Featured
The Singapore I Recognise: Essays on home, community and hope
Available in paperback and e-book format. Purchase the paperback and get 50% off the e-book!
Singapore is small, a complex country full of contradictions, inconsistencies and idiosyncrasies. Often held up as a model nation, we sometimes forget that Singapore is seen differently by different people. With a decade of activism and journalism experience, Kirsten Han reveals various aspects of her home country that don’t follow what many of us know as the conventional ‘Singapore Story’. The Singapore I Recognise is Kirsten’s reckoning with civil society’s experiences of Singapore, perspectives that are often unheard, or fall through the cracks. Through researched interviews and heartfelt reflections, Kirsten tells us how parts of Singapore are already moving towards communal care, solidarity, empowerment and hope. This is a resonant portrayal of home in the island city-state.
“If you live in Singapore, you know it is a place with more layers and complexities than meets the eye. Yet, it is not always possible to grasp what lies beneath the glossy stories of economic success, social harmony, and political stability. Kirsten Han’s book—part reflexive memoir, part incisive reporting—is an informative, nuanced, and deeply humane series of essays that helps us better understand and appreciate the contradictions, tensions, and power plays that are integral to the Singapore story. Read it to learn new things, read it to feel big emotions, read it to expand your thinking on the realities and possibilities of home.”
—Teo You Yenn, sociologist and author of This is What Inequality Looks Like
“When Kirsten Han sees something, she says something, especially when that something is an injustice that afflicts the weak in Singapore’s extremely privileged society. This book encapsulates the values she has fearlessly espoused for years, and for which she continues to pay a personal price. Unable to counter her arguments on the merits, the establishment has subjected her to smears and harassment. One day, her conscientious contributions will be lauded. Until then, Kirsten Han is the eye that too few in Singapore recognise. The country is blinder for it.”
—Cherian George, Author of Air-Conditioned Nation Revisited
This book contains descriptions of physical violence, mentions of incarceration and themes related to the death penalty, as well as references to arrests and interrogation. We recognise that the ways in which readers might respond to and deal with these issues may vary, as our relationships to these topics are unique. If you find yourself feeling overwhelmed, personally affected or unable to engage with this content at present, feel free to put this book down and talk to someone about how you feel, or consult the resources printed at the back.
Read sample pages here.
Also available at the following bookstores:
- Kinokuniya Bookstores
- Grassroots Book Room
- City Book Room
- The Book Bar
- Wormhole
- Epigram Bookshop
Authors:
ISBN: 978-981-18-3012-9 (paperback) | 978-981-18-6030-0 (e-book)
Published: August 2023
Dimension: 150mm x 220mm
Extent: 264
Finish: Paperback
Wallet-friendly Deals

Paperback
$16.56 SGD $18.00 SGD
(Imperfect) Remains: A Singapore Journey
Quick view details


(Imperfect) Remains: A Singapore Journey
Note: As the books are not in mint condition, this title is being sold at a discounted price. Do expect your copy to have foxing/yellowed pages. Please refer to product images for details. The ma...
Paperback
$16.56 SGD $18.00 SGD

Paperback
$12.00 SGD $20.00 SGD
(Imperfect) Tales of Two Cities
Quick view details


(Imperfect) Tales of Two Cities
Note: As the books are not in mint condition, this title is being sold at a discounted price. Do expect your copy to have foxing/yellowed pages. Please refer to product images for details. Hong K...
Paperback
$12.00 SGD $20.00 SGD

Paperback
$12.00 SGD $18.60 SGD
E-book
$18.60 SGD
(Imperfect) The Impermanence of Lilies
Quick view details


(Imperfect) The Impermanence of Lilies
Note: As the books are not in mint condition, this title is being sold at a discounted price. Do expect your copy to have foxing/yellowed pages. Please refer to product images for details. The ca...
Paperback
$12.00 SGD $18.60 SGD
E-book
$18.60 SGD

Paperback
$10.00 SGD $18.00 SGD
E-book
$18.00 SGD
(Imperfect) Gone Case
Quick view details


(Imperfect) Gone Case
Note: As the books are not in mint condition, this title is being sold at a discounted price. Do expect your copy to have foxing/yellowed pages. Please refer to product images for details. A touch...
Paperback
$10.00 SGD $18.00 SGD
E-book
$18.00 SGD
Free Books

E-book
$0.00 SGD
Why Our Great Leader was Not So Great and Not Much of a Leader
Quick view details


Why Our Great Leader was Not So Great and Not Much of a Leader
For many Singaporeans, Sir Stamford Raffles was Great Leader and White Saviour all rolled into one. The one man, one country narrative allowed a simplistic telling of a complex tale concerning Si...
E-book
$0.00 SGD

E-book
$0.00 SGD
2719
Quick view details


2719
2719 presents a history of the future. It is a creative prognosis that charts how Singapore will develop for the next seven hundred years. Moments in the island’s real history will reverberate th...
E-book
$0.00 SGD

E-book
$0.00 SGD
Some Say, A Tapir
Quick view details


Some Say, A Tapir
Featuring new work from Alfian Sa’at, Christine Chia and Yong Shu Hoong, Some Say, A Tapir recaptures the year 1299 of Singapore’s history. The collection delves into stories—both living and legend...
E-book
$0.00 SGD

E-book
$0.00 SGD
Farquhar
Quick view details


Farquhar
Singaporeans are familiar with the popular mythos of Sir Stamford Raffles, sole and exclusive founder of modern Singapore, who called a bustling port into being with his mighty hand, where only a...
E-book
$0.00 SGD
Ethos Books Membership Programme

1-month subscription
$5.00 SGD
Tier 1 Ethos Membership ($5 for 1 month)
Quick view details


Tier 1 Ethos Membership ($5 for 1 month)
Please note that your membership will start on the 1st of the following month. e.g. if you purchase anytime from 1 - 31 December, your membership will begin on 1 January and you will receive an ema...
1-month subscription
$5.00 SGD

6-month subscription
$30.00 SGD
Tier 2 Ethos Membership ($30 for 6 months)
Quick view details


Tier 2 Ethos Membership ($30 for 6 months)
Please note that your membership will start on the 1st of the following month. e.g. if you purchase anytime from 1 - 31 December, your membership will begin on 1 January and you will receive an ema...
6-month subscription
$30.00 SGD

12-month subscription
$80.00 SGD
Tier 3 Ethos Membership ($80 for 12 months)
Quick view details


Tier 3 Ethos Membership ($80 for 12 months)
Please note that your membership will start on the 1st of the following month. e.g. if you purchase anytime from 1 - 31 December, your membership will begin on 1 January and you will receive an em...
12-month subscription
$80.00 SGD
Latest Releases

Paperback
$19.00 SGD
E-book
$19.00 SGD
After the Inquiry
Quick view details


After the Inquiry
Police sergeant Hafiz lies in a coma after a gunshot to the head. The investigation by Internal Affairs uncovered a game of Russian roulette gone wrong, and the case is now closed. But there are ...
Paperback
$19.00 SGD
E-book
$19.00 SGD

Paperback
$18.60 SGD
E-book
$18.60 SGD
A Bad Girl's Book of Animals
Quick view details


A Bad Girl's Book of Animals
From the Winner of the Windham-Campbell Prize 2022 Available in paperback and e-book* format. Paperback + E-book bundle available below: Get the e-book at 50% off with each purchase of a paperback....
Paperback
$18.60 SGD
E-book
$18.60 SGD

paperback
$27.00 SGD
E-book
$27.00 SGD
Not Without Us: Perspectives on Disability and Inclusion in Singapore
Quick view details


Not Without Us: Perspectives on Disability and Inclusion in Singapore
Paperback + E-book bundle available below: Get the e-book at 50% off with each purchase of a paperback Disability is all around us—among people we meet, the media, sports, our own family and fri...
paperback
$27.00 SGD
E-book
$27.00 SGD

Paperback
$25.00 SGD
E-book
$25.00 SGD
Brown is Redacted: Reflecting on Race in Singapore
Quick view details


Brown is Redacted: Reflecting on Race in Singapore
Brown is Redacted: Reflecting on Race in Singapore responds to, expands on and questions what we think we know about the lived experiences of minority-raced people in Singapore. Inspired by Brown I...
Paperback
$25.00 SGD
E-book
$25.00 SGD
Fiction

Paperback
$24.00 SGD
E-book
$24.00 SGD
catskull
Quick view details


catskull
Available in paperback and e-book format. Purchase the paperback and get 50% off the e-book! Ram has been ignored and dismissed his entire life. His parents patronise him, his older brother belitt...
Paperback
$24.00 SGD
E-book
$24.00 SGD

Paperback
$20.00 SGD
E-book
$20.00 SGD
Singa-Pura-Pura: Malay Speculative Fiction from Singapore
Quick view details


Singa-Pura-Pura: Malay Speculative Fiction from Singapore
From a future of electronic doas and AI psychotherapists, sense-activated communion with forests and a portal to realms undersea, to a reimagined origin and afterlife—editor and translator Nazry Ba...
Paperback
$20.00 SGD
E-book
$20.00 SGD

Paperback
$19.00 SGD
E-book
$19.00 SGD
After the Inquiry
Quick view details


After the Inquiry
Police sergeant Hafiz lies in a coma after a gunshot to the head. The investigation by Internal Affairs uncovered a game of Russian roulette gone wrong, and the case is now closed. But there are ...
Paperback
$19.00 SGD
E-book
$19.00 SGD

Paperback
$22.00 SGD
E-book
$22.00 SGD
Heartland (new edition)
Quick view details


Heartland (new edition)
Hailed as “the definitive Singaporean novel”, this new edition of Heartland is accompanied by a new preface by author Daren Shiau and a publisher’s foreword that contextualises the novel’s imprin...
Paperback
$22.00 SGD
E-book
$22.00 SGD
Poetry

Paperback
$18.60 SGD
E-book
$18.60 SGD
A Bad Girl's Book of Animals
Quick view details


A Bad Girl's Book of Animals
From the Winner of the Windham-Campbell Prize 2022 Available in paperback and e-book* format. Paperback + E-book bundle available below: Get the e-book at 50% off with each purchase of a paperback....
Paperback
$18.60 SGD
E-book
$18.60 SGD

E-book
$0.00 SGD
Paperback
$21.00 SGD
Picking off new shoots will not stop the spring: Witness poems and essays from Burma/Myanmar (1988-2021)
Quick view details


Picking off new shoots will not stop the spring: Witness poems and essays from Burma/Myanmar (1988-2021)
Picking off new shoots will not stop the spring is a multi-publisher, not-for-profit collaboration that aims to amplify the voices of the Burmese people alongside the ongoing Civil Disobedience Mov...
E-book
$0.00 SGD
Paperback
$21.00 SGD

Paperback
$19.00 SGD
E-book
$19.00 SGD
The Orchid Folios
Quick view details


The Orchid Folios
Shortlisted for the Singapore Literature Prize (Poetry 2022) “When you take an orchid out of its pot, you must first loosen the roots’ hold on the soil. Late last evening as I unravelled the braid...
Paperback
$19.00 SGD
E-book
$19.00 SGD

E-book
$0.00 SGD
Some Say, A Tapir
Quick view details


Some Say, A Tapir
Featuring new work from Alfian Sa’at, Christine Chia and Yong Shu Hoong, Some Say, A Tapir recaptures the year 1299 of Singapore’s history. The collection delves into stories—both living and legend...
E-book
$0.00 SGD
Non Fiction

Paperback
$26.00 SGD
E-Book
$26.00 SGD
The Singapore I Recognise: Essays on home, community and hope
Quick view details


The Singapore I Recognise: Essays on home, community and hope
Available in paperback and e-book format. Purchase the paperback and get 50% off the e-book! Singapore is small, a complex country full of contradictions, inconsistencies and idiosyncrasies. Ofte...
Paperback
$26.00 SGD
E-Book
$26.00 SGD

paperback
$27.00 SGD
E-book
$27.00 SGD
Not Without Us: Perspectives on Disability and Inclusion in Singapore
Quick view details


Not Without Us: Perspectives on Disability and Inclusion in Singapore
Paperback + E-book bundle available below: Get the e-book at 50% off with each purchase of a paperback Disability is all around us—among people we meet, the media, sports, our own family and fri...
paperback
$27.00 SGD
E-book
$27.00 SGD

Paperback
$25.00 SGD
E-book
$25.00 SGD
Brown is Redacted: Reflecting on Race in Singapore
Quick view details


Brown is Redacted: Reflecting on Race in Singapore
Brown is Redacted: Reflecting on Race in Singapore responds to, expands on and questions what we think we know about the lived experiences of minority-raced people in Singapore. Inspired by Brown I...
Paperback
$25.00 SGD
E-book
$25.00 SGD

paperback
$20.00 SGD
E-book
$20.00 SGD
Khairat Kita: A History of Malay/Muslim Mutual Aid in Singapore
Quick view details


Khairat Kita: A History of Malay/Muslim Mutual Aid in Singapore
A collection of interviews, photographs, essays and personal reflections, Khairat Kita is a project documenting the last few remaining Malay/Muslim Mutual Benefit Organisations (MMBOs) providing ai...
paperback
$20.00 SGD
E-book
$20.00 SGD
Creative Non Fiction

Paperback
$21.00 SGD
E-book
$21.00 SGD
Loss Adjustment
Quick view details


Loss Adjustment
“I have had nothing bad happen to me except my own doing. I have let this cowardice envelop me, and I can’t shake it off. I will commit the worst thing you can ever do to someone who loves you: k...
Paperback
$21.00 SGD
E-book
$21.00 SGD

Paperback
$18.60 SGD
E-book
$18.60 SGD
17A Keong Saik Road
Quick view details


17A Keong Saik Road
Mummy, why do you always have to leave for 17A… 17A Keong Saik Road recounts Charmaine Leung’s growing-up years on Keong Saik Road in the 1970s when it was a prominent red-light precinct in China...
Paperback
$18.60 SGD
E-book
$18.60 SGD

Paperback
$18.60 SGD
E-book
$18.60 SGD
The Sound of SCH: A Mental Breakdown, A Life Journey
Quick view details


The Sound of SCH: A Mental Breakdown, A Life Journey
Winner of the Singapore Literature Prize (Non-Fiction 2016) Can a life weave along through the same notes and yet come to play forth different sounds? The Sound of SCH (pronounced S-C-H) is the tru...
Paperback
$18.60 SGD
E-book
$18.60 SGD

Paperback
$18.60 SGD
Running on Empty: The Story Behind 0.01s
Quick view details


Running on Empty: The Story Behind 0.01s
“I think I spent more time fighting the system and officials than actually running faster and faster.” —UK Shyam, in an interview with the media in 2004 Running on Empty is a revealing insight int...
Paperback
$18.60 SGD
E-books

Paperback
$26.00 SGD
E-Book
$26.00 SGD
The Singapore I Recognise: Essays on home, community and hope
Quick view details


The Singapore I Recognise: Essays on home, community and hope
Available in paperback and e-book format. Purchase the paperback and get 50% off the e-book! Singapore is small, a complex country full of contradictions, inconsistencies and idiosyncrasies. Ofte...
Paperback
$26.00 SGD
E-Book
$26.00 SGD

Paperback
$24.00 SGD
E-book
$24.00 SGD
catskull
Quick view details


catskull
Available in paperback and e-book format. Purchase the paperback and get 50% off the e-book! Ram has been ignored and dismissed his entire life. His parents patronise him, his older brother belitt...
Paperback
$24.00 SGD
E-book
$24.00 SGD

E-Book
$12.00 SGD
Teachers' Guide to How We Live Now: A Study Companion - Digital Copy
Quick view details


Teachers' Guide to How We Live Now: A Study Companion - Digital Copy
Please note that this product is a digital PDF. If you are a teacher who plans to use the study companion in the classroom (i.e. adding How We Live Now: A Study Companion into your school text list...
E-Book
$12.00 SGD

Paperback
$18.60 SGD
E-book
$18.60 SGD
A Bad Girl's Book of Animals
Quick view details


A Bad Girl's Book of Animals
From the Winner of the Windham-Campbell Prize 2022 Available in paperback and e-book* format. Paperback + E-book bundle available below: Get the e-book at 50% off with each purchase of a paperback....
Paperback
$18.60 SGD
E-book
$18.60 SGD
Attunement
Is life hustling you out of tune? As the week roars by, we invite you to a slice of attunement penned lovingly by our authors, friends, and yours truly. Freshly delivered weekly with care. Intimacy guaranteed. Read selected letters below.

Take heart, have courage
Sep 26, 2022
On a trip to Kinokuniya, I chanced upon an interesting book titled Before the coffee gets cold by...
Read more

Fields and Roses
Sep 19, 2022
When I was nine years old, the field behind the coffeeshop we frequented on Sunday afternoons was...
Read more

Badan Khairat: An Important Part Of Growing Up In West Coast
Sep 12, 2022
Malay/Muslim Mutual Benefit Organisations, or better known as badan khairat to my community, have...
Read more