout, I am mindful of anything that disturbs this peace. I highly recommend meditation, especially when you feel you have lost control of the day!’
Pallavi shares with us, ‘Mental health is a fairly new addition to my understanding of an overall healthy life. All my life, I have had to struggle with body weight issues and to now realise that a lot of it starts from how we feel about ourselves rather than how we appear has been a revelation. Since the epiphany, one of the most important mental health mantras has been to give myself grace. Most of us are our own worst critics, never giving ourselves a break, never taking a moment to appreciate the good we do, and always focusing on our failures and flaws. Giving oneself grace means that we accept who we are as we are, for both the good and the bad, the virtues and weaknesses. Treat yourself as well as you’d treat others means interacting with yourself with kindness and consideration.’
Rupal tells us, ‘Differentiate between big and small battles. Set boundaries. Take the time off. Breathe. Reflect. Restart. These are the few things, or more like actionable points that I have slowly-and-gradually implemented, and it has significantly helped in maintaining a healthy balance at work and personal front. I resort to music, books, coffee and conversations when I am in a loop, and giving yourself a break when your mind gives a hint is the best favour you do on yourself. So take that hint, address it well, soak in that day and take one step at a time.’
