Epigram's 'Best New Singaporean Short Stories' Volume Four & Five

Now that I have a bit of a break from reading work papers, I'm having a ball of a time with the NLB and Libby apps. I thought it would be nice to end and start the year reading Singaporean authors. Borrowed Volume Four (2020) and Five (2021) of 'Best New Singaporean Short Stories' published by Epigram. One in its digital version and the other in hard copy. Read them back to back for clarity and the overall feel of our writers. 

Volume Four is edited by Pooja Nansi — that covers 16 selected stories written in 2017 and 2018. Volume Five is edited by Balli Kaur Jaswal, and that selection covers 17 stories written in 2019 and 2020. In 'The Epigram Books Collection of Best New Singaporean Short Stories', the Series Editor is Jason Erik Lundberg. Of course I'm familiar with the names of the authors. I've read their works, and a number of stories in these two Volumes, but most are new-to-me. Some of the stories were supposed to be thought-provoking but they left me bemused. XxxxXXXxxxxx

I'm not sure I enjoyed the entire Volume Four on the whole although there're a few stories I understood and didn't mind. Many I read a second time to make sure I got it. 'Not Yet Pekak' by Ikmaliah Idi is such a sweet relationship between a mother and a son. There is filial piety, love and respect, and the understanding of boundaries. If only more families could be like this. 

One that I appreciated is 'Regrettable Things' by Jennani Durai. The story places us in a totally familiar situation, as either character. To be a sympathetic friend or a hard-nosed journalist? Would there be empathy if there's such pain.

Nithya's estranged father killed her mother. She and her younger brother Karthik refused to speak the the press about it. The reporter Jessica is also Nithya's primary schoolmate, although they haven't spoken in years since they went to different secondary schools and the Jessica's parents moved out to another end of the island. Nithya is now teacher back at their old primary school. Jessica doesn't want do be the one asking them to speak, but her editor Gary forces her to do it. But Jessica displays amazing focus on what she intends to do. I do like how this story ends. 

She gives me a weak smile to let me know it's okay to laugh, but I am past the point of being able to smile back. The thought that Karthik faithfully followed the articles of his sister's childhood best friend and knew to expect my visit when tragedy struck makes me feel like dirty.

Nithya is studying me. "So, that's true, is it? About what you write?"

I clear my throat. "He's not wrong," I say, my voice catching on the last word.

She raises her eyebrows. "What a horrible job," she says, and the emphatic way she says it makes me shrunk. It's a thought I have almost every day, but hearing her say it somehow underscores how objective the statement is.

The 17 stories in Volume Five are thoughtful, stirring and approached topics of morals, angst, obligations and duties. There were immigrant stories, racial encounters and stereotypes. There was one story about being involved in politics and imprisoned, but the writer brilliantly skirted around what and why. It's totally a story from Operation Coldstore in 1963 that nobody wants to talk about. That would be 'The Prisoner' by Yu-Mei Balasingamchow.

The one story that tickled me loads and also made me feel lots of empathy for travelers is 'The Panasonic' by Prasanthi Ram. It's a super short story, but oh-so-lovely. The Srinivasans opted for a tour group vacation to America in 1996. It was their first trip, and I wouldn't be able to recommend them to travel on their own. The non-existent internet and networks weren't at all helpful. A tour group with its planned out itinerary, transport and logistics would be of more use to the family. 

However, in tour groups, food is a problem. Catering to the family's Indian vegetarian preferences would be tough in that era. Worse if the rest of the people in the tour group are Chinese. Chinese vegetarian food is one of the saddest. But the mother brought along a portable rice cooker for three cups of rice! After eating bread and too much pastries for the first day, their first proper meal in America in the night was brilliantly conjured up by the mother who worked with the limited supplies bought from the nearby mart. Rice, salt and turmeric, corn and peas went into the rice cooker, and then served with crumbled Lays chips and Greek yoghurt atop.

To Amma's delight, Appa and Krishnan asked for second servings that they ate with more ferocity than the first, and Keerthana licked her plate clean like a starved kitten. In no time, the Panasonic was emptied, scrubbed, and spick and span once again. The family went to bed that night with full bellies and a gentle reminder that home was not a place at all. Home was a feeling that sprung directly out of Amma's masterful loving hands.