Singapore Books

This is probably a bit of a cheat, because to be totally honest the market for this book is probably about 20 people across the world. However, as I am just starting a research MA on Australia's defence relationship with Great Britain in the immediate post WW1 period, any help would be gratefully received!

The book is pretty much the only one covering its subject, but thankfully is actually written in English, rather than academic speak. At the risk of revealing my complete daggishness, I almost enjoy reading the book.

Anyway - buy it if you are one of the demented few. If you're not but just interested in what went on 80 years ago, borrow it from a library.

Singapore's Oscar Schindler


The first thing that strikes you after reading this book is that the history books have not told the whole story.

From the writings of the author, Mamoru Shinozaki, we are able to see the Japanese capture, occupation and subsequent surrender of Singapore through Japanese eyes. But while not shying away from the brutality his countrymen displayed, he also showed the other side - one of disgust and shame over the atrocities committed in the name of empire.

In the book, Shinozaki traces his time in Singapore from being imprisoned in Changi prison for alleged espionage, to his liberation by Japanese troops, to the Sook Ching (or Clean-up) incident where many ethnic Singapore Chinese were massacred, to the formation of the Overseas Chinese Association and their 50 million dollar tribute to the emperor, to the setting up of agricultural colonies in Endau and Bahau, and finally the Japanese surrender and prosecution of war criminals.

According to the author, not all Japanese were agreeable to the treatment of the Chinese by their military, but most were unable to help much for fear of their own lives. He also highlights incidents during that dark period when individuals would help to overturn or subvert directives issued by the Army command. One funny incident related was the order to remove the statue of Sir Stamford Raffles, the founder of Singapore. Upon receiving the order, the Marquis Tokugawa, the director of the museum promptly had it stored safely in one of the storerooms there, only to put it at its rightful place when the war ended.

As for the author, he was responsible for issuing many "Good citizen" cards especially to members of the Chinese population. This no doubt saved many lives. He also applied his powers of persuasion to rescue many who were interned by the infamous Kempeitai or Japanese military police famous for their brutality in torture.

All in all, this book is a fascinating read and a must for all history buffs interested in the British empire and the Japanese experience in World War 2.

This book offers a lot more than its title might suggest. Murray's survey of opinion formation about Japan in the 1930s through the Australian media ranges from political and diplomatic machinations to the intrigues of propaganda campaigns and espionage. It is richly researched, steeped in primary sources, including the author's own interviews, yet written with a light touch that maintained this reader's interest. The book's price-tag is certainly a discouragement, but it is well edited and sturdily made. It deserves a wide readership.

Charles McCormac was a wireless operator/air gunner in the RAF assigned to Seletar Airfield, Singapore pre-war. At the time of the Japanese invasion of Singapore he joined forces with a group constructing a roadblock on Bukit Timah Road. These men lost contact with Allied Forces, and did not realise that the British had surrendered on February 15th. The next day they encountered Japanese soldiers, three of whom McCormac killed with his Thompson Submachinegun. McCormac was taken prisoner and placed in a special POW cage at Pasir Panjang. The military and civilian prisoners held there were isolated because the Japanese believed they had committed grave offences against Japan. McCormac was brutally interrogated by the Kempei Tai at their headquarters in the YMCA building on Orchard Road. The Japanese summarily executed groups of prisoners held at Pasir Panjang
in front of the others. McCormac believed the only chance for him and his fellow prisoners was to escape. This is the fantastic story of that escape.

Beginning of story is well-paced, exploring the interesting characters. But some issues were not adequately addressed like how Young master Wu felt towards his wife Li-Li since young til before and after their marriage, prior to her pregnancy. And his falling in love with Han happened so quickly and mysteriously, it almost seemed like the author was trying to avoid writing too much about it. The part about the sky-god raping the goddess was totally baffling. Still, the other parts of the story were captivating enough especially towards the end when Han suffered. The surprisingly tragical ending sorta made up for the earlier confusing parts.

Recommended to those interested in the traditional chinese culture.

I've never read anything by Lim before. I thought this was a good book and it was worth the time it took to get read. I'm definately going to pick up more books by this author. Although the ending was a but abrupt, it was an engrossing tale about a situation rarely written about.

This story takes place against the backdrop of Singapore in the 1950s. However, as a Singaporean, I find the work misleading in some areas. It does not really and truly reflect a real Singapore. It is predictable and kind of soapy, a storyline which I am not a great fan of. But it is worth a read in a leisurely afternoon, just do not take the content seriously. Mrs. Lim is afterall a really great storyteller.

Catherine Lim has done it again where she constantly emphasize the reality Asians faces in the past and brings the character in her books to live. One would need to understand the Asian's superstitions in order to understand what is she trying to say. I must say that I was confuse at first with the "Goddess" she keeps emphasizing but later catch on to it. It is a book that describes the lives of bondmaid and also a dramatic love story that does not allow you to put the book down for a minute. An unpredictable story. It is one book that one should read to learn about the Asians culture and supersitions.

The plot was interesting but I couldn't follow the 'Godess' part of the novel, it was strange and silly. I can't honestly recomend it. Also it is hyped up as being very sexual and it isn't. Not really.

Having read several raving reviews about this novel, I'd expected far more of it. Being an expat, previously in the Netherlands and now in Singapore, I expected to identify much more with some of the issues raised.

This book was somewhat of a struggle to get through - but was a good guide to Singlish ("Singapore English") 101. Other than that I found it fairly plain reading and as deep as the Singapore river (ie, not at all).

'Globalization' progresses at the cost of the politically powerless. So it is another form of colonialism. God was the creation that was to make unfairness fair in 'older times'. But today in Singapore? It adds an injury to the insult.

I found this novel intelligent and well written on top of being done by a Singaporean author that we find quite rare.

However, this novel unfortunately never convinced me in that sense. Can they--Singaporian (and even Brit expatriot? oh, please)-- possibly be so recerential that they can dedicate their lives to Christianity? And can they believe all the injustice would be taken care of by God?

Or did this author slightly mock The Post Colonial state and its injuscie and compare them to personal relationships with God? As if to say it is same as to let your God keep on violating and abusing your life? In that case, all I want to suggest is that they quit this business.

This book managed to capture how much people can get away with murder as long as they maintain the social function and perform what is expected to in a place like Singapore, or in Chinese collective mentality. This issue was hardly discussed on a modern literary level like this novel. And at the same time, the author pointed out that it would require faith for God to keep up with these people as well as themselves. These two polarized issues, or the contradiction to put it simply, confuse us readers. Or this might be a good description of the confusion in the life in a place like Singapore.

The novel starts off with hints of Joy Luck Club, (in a style that seems to have gained popularity of late) by alternating the narrative between the main characters: Mei, a Singaporean female and fresh Law graduate from NUS (National Uni. of Singapore); Eugene, a fellow Singaporean and childhood friend of Mei who graduated from college in England; Loong, an all too textbook typical Singaporean high-flyer and Oxford scholar, and Andy, the slightly clueless British literature graduate who comes to Singapore in search of employment.

Several themes predominate here. The mother and daughter tension over past unresolved issues; Eugene's waryness of Loong whom he feels is responsible for the death of a childhood friend, Andy's inability to get his life together, and finally doing so through converting to Christianity, yet losing it all again.

It is an enjoyable read, more so, perhaps for the Singaporean who can appreciate the cosmopolitan aspect of its more well heeled inhabitants while still maintaining links to its pidgin Singlish speaking past. Its an all too familiar scenario.

As Amy Tan's work is cited by the author as an influence, one suspects that the two asian males in the story have not been portrayed in the most flattering light. (ok, three if you count the father who rapes his daughter). Eugene aspires to academic success but failing short by one stupid mistake. The proverbial second place boy. Naturally, he feels inferior to Loong. Loong is an Oxford scholar with well connected parents. He seems to operate with hardly a conscience. Andy comes off as the inexperienced wet behind the ears kid who gets drawn into Eugene's ploy for revenge against Loong.

Loong himself is adamantly anti organized religion. Perhaps a little too much so. One such as himself would much rather be indifferent rather than exhibit such a strong distaste. Perhaps Tan needs his views to set up this dynamic?

Mei is the protagonist of the story, and in some ways, is supposed to mirror the author. Her witticisms and quips seem to be more on par with Andy's character (he's the Literature graduate) sometimes, and if you're not paying careful attention to the character changes, can be a confusing read.

Andy has victim written all over. Whether it is intentional or not, he comes off as the foreigner caught in the maelstrom of unresolved anger.

Unfortunately the novel's portrayal of Singapore is none too positive. The draconian judicial system favoring Loong's well connected parents, the mother-daughter conflict and the go-getter ethos of the Singaporean male (usually at someone else's expense). Add this up with the disillusionment of the "expat" culture, pointless and chain pubbing, the overall theme of the novel borders on mild depression.

Hwee Hwee Tan's stunning debut novel, Foreign Bodies, written at the age of 23, both surprised me and gave me food for thought. The story of nine tension-filled days in the lives of three Gen-X friends in Singapore enthralled me with its discussion of the challenges of living as an ex-patriate in a country that may or may not be welcoming, the clash of two vastly different cultures, and the author's effective use of three different narrators to tell the story.

I expected the novel to be a comedy of cultural manners when I started it, but I soon realized that the work, while including those elements, transcended that. The title, Foreign Bodies, very cleverly points to the central theme of the novel--that life often presents us with tensions and paradoxes that we can't always resolve into nice, neat packages. As a hard of hearing woman whose life straddles both the hearing and deaf worlds, I can especially appreciate the meshing of two cultures that makes up Singapore. Much like the Singlish that Tan uses to good effect in her novel, I, at times, communicate using a sign language that is a patois of American Sign Language conventions in an English word order. I can understand the feeling of being part of two cultures, and yet feeling not completely a part of either one. I could also relate to Mei, the lawyer in the novel, in her struggles as a woman in a male-dominated culture and in her attempts to feel a part of her family, despite traumatic childhood events that have infected her like a foreign body.

Despite the novel's obvious linguistic and stylistic aim at the Gen-X age group, it has a more universal appeal due to its discussions of sin, of keeping and breaking promises, and of moral and spiritual redemption that transcends all ages, races, and the genders. I can't wait for Ms. Tan's next novel!

Highly recommended.

I enjoyed Foreign Bodies and found it well written, though I don't especially like the bright, breezy, slangy style that many writers seem to affect these days. The book raises some interesting questions about justice and does a good job of presenting cultural and philosophical conflicts between East and West. However, I was uncomfortable with the didacticism at the end which combines with what must be called resignation, at best, and cynicism, at worst--i.e. we must be patient with the lack of justice and the complicity of authorities in subverting it because the faith of Mei and Andy will conquer all in the end. Mei shows no real sign that she will exercise control of her life, and Andy will ultimately waste three years of his life seeing himself as another Job. While many "Bad Things Happen to Good People," many other bad things are avoidable, and some bad things are absolutely changeable. In my opinion, these characters were too passive to be realistic.

i read till now five titles in culture shock series: Germany Israel, Austria, Brazil and USA. Each book was very worth of reading. culture shock USA is a great book.On my first sight of the book i thought that it was not fair to take an USA-born writer in this interprise because in the series foreigners were asked to write about the country where they are living now.but the author cares about this and takes opinions of immigrants. even harsh remarks are in the book(even too much ones).that is a good ,realistic and inspiring intoducion to USA for us foreigners.but the shadowy side is present too. the author advises that is not correct to say chairman because could be a woman this person ,but she calls USA America despite that could be Canada ,Argentina,Haiti or my country Brazil among others.One more point.CAVEAT EMPTOR:in culture shock Brazil i asked the quiz in final chapter and i answered correctilly just one question in five.don't trust too much inflexible statements because in real life they may not be true.

I have read six other Culture Shock books. Those are interesting and well researched. However, Culture Shock USA is the opposite. It deals far more with everyday life, than with the USA, with knowing little about what aspects of American life would be a problem or a surprise to a foreigner (apparently most Americans wouldn't know). I have read a few other interesting and well researched books about the USA, e.g. Coping with America by Peter Trudgill, which I would recommend instead.

An expatriate American, I bought CULTURE SHOCK: USA for my Ukrainian girlfriend who wanted to better understand American culture. Before giving the book to her, I read it to see if it would be an enlightening introduction to the culture of the United States.

CULTURE SHOCK: USA is a decent overview of American culture, and its sections on body language and conversation can be of immense help to Europeans. I found the book's section on American education to be honest and straightforward. Regional differences were clearly explained, and the book acknowledged that American is a vast and diverse nation.

However, the book does leave out a few aspects of American culture that foreign visitors should be aware of. The book is correct in saying that Americans are generally friendly to foreigners, but the book does not mention the deep xenophobia and jingoism that are common to Americans, especially those from rural regions. I would have liked a better overview of America's religious diversity. The book emphasizes that most Americans identify themselves as Christian, but the book could have discussed the various denominations and the difference between, for example, Catholicism and Fundamentalism.

Another weak point of the book is that it is somewhat out of date. One amusing photograph shows a teenager mowing the lawn and the caption says that teenagers do chores to have money for such things are musical tapes. Tapes? It's all CDs or MP3 players now. And do teenagers even mow the lawn anymore? When I was in high school several years ago, everyone I knew just hired a lawn service. The book was supposedly revised in 1997 and 1999, but the revision didn't go too deep.

While it does have its faults, CULTURE SHOCK: USA is really the only book of its kind in English and can benefit those wishing to understand American culture. However, it's always good to have another source besides this one.

Some of the other Culture Shock! books are quite good, offering helpful information and amusing insights.

This one is sadly disappointing, for the obvious reason that it's written by an American who clearly has no idea what it is like to experience life in the USA as a foreigner.

The phenomenon of culture shock describes the feelings - which can range ranging from mild irritation to paralyzing depression - arising from being in a new culture where customs, behaviour and social cues all differ from those you are used to in your home culture. Sometimes you do not even realise the effect the differences are having on you until the cumulative experience overwhelms you. For example, in a culture where concepts of personal space are different, you may find something uncomfortable about your interactions with other people, without even consciously realising that they are always standing closer or further from you than you are accustomed to, until you find yourself shockingly saying that you just can't stand the people here because they are so unfriendly/pushy/distant.

Any decent book on culture shock would identify, and discuss ways of dealing with, the differences that exist in the particular culture.

Here are some things that it's hard to cope with as a foreigner in the USA:
* tipping - Americans have internalised a complex list of social rules about where, how, and how much to tip; and if you haven't learnt how to do it, every meal, drink, hotel stay, or shopping trip becomes stressful until you do.
* people in restaurants, supermarket checkout lines or other public places who feel free to comment on the behaviour of your children and the defects in your abilities as a parent.
* high levels of personal violence - for example, how to handle being threatened by a stranger in a bar or in the street.

Tipping is dealt with only as a list of amounts payable, but no details about how and when to make payment, or what to do in case of bad service. The other issues mentioned above aren't covered at all.

Ultimately the book comes across as as a rose-tinted advertisement for the benefits of migration to the USA, but contains little of use or even interest.

Skip this one, and read the others in the series.

Hi,
I bought the book several years ago with the expectation of being better prepared for whatever culture shock may hit me - we were preparing ourselves to immigrate to the States.
But how can a native possibly understand a culture shock in his own culture???
I am German and I read the book Culture Shock Germany, because my husband is from Brazil and I wanted to understand what he was going through. The German culture shock book was written by an Irish, who actually had lived in Germany for 15 years or so and had a good overview after having gone through his own culture shock. My husband had a great time with that book!

Well - so I was very disappointed with Culture Shock USA because of course I know things like I cannot burp sitting at the table - that's absolutely clear for everyone who traveled doing business before. I also did not read a whole lot about etiquette etc like the title was promising - plainly I didn't learn anything I didn't know yet.
I did not meet what I was looking for in this book and think it should not have been written by an American because she just doesn't understand WHY foreigners do have a culture shock in the US. Hope there will be a new edition of Culture Shock USA and I am sure I will buy it if someone writes it that actually had some confrontations with the particularities of the American cultre.

The notation can be hard to follow if you don't have a grasp or natural incline for statistical regression. Steps are hard to come by in some problems because too many steps are skipped for a beginner. It is almost necessary to have at least a basic statistics background before reading this.

Even though I had a background and had read ahead, I had to depend on my professor to truly understand the material at all. If your professor has an accent or goes quite fast, and if you don't have classmates you can work with, using this book alone will be more than painful.

I would suggest a supplement such as "Using Econometrics: A Practical Guide (4th Edition should suffice) [Hardcover] by Studenmund" if you are just beginning to learn about regression.

The subject of econometrics is difficult for the beginner. I have yet to encounter a text that does a great job at explaining both the concepts and the math required to be proficient in this field. I completed three courses, two undergraduate and one graduate level, for which this book was the required text. Like most of my classmates I was never able to fully comprehend the concepts behind the numbers using this text alone. Now that I have a better grasp of econometrics I will vehemently suggest that this text provides a poor verbal description of what a student is actually doing when analyzing data. I found myself reading the chapters 2 or 3 times and still felt unsure of what was going on. Where this book is strong is in its presentation of equations. I highly recommend supplementing this text with Peter Kennedy's, "A Guide to Econometrics," which gives excellent verbal explanations but de-emphasizes the math. These two texts together make a great study for a difficult subject.

This is a beginners' book, and for those, I would recommend its use, but only in addition to using it with Gujarati's. Pindyck's book is very simple and well explained. Its advantage over other books is that it is concerned with forecasting, something that other basic books do not do. It is a little bit more advanced than Gujarati's but lays between that one and Maddala's book.

In sum: This book is half-way in between an introductory text (i.e. Wooldridge - Introductory Econometrics) and an advanced graduate textbook (Greene - Econometric Analysis).

Wooldridge's introductory textbook is certainly better suited for a first class in econometrics. Pindyck and Rubinfeld provide an excellent complement however, particularly for mid-level graduate students. Appendices show the matrix form derivations of most estimators, and provides a treatment of the GMM estimator, neither of which you will find in an purely introductory course. Really the appendices are where the more advanced treatments are offered to the interested reader.

Sections on forcasting and time series models in this book are greatly superior than what is offered in introductory texts (which usually is no presentation at all).

Pindyck and Rubinfeld do not waste a word in this textbook. There's a discussion on pretty much all the estimators, although some of these are short (one paragraph and no equations for the ordered probit - but you can't have it all!).

If you know nothing about econometrics then this is not the book for you. I was forced to buy it in my introductory econometrics class and had no idea what was going on. Then I had a competent instructor and lots of Wooldridge reading. This book helped me through Master's level econometrics and makes for good subway reading, but will definitely be shy of what you need for a PhD in economics. For PhD you will need Greene OR [Hamilton (1994) AND Wooldridge's Cross Section and Panel Data book].

I'm giving this book 5 stars largely to balance out the somewhat unfair reviews that were given. For what it is -- an econometrics textbook that tries to present overview of neginning to intermediate econometrics and forecasting WITHOUT a lot of linear algebra -- it's a pretty good book. While it has its rough spots, the book has many good features. One of the really good features of this book is presenting the material with an emphasis on model building ... a very important emphasis that is too often ignored in other econometrics texts. In an ideal world, this book deserves at least an average of 4 stars and would deserve more if the readers made things more readable and better incorporated advances in econometrics since previous editions.

This book provides a good handy reference guide, but don't expect to use it as your travel guide, it's more of a supplement. It's certainly more interesting than the text dense Lonely Planet I've got. If you enjoy a little more vivid detail about the place your going, this is a good choice.

Waste of money.

I THOUGHT I was buying the Insight Guide, not the Insight "pocket" guide. The Insight Guide is a worthwhile guide. Be careful when you buy and don't waste your money on this.

It gives you great tips for traveling to Thailand, specially to Bangkok (it capital).

I have visited Thailand nearly every year for the past six years. I find Insight Guide Thailand to be informative, accurate, easy to navigate around and a pleasure to use, with beautiful photography. It contains fairly in-depth reviews of Thai history, religion and culture. Cross-references to map locations of sights of interest are really handy. I feel the Insight Guides outclass Lonely Planet Guides and are much more user-friendly. I would not travel without my Insight Guides!

I also find Insight Guide Philippines to be outstanding.

I bought this book in conjunction with a Frommer's guide to Thailand. I bought this book solely to supplement my Frommer's guide which lacks pictures and some other info that Insight Guide provides. Insight provides lots of information about the history and culture behind cities, places, and attractions. It also has a few detailed maps which is nice. However, it is very, very limited in other things that you might expect from a guide book. The book is silent on things such as city orientation, how to get from the airport to the city, costs of things such as taxis and entrance fees to attractions, ratings on attractions, etc. For those sort of things and many other travel tips and hints, you should look into other books, like Frommer's, Fodor's, Lonely Planet, etc. (I chose Frommer's for my trip and have found it very helpful - although I haven't gone on my trip yet).

FYI: Frommer's, Fodor's, and Lonely Planet all have website with the type of information that is in their books if you want to get a feel for them (it's free).

Happy travels!

I don't like Dream of the Red Chamber by Tsao Hsueh Chin for many reasons. For one, it is way too long for people my age. Come on, 567 pages when your teacher only gives you nine days to read it. Second of all, the Chinese names get me confused, and the author put in way too many descriptions. If you want to read a good book, don't read this one.

I had to read this book for a class as well, but found it to be more than just "something I had to read". It is a beautiful work of Chinese art and not just a mere "soap opera". The characters in the novel are moving and sentimental and the description is absolutely musical in how it paints a delicate portrait of Chinese court life. One reading this novel has to be careful of taking it out of ancient context and applying modern standards. Reading this novel can transport one from the dirty subways of New York City into a whole new world of beautiful courtesans and lotus flowers. This novel is an escape and a glimpse into a place much different than the one we all live in. The characters become a part of your life and once you've met them, you will never forget them.

I admit, I was assigned this book to read for class. It is supposed to be showing us the place of culture in the lives of the characters and how it forms who they are. I think the people that set up the course could have chosen a better selection, especially at this time in the semester. Sure, we are supposed to be honors students, but we aren't superman (or should I say woman?). It may be a rather interesting book, but let me warn you it takes forever to figure out who these people are! On top of that, you can't pronounce their names or remember them, each chapter is like another episode of "Days of Our Lives" or the "Young and the Restless." It is quite digusting in many places as well.

In closing, if this said to be "China's greatest novel," then I sure don't want to read any of the others!

Dream of the Red Chamber, by Cao Xueqin, is my favorite book of all time, and without question one of the world's great novels. In China, it has much of the status of Shakespeare's plays. It is not for everybody; it has hundreds of characters, and most of them are teenage girls. It describes the life of a vastly rich and huge Chinese family in the early 1700s. The young cousins, mostly between 13 and 15, spend their lives in an enormous, beautiful garden, each with their own house; the girls paint, have poetry contests, and play games, the boys have to go to school occasionally. Their servants, the same age, have all kinds of amorous and business intrigues going on. Beyond is the background of a fabulously wealthy household run by a strongminded, beautiful, exacting young woman named Phoenix. The men of the house, who can't be bothered with the practical details Phoenix handles, are scholars, ne'er-do-wells, and government officials. When Cao Xueqin wrote this book, in a hovel in Beijing, he was describing his own fairy-tale youth, and his family's sudden and utter ruin. The detail, the vivid conversations, the personalities make everything so real that you forget that these people lived in a faraway country almost two hundred years ago.

The Chinese names are hard to keep straight (like the Russian names in War and Peace); I suggest reading an abridged version with the names translated into English, so that the heroine becomes Black Jade instead of Daiyu. If you don't like the abridged version, don't bother with the long one. But if you do like the abridged version, you have a great pleasure in store for you when you read the original. I suggest David Hawkes' English version.

I am not a reader--I would not read unless I had to(i.e. for a class). Although this is a long novel, the details, hilarious situations the author comes up with, sarcastic remarks made by people...everything makes you want to read on, because slowly...you have become one of the characters..you'd feel like you're a part of the enormous household. It's lengthy, but you will not regret reading it.