Bestselling author and co-creator of comic icons such as Mr Kiasu and Kopi Tiam, James Suresh writes an illustrated book ‘Singapore in the 60s’ which touches on life in the 60s when he grew up in a rented flat in Queenstown.
Managed to get a picture with Mr Syed and Mr Suresh!
With the TIN team at the launch of 'Singapore in the 60s'!
The book, supported by the SG50 Celebration Fund, is a recollection of childhood memories illustrated by his long time friend Syed Ismail who had also illustrated his previous books including ‘When I Was In Uniform’ and ‘On a Street In Singapore’ which has won two awards namely the Sunday Times Best Seller and Reader’s Choice award.
Here are the books that Mr James Suresh has written!
James believes the book will appeal to both young and old readers for different reasons. With his personal account of childhood experiences growing up in Singapore’s first satellite town and his description of lifestyle, recreation, people and practices, the book will trigger interest among young Singaporeans to learn more about what Singapore was like 50 years ago.
It's a really interesting book because I get to understand how my parents and grandparents lived their lives in the past, and how their childhood was like. It's learning about Singapore history, in the eyes of the Singaporeans who experienced it first hand. It's really intriguing to explore the differences in our lives over the past 30 to 40 years!
A few parts of the book I could relate too as well because of all the stories that my parents told me, about their childhood. This includes catching long kang (drain) fish and catching spiders.
Skipping ropes were made of rubber bands last time, and I actually played a mini-game of making the longest rubber band skipping rope during an SG50 initiative last year!
He also talks about the trying period for Singapore during the separation from Malaysia, and how everyone knew Singapore was entering a new phase. These are really nostalgic memories for our parents and grandparents, and it's a really good insight for us as well.
With the assistance of the Character and Citizenship Education Department at the Ministry of Education, 4500 of the 5000 SG50 sponsored books will find their way into school libraries with 10 copies of the book made available to each school library in Singapore.
Mr James Suresh intends to donate the remaining books to his former primary school, secondary school and other institutions where he pursued his studies.Some of illustrations and stories from the book are also being used by MOE's student Development Curriculum division as teaching resources for teachers as they engage students in lessons leading up to National Day.
50 copies will be made available to the public through a social media contest to be announced at a later date, so if you wish to win a book, do like and stay tuned to The Influencer Network's Facebook page!
xoxo, kaitinghearts
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