{"id":10628,"date":"2025-12-23T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-22T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/?p=10628"},"modified":"2025-12-08T16:49:55","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T08:49:55","slug":"essential-reading-10-page-turners-by-nus-alumni","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/2025\/12\/23\/essential-reading-10-page-turners-by-nus-alumni\/","title":{"rendered":"Essential Reading: 10 Page-Turners by NUS Alumni"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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The National University of Singapore (NUS) isn’t just about academics and research; it’s also a fertile ground for literary talent. Some of Singapore’s most celebrated poets, writers and storytellers \u2014 fiction and non-fiction \u2014 are NUS alumni who inspire minds and hearts with their words. Whether you are looking for some education or entertainment, here is a list of 10 fantastic reads by these writers, which range from classics to more recent works.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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1. Interpreter of Winds by Fairoz Ahmad<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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If your attitude towards most books is TL;DR (too long; didn\u2019t read), try short stories. Fairoz Ahmad (Arts & Social Sciences \u201906, MSocSci \u201911) offers a captivating collection of short stories in Interpreter of Winds<\/em>. Extract from the back cover blurb: \u201cFrom a Dutch-occupied Java where a witch was murdered \u2026 to a day in which all sense of music is lost, the mundane is aflame with the uncanny.\u201d This collection of short stories reflects the author\u2019s experiences and observations growing up as a Muslim in a world where people are too busy and distracted to understand one another.<\/p>

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2. Every School a Good School by Ng Ziqin<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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This coming-of-age novel was Ng Ziqin\u2019s (Law \u201925) literary debut, and it made a splash when it was shortlisted for the 2022 Epigram Books Fiction Prize. She completed it before even stepping into NUS to study law. The plot: When an eccentric new education minister unveils a radical local exchange programme called INSTEP, two Secondary Three girls find themselves uprooted from their lives and transplanted into unfamiliar new surroundings. Recommended for those who enjoy a true dose of local teenage fiction, complete with very Singaporean references to MOE, DSA and PSC.<\/p>

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3. The First Fools: B Sides of Lee Kuan Yew\u2019s A-Team edited by Peh Shing Huei<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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An SG60 effort, this book is an easy-to-read tribute to the lesser-known lives of the founding fathers of Singapore when they were off-duty. Edited by Peh Shing Huei (Arts & Social Sciences \u201900), it is a prequel to the bestseller The Last Fools: The Eight Immortals of Lee Kuan Yew<\/em>. Nuggets include a zinger on how former Minister for Home Affairs Ong Pang Boon (Arts & Social Sciences \u201954) postponed his wedding twice \u2014 first for a by-election and then again when the Bukit Ho Swee fire broke out. He eventually got married during a lunch break.<\/p>

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4. Who Wants to Buy an Expanded Edition of a Book of Poems by Gwee Li Sui<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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This little book of poetry that made the Straits Times<\/em> list of the 50 Greatest Works of SingLit in 2021 was described in the newspaper as \u201can irreverent collection\u201d that \u201ccelebrates the use of Singlish in rhymes like \u2018Excue\/I’m tue\/kiasue\/to queue\u2019.\u201d In a nod to his NUS roots, Gwee Li Sui (Arts & Social Sciences \u201995, MA \u201997), who famously writes on and in Singlish, even mentions in his book dedication a lady by the name of Irene, \u201cwho fried the most divine Hokkien mee <\/em>at the old NUS Arts canteen\u201d.<\/p>

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5. Dearest Intimate by Suchen Christine Lim<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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This latest novel by Suchen Christine Lim (Arts & Social Sciences \u201972, \u201983) published in 2022 revolves around a famous cross-dressing Cantonese opera singer who has died, and whose private journal falls into the hands of her granddaughter. Like Lim\u2019s most famous novel, Fistful of Colours<\/em> \u2014 which won the inaugural Singapore Literature Prize in 1992 \u2014 Dearest Intimate <\/em>dives into themes of love, loneliness and violence amid a backdrop of historical storytelling, with descriptions of pre-war China, the Japanese Occupation and modern-day Singapore.<\/p>

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6. Home is Where We Are by Wang Gungwu<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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One of NUS\u2019 most distinguished alumni, Professor Wang Gungwu (Arts \u201953, MA \u201956), became the oldest person to win the Singapore Literature Prize in 2022 (in the English creative non-fiction category) with this memoir. He was 91. The book, which spans 20 years, begins with his time at the University of Malaya, as the British prepared to depart Singapore and a young English-educated generation of locals grappled with how they might shape the nation to come. The book is actually the second part of his memoirs, following the acclaimed Home is Not Here<\/em>. He wrote it with his wife Margaret Wang, who died before the book was launched.<\/p>

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7. One to the Dark Tower Comes by Yeow Kai Chai<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Yeow Kai Chai (Arts & Social Sciences \u201993, MA \u201999), the former director of the Singapore Writers Festival, topped the poetry category in the Singapore Literature Prize 2022 with this collection. Described as a \u201cdark, dense journey through grief and self-discovery\u201d, Yeow acknowledges that his poetry is not commercial, and said in a newspaper interview of the book, \u201cIt’s not a book that you can read in one sitting and understand. It’s a book that you need to get frustrated with and go back to.\u201d<\/p>

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8. Little Ironies by Catherine Lim<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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This seminal work by Dr Catherine Lim (Arts & Social Sciences MA \u201981, PhD \u201987), arguably Singapore\u2019s literary grande dame, was her debut collection. The book has appeared on multiple compilations of Singapore\u2019s top literature works, and the Singapore-set stories continue to resonate even today \u2014 from the fatal actions of an abusive father to a student’s suicide after failing an examination.<\/p>

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9. Nine Yard Sarees by Prasanthi Ram<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Nine Yard Sarees<\/em> is a multi-generational portrait of a fictional Tamil Brahmin family. Comprising eleven interlinked stories, this short story cycle traces the lives of nine women from 1950 all the way to 2019, shedding light on the community and its evolution through the decades. This book by Prasanthi Ram (Arts & Social Sciences \u201914) nabbed the Singapore Literature Prize in 2024 for Best English Fiction. A Straits Times<\/em> review describes how the book \u201cconjures an epic chorus of Tamil women\u2019s voices\u201d.<\/p>

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10. The Best of Edwin Thumboo by Edwin Thumboo<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Edwin Thumboo (Arts & Social Sciences \u201957, PhD \u201970), often dubbed the “unofficial poet laureate” of Singapore, set the foundations for the nation’s post-colonial poetry. This collection of over 150 poems, which includes his most prominent poem \u2018Ulysses by the Merlion\u2019, was personally selected by Thumboo and can be said to comprise his \u2018greatest hits\u2019.<\/p>

Buy the book<\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Feed your mind and fire your imagination with these engaging literary works.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":10630,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_theme","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10628","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10628"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10628\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10652,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10628\/revisions\/10652"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10630"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}