Gone Case
A touching yet unsentimental story about growing up in Singapore seen through the eyes of Yong, a 12-year-old, who experiences the paradoxes of life even if he doesn’t always understand everything. Between the rigorous demands of school and taking care of his younger sibling, Yong deals with the death of Ah Por, upheavals in his family, run-ins with the neighbourhood gang leader, infatuation and finally, the end of a friendship.
Set in a Housing Development Board (HDB) estate, Gone Case is a coming-of-age story with many memorable moments. It won the Singapore Literature Prize Commendation Award in 1996 and was on the National Library Board's Read! Singapore 2011 list. It was adapted into a telemovie, produced and written by Lee Thean Jeen, directed by Ler Jiyuan in 2013.
Dave Chua is also the author of The Beating and Other Stories (2011). It was longlisted for the Frank O'connor International Short Prize 2012 and shortlisted for the Singapore Literature Prize 2012.
Paperback
$18.00 SGD
E-book
$18.00 SGD
Reviews
"GONE CASE might be the most underrated work of fiction in Singaporean letters... I love this book: the Singlish; the spare, sometimes lyrical and always unpretentious language; the silences and what they imply. The novel’s episodic narrative even mirrors the TV serials of the era. I’m waiting for someone to make a proper film of it, and to render on screen, among many memorable images, the most poignant closing paragraph in Singaporean literature." - Alvin Pang, author of City of Rain and Testing The Silence, from Goodreads
"A quietly disturbing novel on an HDB childhood in Singapore... An overlooked classic of local lit." - Ng Yi-Sheng, author of last boy
"A thought-provoking bildungsroman that centrals itself around a twelve year old boy. Well written with varied use of figurative language and clearly described. Although the conversations are filled with vernacular terms, their usage makes the story extremely realistic. Excellent literature." - Apollos Michio, Goodreads
Recommended Books
Fiction

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

Paperback
$19.00 SGD
E-book
$19.00 SGD
After the Inquiry

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

Paperback
$23.30 SGD
E-book
$23.30 SGD
Malay Sketches

Paperback
$18.00 SGD
E-book
$18.00 SGD
Cooling-Off Day

Paperback
$20.00 SGD
E-book
$20.00 SGD
Corridor: 12 Short Stories

Paperback
$18.60 SGD
E-book
$18.60 SGD
The Gods Will Hear Us Eventually

Paperback
$14.00 SGD
E-book
$14.00 SGD
Interpreter of Winds

Paperback
$25.00 SGD
E-book
$25.00 SGD
Collected Plays Three

Paperback
$25.00 SGD
Collected Plays One

Paperback
$13.00 SGD
E-book
$13.00 SGD
Singapore Siu Dai: The SG Conversation In A Cup

Paperback
$18.60 SGD
E-book
$18.60 SGD
Dream Storeys

Paperback
$32.71 SGD
E-book
$32.71 SGD
Memorandum

Paperback
$16.00 SGD
Hook and Eye: Stories from the Margins

Paperback
$25.00 SGD
E-book
$25.00 SGD
Collected Plays Two

Paperback
$12.00 SGD
E-book
$12.00 SGD
Giving Alms

Paperback
$22.00 SGD
E-book
$22.00 SGD
In This Desert, There Were Seeds

Paperback
$18.60 SGD
E-book
$18.60 SGD
The Impermanence of Lilies

Paperback
$22.00 SGD
Telltale: 11 Stories

Paperback
$18.60 SGD
E-book
$18.60 SGD
Blood Collected Stories

Paperback
$19.00 SGD
E-book
$19.00 SGD
Let Me Tell You Something About That Night

E-book
$0.00 SGD
Found Texts of the AAI Anon, Circa 3119: Eight Lyric Essays

Paperback
$20.56 SGD
this is how you walk on the moon: an anthology of anti-realist fiction

Paperback
$22.00 SGD
Buy My Beloved Country

Paperback
$18.60 SGD
E-book
$18.60 SGD
These Foolish Things & Other Stories

Paperback
$23.00 SGD
The Inlet

E-book
$0.00 SGD
2719

Paperback
$18.00 SGD
E-book
$18.00 SGD
Gone Case

Paperback
$13.00 SGD
Singapore Siu Dai 2: The SG Conversation Upsize!

Paperback
$18.60 SGD
E-book
$18.60 SGD
First Fires

Paperback
$15.00 SGD
Trackless Paths

Paperback
$18.70 SGD
Ah... The Fragrance of Durians

Paperback
$20.00 SGD
Island of Silence

Paperback
$18.60 SGD
E-book
$18.60 SGD
Shezlez the Self-Proclaimed

Paperback
$25.00 SGD
3

Paperback
$12.90 SGD
Sampan

Paperback
$15.00 SGD
E-book
$15.00 SGD
Payoh

Paperback
$20.00 SGD
E-book
$20.00 SGD
Pulse

Paperback
$23.00 SGD
Eastern Heathens: An Anthology of Subverted Asian Folklore
Out of stock

Paperback
$15.84 SGD
Afternoon Tea at Raffles Hotel
Out of stock

Paperback
$9.25 SGD
Afternoon Tea at Raffles Hotel Singapore: A Fun Activity Book
Out of stock

Paperback
$14.00 SGD
Here and Beyond: 12 Stories | A Study Companion
Out of stock

Paperback
$16.00 SGD
Here and Beyond: 12 Stories
Out of stock

Paperback
$20.00 SGD
Tales of Two Cities
Out of stock

Paperback
$13.00 SGD
Telltale: 11 Stories | A Study Companion
Out of stock

Paperback
$22.00 SGD
Passages: Stories of Unspoken Journeys
Out of stock

Paperback
$13.00 SGD
Singapore Siu Dai 3: The SG Conversation Dabao!
Out of stock

Paperback
$40.00 SGD
Singapore Siu Dai Box Set
Out of stock

Paperback
$20.00 SGD
Vanishing Point
Out of stock

Paperback
$10.00 SGD
Off Centre
Out of stock
Out of print
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