Singapore is a multicultural nation publishing books in all four of its main languages: English, Mandarin, Malay, and Tamil. Diversity is hearing from a spectrum of perspectives and experiences, especially social minorities: from race and class, to gender and sexuality, to mental health and survivors of trauma. This collection features novels and essays from Indian and Malay women in Chinese-majority Singapore, important memoirs surrounding mental health, and histories of gay rights, disability, and inclusion.
To give voice to all corners of the community, share empathy, and find common ways forward, is a core requirement for a city’s sustainable future.
Of course, sustainability is also about environmental sustainability, systems of consumption and waste, and relationships to the land itself. As a land-limited island known for being a ‘city in a garden’, Singapore is constantly concerned with these ideas. The books here range from critical novels with innovative futures, essays exploring the unique environmentalism in Singapore and the intersection of eco-feminism, and even a picture book teaching children about reusing materials.
Crossing genres and ages, diversity and sustainability are especially crucial to Singapore’s future, and thus important topics in current conversations. Here is just a small selection of books that reflect that.
