macdawn
08-15-2006, 06:45 AM
Neil Humphreys, for those who are unfamiliar with his works, is a Englishman, who had decided to come down to Singapore for a short working vacation, and ended up spending 10 years here, adopting his neighbour town of Toa Payoh as his home.
He wrote freelance for the local free newspaper Today, penning articles about the idiosyncrasies of Singaporeans and the Singaporean 'aunties and uncles'. His tongue in cheek humour, and his rather 'alternative' view of expariates in Singapore had garnered him huge followings, and so a few years back, he wrote his 'exploits' in Singapore into his first book, "Notes from an even Smaller Island", followed by his second, "Scribbles from the Same Island", which were among the top bestsellers...
Now, as he prepares to pack up and move on, he wrote this third and final installment, "Final Notes from A Great Island" as a tribute to the place he had called home for the past 10 years.
Although, I may be kinda biased recommending this book, I feel the book could be easily understood by a non-Singaporean, because Neil Humphrey has written everything seen through his Britsih eyes, from the view of someone who's not really from here, managed to get some idea of the place, but still wonders about some things people here do :rolleyes:
I love his tongue in cheek humour, and how he had spent time looking at the small, seemingly insignificant things around us, and kept notes of them.
His book has made me appreciate more the things around me, and also prompted me to pay more attention to the things and people around us. Like the neighbourhood uncles and aunties. :happy:
-MacDawn
He wrote freelance for the local free newspaper Today, penning articles about the idiosyncrasies of Singaporeans and the Singaporean 'aunties and uncles'. His tongue in cheek humour, and his rather 'alternative' view of expariates in Singapore had garnered him huge followings, and so a few years back, he wrote his 'exploits' in Singapore into his first book, "Notes from an even Smaller Island", followed by his second, "Scribbles from the Same Island", which were among the top bestsellers...
Now, as he prepares to pack up and move on, he wrote this third and final installment, "Final Notes from A Great Island" as a tribute to the place he had called home for the past 10 years.
Although, I may be kinda biased recommending this book, I feel the book could be easily understood by a non-Singaporean, because Neil Humphrey has written everything seen through his Britsih eyes, from the view of someone who's not really from here, managed to get some idea of the place, but still wonders about some things people here do :rolleyes:
I love his tongue in cheek humour, and how he had spent time looking at the small, seemingly insignificant things around us, and kept notes of them.
His book has made me appreciate more the things around me, and also prompted me to pay more attention to the things and people around us. Like the neighbourhood uncles and aunties. :happy:
-MacDawn