Overview

The first novel from Singapore Literature Prize Winner Suchen Christine Lim.A powerful story of young love and idealism set in Singapore in the 1960s, a time of political uncertainties and economic insecurity. Young, passionate and idealistic, Sister Marie rejects the conformity of her first love, a Singaporean police inspector, and embraces the liberalism of her second love, an American missionary. Fresh into university, she leads a group of students to question the values of a nation gripped by fear of the government and loss of their rice bowl. They organize a protest march against the Vietnam War, which leads to a riot, detention and deportation of the workers they try to help. In the midst of this, a student meets a tragic death, while a lecturer and a suspected Communist agent provocateur goes crazy in his attempts to radicalize the students-workers' movement.

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9789815084436

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Reviews

"""The late 60s and 70s were important for Suchen Christine Lim. She grew up. She established and clarified her values and attitudes during those years, close after Singapore's independence and in the first flush of the country's development. Malaysia-born, she was conscious of 'having chosen Singapore as my nation. ... We were at the cross roads, trying to decide whether we should migrate. Would we have a future here?' ... So not surprisingly her book, Rice Bowl, captures the uncertainty, questioning and struggles of a group of young people in those early days."" --Straits Times ""I have been struck by the sheer power and force of this short, exciting and absorbing book. Rice Bowl is a tour de force. Any reader experiencing this dramatic narrative of shattered dreams and realized hopes will be compelled to re-examine his/her values for Rice Bowl is a book which demands our personal and honest engagement."" -- Dr Kirpal Singh, writer, critic, scholar"

The late 60s and 70s were important for Suchen Christine Lim. She grew up. She established and clarified her values and attitudes during those years, close after Singapore's independence and in the first flush of the country's development. Malaysia-born, she was conscious of 'having chosen Singapore as my nation. ... We were at the cross roads, trying to decide whether we should migrate. Would we have a future here?' ... So not surprisingly her book, Rice Bowl, captures the uncertainty, questioning and struggles of a group of young people in those early days. --Straits Times I have been struck by the sheer power and force of this short, exciting and absorbing book. Rice Bowl is a tour de force. Any reader experiencing this dramatic narrative of shattered dreams and realized hopes will be compelled to re-examine his/her values for Rice Bowl is a book which demands our personal and honest engagement. -- Dr Kirpal Singh, writer, critic, scholar

Author Information

Suchen Christine Lim was born in the Malaysian state of Perak and came to Singapore at the age of 14. After graduation, she taught in a junior college and worked as a curriculum specialist in the Ministry of Education. In 2003, she resigned to write full time. Suchen was awarded the inaugural Singapore Literature Prize for Fistful of Colours in 1992. Among other acclaimed works are her debut novel Rice Bowl (1984), A Bit of Earth (2001) and The River's Song (2014), which was one of Kirkus Reviews' Best Books Of 2015. In 2012, she was awarded the Southeast Asia Write Award for her body of work. Awarded a Fulbright grant, Suchen was a Fellow in the University of Iowa's International Writing Program and later became its Writer in Residence. She was also a Fellow in Creative Writing at the Nanyang Technological University.

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