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SINGAPORE : Eight short stories and eight novels were unveiled on Monday, as part of an annual nationwide reading initiative.
And this year, with more Singaporeans venturing overseas, organisers hope to promote a culture of reading fiction among Singaporeans both at home and abroad.
That is why the theme of "Home and Away" has been chosen by the organisers of "READ! Singapore".
From May 21 to August 27, organisers from the National Library Board (NLB) hope to create topics of discussions which are close to the hearts of Singaporeans, no matter where they may be.
One way to do this is through the selected stories and novels on Singaporeans venturing overseas and immigrants settling into Singapore.
The English novels are "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri and "Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress" by Dai Sijie. The English short stories are "Winterscape" from Diamond Dust: Stories by Anita Desai and "Lions in Winter" from Lions in Winter: Stories by Wena Poon.
The Chinese novels are "Short Stories" by You Jin and "A Dream Journey" by various authors. The Chinese short stories are "A Convenient Marriage" by Colin Lee and "The Last Village of Nee Soon" by Ding Yun.
The Malay novels are "Haruman Kencana" (Valuable Scent) by Zaharah Nawawi and "Mail Mau Kahwin" (Mail Wants to Wed) by Dr Muhammad Ariff Ahmad. The Malay short stories are "My Singapore" by Hafiza Talib and "Old Singapore, New Singapore" by Mohamed Ismail Sidek.
The Tamil novels are "Mithavai" (Driftwood) by Nanjil Nandan and "Peyarillatha Oorin Pakalvelai" by S Ramakrishnan. The Tamil short stories are "Thooliyum Thottilum" (The Cradle), a selected story from Manakkum Malligai by Mu Thangarasan and "Mannukkul Vairam" (Hidden Diamond), a selected story from Singapoor Kulanthaigal by Se Ve Shanmugam.
The books were selected by a committee and one was voted in by the public through SMS emails and postcards.
Colin Lee, Author of "A Convenient Marriage", said: "The story is about old colonial Singapore during the 50s, and it is about a local Chinese family and a British pastor.
"The British pastor is actually 'Home and Away' and the local family surrounds the local community here, so it more or less ties in with the theme of READ! Singapore." - CNA/ms
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