Showing results by narrator "Benjamin Chow" in All Categories

A publishing sensation in the 1970s and 1980s, Son of Singapore traces the extraordinary upbringing of an Everyman. As a Teochew farm boy coming of age during the Japanese Occupation, Tan Kok Seng enters the "university of the world" at only 15, becoming a coolie at the Orchard Road market. On his rounds to the homes of the "Red Hairs", he befriends a group of Chinese dialect-speaking Caucasians who inspire him to improve himself beyond his humble roots.

Sally Bong is the typical do-gooder. But her journey as an exemplary citizen of Singapore is put into question when she meets people on the margins, upending everything she has learned in school. In a follow-up to the hilarious Let's Give It Up for Gimme Lao!, Sebastian Sim delves deeper into a...

A mother and son have to deal with the consequences when she makes an embarrassing mistake at the shopping mall one afternoon. Narrator: Benjamin Chow Composer: Tabitha Boon Music Mixed by: Edric Hwang Sound Designer: Yen Yu Ting, Loo Zhen Yang Mixed by: Yen Yu Ting The Sound of Stories...

Theodora Tuxedo wasn't the only feline to arrive and stay with Eugene's family at Block 223. Firstborn, a son Satu (also a tuxedo but in white mess dress), would plop out with a mewl into Stepdad's pyjama pants one early Sunday morning, with tortoiseshell Dua and calico Tiga to follow. There's...

Raj, a resident at a halfway house, is ready to take his first steps in a new job after months of rehab, but will Life have other plans? Narrator: Benjamin Chow Composer: Gregory Tan Music Mixed by: Edric Hwang Sound Designer: Ming, Loo Zhen Yang Mixed by: Yen Yu Ting The Sound of Stories...

Adjonis Keh (the "d" is silent) is a successful actor who apparently has everything: looks, adoration, a shelf filled with acting awards, and all the vanilla yogurt he can eat (thanks to a hefty endorsement deal). He also has a dark secret: he can't act. So far, he has managed to fool the world...

Tales of horror have long been an integral part of Singapore's storytelling culture, and they continue to dominate the imagination in the 21st century. But even as the horror folklore of yesteryear—along with its creatures, the pontianak and the jiangshi—recedes from collective memory, new...

Newly-wed Sheena gets her new apartment at a steal, only to realize that she has gotten more than she bargained for when she finds a box of strange items hidden under some old toys...

Three friends board an overnight sleeper bus in Japan, little knowing the sinister bus journey they will ensure should they stay awake throughout. Chills and thrills in this short story from the Storytel Epigram Horror Competition...

When his diaries are stolen and published, Amos thinks his world is coming to an end. But what he doesn't realise is that he's going to become really famous! Adoring fan mail, girls throwing themselves at his feet and, with 5,000 friends on Facebook, yes… FINALLY! Life looks to be turning...

Landon Locke is no ordinary barista. A man of many names and identities, he has lived through many lifetimes, but his memory spans only days. Danger brews as Landon struggles to piece together reality through his fog of amnesia. A mysterious organisation called CODEX bent on hunting him down, a...

Satirical and sympathetic, political and personal, A Certain Exposure traces the adolescences of twin brothers Andrew and Brian, culminating in the explosive events leading to Andrew's tragic death. This is a classic coming-of-age tale doubled across two vividly individual brothers, who struggle to navigate a complex tangle of relationships and coercive forces, cinematically interwoven with the yearnings and fears of an ensemble of mothers, fathers, cousins, friends and lovers both false and true.

Derrick can't believe his luck when he rekindles a romance with ex-girlfriend Yifan. But Yifan remains aloof and distant, eventually confiding to Derrick that in her hometown of Ipoh, she discovered that she is actually a fox spirit with mystical powers. But Derrick isn't the only person who has fallen under Yifan's spell. Unbeknownst to him, Tien Chen, a man with an unhealthy obsession with fire, has also been dating her.

In the Nation, citizenship is competitively earned, and the sting of failure strikes swift. The smallest professional blemish may spell demotion or even deportation to offshore labour communities called Depositories, while the affluent are insured against all misfortune and can do no wrong. Santhosh is a Transient student hoping to ace the Civil Primaries and make Citizen the following year, when his father is suddenly deported and State agents murder his guardian's entire family.

During the Christmas holidays in 2004, an earthquake in the Indian Ocean triggers a tsunami that devastates fourteen countries. Two couples from Singapore are vacationing in Phuket when the tsunami strikes. Alternating between the aftermath of the catastrophe and past events that led these characters to that fateful moment, Now That It's Over weaves a tapestry of causality and regret, and chronicles the physical and emotional wreckage wrought by natural and manmade disasters.

Kevin is a young man without a soul, holidaying in Tokyo; Mr Five, the enigmatic kappa, is the man he so happens to meet. Little does Kevin know that kappas—the river demons of Japanese folklore—desire nothing more than the souls of other humans. Set between Singapore and Japan, Kappa Quartet is split into eight discrete sections, tracing the rippling effects of this chance encounter across a host of other characters, connected and bound to one another in ways both strange and serendipitous.

A woman learns of a friend's illness and wonders if she ever truly knew him. A boy who sees ghosts heeds the advice of a fortune-teller, with surprising consequences. A girl wakes up and realises everybody in her Bedok neighbourhood has vanished. From Cyril Wong, award-winning author of The Last Lesson of Mrs de Souza, comes another beautiful book about characters in crisis, with two stories crossing intriguingly into creative autobiography.

This diary began as Mum's New Year's resolution to get me to write. She told me to write when I am doing my big business. "Five to eight minutes max!" she said. "I don't want you to develop piles!" And so my writing in the bathroom began. My entries started with the boring old stuff…then Mum...

Death of a Perm Sec is a mystery about the demise of the permanent-secretary of the housing ministry, Chow Sze Teck, accused of accepting millions of dollars in bribes over his career. Set in 1980's Singapore, the novel examines the civil servant's death, which first appears to be suicide by a cocktail of alcohol, morphine and Valium. But upon investigation by a CID inspector who might not be what he seems, the family discovers there may be far more sinister circumstances behind his death, that reach to the very top of government.