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 Chinatown in Singapore. An interweaving of past and present narratives, 17A Keong Saik Road tells of her mother’s journey as a young child put up for sale to becoming the madame of a brothel in Keong Saik. Unfolding her story as the daughter of a brothel operator and witnessing these changes to her family, Charmaine traces the transformation of the Keong Saik area from the 1930s to the present, and through writing, finds reconciliation.
A beautiful dedication to the past, to memory, and to the people who have gone before us, 17A Keong Saik Road tells the rich stories of the Ma Je, the Pei Pa Zai, and the Dai Gu Liong—marginalised, forgotten women of the past, who despite their difficulties, persevered in working towards the hope of a better future.
Also available as an audiobook on Storytel here.
Read sample pages here.
Paperback
$18.60 SGD
E-book
$18.60 SGD
Recommended Books
Creative Non-Fiction
Paperback
$21.00 SGD
E-book
$21.00 SGD
Loss Adjustment
Paperback
$18.60 SGD
E-book
$18.60 SGD
17A Keong Saik Road
Paperback
$18.60 SGD
E-book
$18.60 SGD
The Sound of SCH: A Mental Breakdown, A Life Journey
Paperback
$18.60 SGD
Running on Empty: The Story Behind 0.01s
Paperback
$24.00 SGD
E-Book
$24.00 SGD
Where I Was: A Memoir About Forgetting and Remembering
Paperback
$18.60 SGD
E-book
$18.60 SGD
Digital Braille
$19.90 SGD
A Place For Us
Paperback
$16.90 SGD
E-book
$16.90 SGD
A Philosopher's Madness
Paperback
$18.60 SGD
E-book
$18.60 SGD
The Magic Circle
Paperback
$12.00 SGD
E-book
$12.00 SGD
Notes After Terawih
Paperback
$20.00 SGD
E-book
$20.00 SGD
Goodbye My Kampong! Potong Pasir, 1966 to 1975
Paperback
$18.90 SGD
E-book
$18.90 SGD
Ordinary Stories in an Extraordinary World
Paperback
$15.00 SGD
Growing Up in Kampong Potong Pasir
Paperback
$23.36 SGD
Bite Harder: Open Letters & Close Readings
Paperback
$11.21 SGD
Rebound: LaoLao's Guide to Giving Up
Paperback
$18.60 SGD
Children of Las Vegas
Paperback
$30.00 SGD
Kampong Boy
Out of stock
English
$20.00 SGD
Chinese
$20.00 SGD
My Daughter, My Friend: Letters to a Daughter
Out of stock
paperback
$16.82 SGD
Jean Marshall’s Pahang Letters, 1953-54: Sidelights on Malaya during The Emergency
Out of stock
Paperback
$35.00 SGD
Routes: A Singaporean Memoir 1940-75
Out of stock
Paperback
$21.90 SGD
More or Less Rapid Transit
Out of stock
Paperback
$24.90 SGD
Electric Flying Tram-Car
Out of stock
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.
Magical, luminous things
Feb 19, 2022
I have flown across an ocean this week. This still sounds surreal to say.
Read more
No negotiation for blood debt
Feb 14, 2022
The Burmese language resistance poetry is deeply embedded in the country’s colonial past. When mo...
Read more
Burning holes in the darkness
Feb 7, 2022
Poets killed in broad daylight, writers tortured and maimed. I wonder if their ghosts watch on fr...
Read more