Tuesday

Aunty Lee's Delights: A Singaporean Mystery
Ovidia Yu
US: William Morrow, 2013
ISBN: 9780062227157

This delectable and witty mystery introduces Rosie "Aunty" Lee, feisty widow, amateur sleuth, and proprietor of Singapore's best-loved home-cooking restaurant.

After losing her husband, Rosie Lee could have become one of Singapore's "tai tai," an idle rich lady. Instead she is building a culinary empire from her restaurant, Aunty Lee's Delights, where spicy Singaporean meals are graciously served to locals and tourists alike. But when a body is found in one of Singapore's tourist havens and one of her guests fails to show at a dinner party, Aunty Lee knows that the two events are likely connected.

The murder and disappearance throws together Aunty Lee's henpecked stepson, Mark, his social-climbing wife, Selina, a gay couple whose love is still illegal in Singapore, and an elderly Australian tourist couple whose visit may mask a deeper purpose. Investigating the murder are Police Commissioner Raja and Senior Staff Sergeant Salim, who quickly discover that Aunty Lee's sharp nose for intrigue can sniff out clues that elude law enforcers.

Wise, witty, and charming, Aunty Lee's Delights is a spicy mystery about love, friendship, and food in Singapore, where money flows freely and people of many religions and ethnicities coexist peacefully, but where tensions lurk just below the surface, sometimes with deadly consequences.
A Village Remembered: Kampong Radin Mas, 1800s-1973
Ibrahim Tahir (ed.)
Singapore: OPUS Editorial Private Limited, 2013.
ISBN: 9789810756949

This title records the memories of the residents who were resettled from Kampong Radin Mas in 1973. Kampong Radin Mas produced many illustrious members of the Malay community, such as Othman Wok, Singapore's Minister of Social Affairs from 1963 to 1977; food consultant Aziza Ali; and former Members of Parliament Sidek Saniff and Wan Hussin Zoohri. Famous alumni of Radin Mas School include artist Ong Kim Seng.

This book aims to bring a sense of history to a new generation of younger Singaporeans. It explores what life was like in the kampong – the spirit of gotong royong that had the villagers rallying to help one another; traditional cultural practices now largely forgotten; and the happy times shared by village folk in a simpler age.

Monday

Images of Singapore Food: Popular Hawker Dishes and More...
Christopher Leung
Singapore: Marshall Cavendish Editions, 2013
ISBN: 9789814484145

On the hunt for the ultimate food experience in Singapore? This guide to the city's popular hawker dishes will help the adventurous visitor discover why Singapore is known as a street food paradise.

Find out what goes into these yummy-looking dishes - from snacks such as Nyonya Kueh to one-dish meals like Char Kway Teow - and learn to order them like a local. Each entry includes a colour photograph of the dish as well as a description of what are the key ingredients.

And for those clueless about what is kopi-si siew dai or mee tai mak, the book includes a glossary of local drinks available and also a visual glossary of noodle types.
A Naturalist's Guide to the Birds of Singapore
Yong Ding Li, Lim Kim Chuah & Lee Tiah Khee
Oxford: John Beaufoy, 2013
ISBN: 9781906780890

This easy-to-use identification guide to the 280 bird species most commonly seen in Singapore is perfect for resident and visitor alike. High quality photographs from Singapore's top nature photographers are accompanied by detailed species descriptions which include nomenclature, size, distribution, habits and habitat. The user-friendly introduction covers geography and climate, vegetation, opportunities for naturalists and the main sites for viewing the listed species. Also included is an all-important checklist of all of the birds of Singapore encompassing, for each species, its common and scientific name, IUCN status.
Education-At-Large: Student Life & Activities in Singapore 1945-1965
Teng Siao See, Chan Cheow Thia & Lee Juay Leng (eds.)
Singapore: World Scientific, 2013
ISBN: 9789814405546

The first part of the book contains documentation of a groundbreaking exhibition held in 2007 on student activities and societal engagements during post-war Singapore 1945-1965 and transcripts of forums held in conjunction with it. The second half centres on oral history accounts of mostly former Chinese school students who shared about their social, cultural and political activities in complex but exciting times.

Education-at-large broadens our understanding of Singapore's educational history in the transitional period between the end of the Second World War and the country's independence; examines the ways in which student activities and activism resonated with, and contributed to, the country's wider social, political and cultural life, as well as the decolonisation process; and stimulates debates about Chinese education and student activism in Singapore.
The Inlet
Claire Tham
Singapore: Ethos Books, 2013
ISBN: 9789810773847

A young female Chinese national drowns in a private swimming pool in a wealthy enclave on a resort island just off the Singapore mainland. The house where she is found belongs to one of the wealthiest property developers in Singapore. The ripple effects on everyone affected by the incident – the investigating officer, the homeowner and his nephew, the girl’s family – are examined from their point of view. Based loosely on a true incident, The Inlet explores the social and cultural changes that have washed over Singapore society in recent years.
Changing Landscapes of Singapore: Old Tensions,  New Discoveries
Elaine Lynn-Ee Ho, Chih Yuan Woon & Kamalini Ramdas (eds.)
Singapore: NUS Press, 2013
ISBN: 9789971697723

Landscape is not only the visible material surface of places but also refers to ways of interpreting fluid or contested social relations and spatial arrangements. The essays in this book critically examine how material and immaterial landscapes take shape in Singapore and their impacts on the population. They further assess how different social groups in Singapore inhabit landscapes and negotiate changing societal dynamics and conditions. The book contextualises developments in Singapore within regional and international trends. A standard Singapore Studies textbook, this book will appeal to anyone seeking to understand this ever-changing island, city and state.
From Identity to Mondialisation: TheatreWorks 25
TheatreWorks
Singapore: Editions Didier Millet, 2013
ISBN: 9789814260909

TheatreWorks is renowned for its daring, and sometimes controversial, productions. Since its inception the company has explored important social issues such as sexuality, censorship and oppression. The company also pioneered different types of productions; it introduced the black box theatre to Singapore and staged epic outdoor festivals in Fort Canning Park.

This book, celebrating TheatreWorks 25th anniversary, charts the company's evolution from a small theatre cooperative working from a terrace house to the well-respected innovator in the Singapore theatre community.

TheatreWorks 25 is a stunning visual history of the company, featuring photography from many of TheatreWorks’ groundbreaking performances and quotes and anecdotes from members of the company, past and present.

Wednesday

Scenes of Singapore: A Watercolour Album
Foo Kwee Horng
Singapore: Marshall Cavendish Editions, 2013
ISBN: 9789814408363

See Singapore in a new light! This vibrant volume of watercolours offers readers a tour through the country’s iconic buildings, neighbourhoods and scenes.

With loving detail, local artist Foo Kwee Horng paints a veritable A-to-Z gallery of Singapore, from the ArtScience Museum, Botanic Gardens and Raffles Hotel to traditional shophouses, five-foot-ways, churches, mosques and the Singapore Zoo.

Following on the success of Images of Singapore’s photographic collection, this new book of watercolours – presented in the same handy format – promises to offer visitors an ideal souvenir of their trip to Singapore or a beautiful gift for those back at home.
Down the Seletar River: Discovering a Hidden Treasure of Singapore
Eugene Wijeysingha
Singapore: Seletar Hills Estate Residents' Association, 2013
ISBN: 9789710579204

The Seletar Hills Estate Residents' Association, in commemoration of its 45th anniversary, has published a book entitled Down the Seletar River: Discovering a Hidden Treasure of Singapore. Seletar, as defined in this book, covers more specifically the area south of Yishun, encompassing Seletar Hills, Jalan Kayu, the Seletar Airbase and the Yio Chu Kang / Lorong Buangkok area.

This heritage book on Seletar documents its history from as early as the 1800s when the Seletar River was populated by indigenous river nomads called the Orang Seletar. It traces its development from the late 1800s when early Chinese migrants came up the River to farm the land and engaged first in vegetable farming and animal husbandry, later with cash crops such as pepper and gambier, to be followed by the cultivation of rubber. With the boom in the rubber industry in the early 1900s, large scale rubber cultivation transformed the area into a landscape of rubber plantations.

The book also touches on the development of the British Military Airbase at Seletar, the first of its kind in the Far East, which impacted the island state and gave rise to much needed housing development. The development of the airbase and residential housing estates to provide for the great shortage in housing, transformed Seletar, which had traditionally been agricultural, into a modern suburban landscape. The development of the new Seletar Aerospace Park, which will be a major hub for the aerospace industry, is another step towards modernization.

In exploring the region’s history, the book also reveals little nuggets of historical significance – Jalan Kayu, a food haven attracting visitors from all corners of the island, Kampong Buangkok, the last of the traditional kampongs on the mainland, Bukit Sembawang’s only rubber processing factory, and Seletar West Farmway, with its mix of mushroom and ornamental tropical fish farms.

Seletar has a rich history and charm of its own, and it is for this reason that the book has been compiled. Despite its physical transformation from a rural community to a modern suburb, it has still managed to retain its greenery and tranquility; it is a welcome retreat from the noise and bustle of city living, and is a much sought-after area to live in.

Down the Seletar River captures the nostalgic memories of many people who have been forthcoming in sharing their personal stories and recollections and expressing their sentiments of this little corner of Singapore they call “home”.

It is hoped that this book will enhance public awareness of the rich and vibrant heritage of this northern part of Singapore called Seletar, and also make interesting reading for future generations for whom it will be a chapter in the continuing tale of local heritage history.