Good Reads for the Singaporean Mum

When you ask me about my hobbies, reading has always been one of the first ones I would name. Sadly, since becoming a mum, I’ve found that I don’t read much anymore, unless you count the many children’s books that I am asked to read ad nauseum to the kids, or articles on Facebook! I rarely get the chance to read for leisure and pleasure, unless I’m on holiday.

So that’s exactly what I did on our recent holiday to Gold Coast.

It wasn’t quite the beach holiday chill-at-the-beach-with-a-book-in-one-hand-and-cocktail-in-the-other scenario that I imagined in my head, but hey, I packed two books into my bag that I’ve been meaning to read and managed to finish both of them. I consider that an unequivocal success! As it happens both these titles are by Singaporean authors, and since we love supporting local on this blog, here’s a quick review of these two titles, both of which I would recommend for Mummies.

1. The Good, The Bad and The PSLE by Monica Lim

For anyone familiar with the PSLE (which is just about everyone in this country!), the title will be an immediate draw. The premise of the story is also something that any Singaporean would be able to relate to. The official synopsis:

To succeed in life, you must top your class, get Band One for school tests, and obtain four A stars for the PSLE. Or at least, that is the world according to Ling, a typical Singaporean mum who has made it her goal in life to help her children succeed in school. Ling’s older daughter, April, has all the makings of a model student and looks set to ace the Primary Six national exams. In the meantime, Ling’s younger son, Noah, is free-spirited and more interested in canteen food than what goes on in class.

This (almost) kiasu mum records her journey diary-style, describing hilarious episodes involving crazy worksheets, assessment book overload and jittery parent-teacher meetings. Ling’s humorous take on surviving Singapore schools will have you laughing and give you serious food for thought, all at the same time! 

I had first heard of this book on the author Monica’s blog, Of Kids and Education, when she broke the news that she was writing a book. I’ve always enjoyed Monica’s writing so naturally I was keen to read The Good, The Bad and The PSLE, and was very pleased when a review copy was offered to me.

This is a work of fiction but as highlighted on the book cover, it is “inspired by real events”, which is probably why it is so engaging and funny. Because quite often there is nothing quite as funny as real life, isn’t there? The story here is journaled in short snippets as the reader journeys with the protagonist Ling through 3 years — the first 3 years of primary school of her son Noah’s life, which is at the same time the last 3 years of her daughter April’s primary school years.

Having a son, who happens to be named Noah and who also started Primary 1 this year, I identified easily with this book. It was a light-hearted, easy read which had me turning the pages and chuckling along to all the antics that Noah-in-the-story got up to. Many of the situations were familiar and I could just imagine Noey getting up to the same scrapes! This book is really very funny, as evident in the fact that both the husband and the son kept fighting me to read it. Noey in particular loved reading and repeating the funny parts to me even as he could barely contain himself because he was laughing so hard. In between the laughs, there are also touching moments between a mum and her two children — and the dreaded PSLE, of course. Is acing the exam the be-all and end-all, THE SINGLE definition of success in this society? I don’t want to spoil the book for you, but suffice to say that the story might encourage you re-look at your attitude towards the academic chase and how it shapes the relationship between parent and child.

2. Keep Calm And Mother On: 21 Stories From Mothers With Children Aged 1 to 21 edited by Pauline Loh 

 

This book is as its subtitle states — 21 stories from mothers with children aged from 1 to 21, one stories per mother per age, give or take a little.

Becoming a mother, a parent, can be a strangely scary thing. If you didn’t used to worry, well, you will now as you constantly second guess yourself, wondering if you are doing right by your child. On this journey, I have found it a tremendous help to have the support of my mummy friends. Friends on the same journey, and better yet, those who are slightly further ahead whom you can share with, rejoice and commiserate with, and who offer valuable guidance and advice.

Books like this one also serve this purpose. The stories in this volume appear to have been carefully curated, for I found them to be varied and mostly insightful. There were mums who took different paths — Stay-At-Home-Mums, Part-Time-Working-Mums, Full-time-Working-Mums, Work-at-Home-Mumpreneurs. There were mums who did things differently. Of these the ones that made the biggest impression on me were Carol Loi’s story of being an atypical PSLE mum who arranged for her daughter to date 12 inspirational women in her 12th year (I think that’s such a fantastic idea!), Dawn Yip’s rather hilarious story about going maid-less, and my own friend Jasmine Lim’s story of choosing not to give her son tuition but to help him to help himself. I was moved to tears by the stories of Janie Siah and Arina Lua who faced very difficult situations when their children were afflicted with osteosarcoma and Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy respectively.

I could identify with the stories of the mothers with young children, but the stories I truly enjoyed were those of the older Mums. I was struck by the comment that the editor herself made in the introduction, saying that while mothers of younger children were ready and eager to tell their stories and share their experiences, mothers of mature children held back, recognising that while as mums they have done their best, what their children are today is mostly what they the children have made of themselves. Indeed, stories of Mums of older teens such as Michelle Choy (also a mum I know personally) and Pauline Loh herself reveal how as mums, we have our regrets and we are constantly learning.

Not every story spoke to me but by and large, I enjoyed this book and would recommend it. I in fact bought a couple of copies to give to friends whom I thought might enjoy it. (Get a 15% discount off the retail price at the Armour Publishing website with the code: motheringon21)

If you are keen to check out these books and other good works by Singapore authors, consider popping down to the Celebrate Singapore Books Fair, which is currently ongoing at Isetan Orchard (Wisma Atria B1) till 28 June 2015. I only recently realised that it is on and hope to check it out before it ends this weekend, and with some luck continue this good streak of kickstarting my reading habit!