8 Books for August the 9th
If watching the National Day Parade or listening to those National Day songs is "too much" for that skeptical you, but you know it doesn't make you any less of a citizen, I recommend any of these books by Singapore writers instead to spend your August with (in order of their appearance on the photo, from left to right, top to bottom). They are mostly written pre-2000... not because nothing good has been written since, but for me, these titles have stood the test of time. Singapore the Air-Conditioned Nation: Essays on the politics of comfort and control 1990-2000 , Cherian George (2000) This is the first collection of essays on Singapore society/culture/politics that I've really enjoyed, for its incisiveness and insight, and the quality of its writing. I found it also an unabashedly "patriotic" book, a voice that cared about the society he lived in. Frankie and Poo: What is Love, Incomplete & Abridged , Sonny Liew (1996) Pre-Charlie Chan fame, S...