When I first started writing Seok Lin’s story last year, I genuinely wondered who would even be interested in reading it. It is a story so seemingly ordinary, so bogged down by domestic detail. In a literary landscape often chasing high-stakes escapism, I half-feared this book might be something readers would want to escape from!
But as I looked out across the room yesterday, at faces both familiar and fresh, I realised then that the book did find its readers after all.
Writing a book about invisible labour, systemic burnout and the friction of modern life in Singapore was such a solitary experience, but seeing it resonate so publicly reminded me why the work matters. I feel seen!
Special thanks to Sunita Sue Leng, the author of highly engaging novel, The Unlikely Motherhood of Shaleni May, for moderating this session with such grace and insight. Many of her questions made me think harder about the book that I wrote instinctively, and I was so glad to have a chance to delve (this is not AI, I really wanted to use the word “delve”!) deeper into the themes of my novel.
And to my daughter, Juno, for volunteering to read a passage from the book. Kids are made different these days, she showed no nerves whatsoever as she brought Seok Life’s story to life and even told everyone “buy a copy of my mum’s book later”. Later, YB also presented me a bouquet of flowers he had chosen himself, in ASCOE’s colours. I found later that he had stood patiently in the sidelines to wait for his cue!
Since blueberries, his favourite snack, featured so much in the book, I felt it made sense to lean into it! A huge shoutout to my sister for baking the most delicious blueberry mini cakes as a takeaway treat for the guests.
They’re also known for their light-as-air chiffon cakes. Order directly from Batter And Brew or via Foodpanda (Pasir Ris).
Chloe of Epigram Books also came up with a brilliant, thematic idea: she invited guests write down what they hope others would notice about they’ve done, or to publicly thank someone who did on a Visible Wall. Reading through these notes reminded me of why we share these stories in the first place — to make such stories visible.
Like what I shared during the session, the flare-ups may come and go, but it never quite resets to zero. Yesterday proved something else though: we don’t have to carry the tide alone. 🌊✨
JACLYN LIM 