Pansy sees George in the distance, standing near the lake where the daffodils are, smiling and waving to her. She is overjoyed to see him, and rushes towards him. “George!” Pansy shouts. “Wait for me. I’m coming…” In her excitement, she drops her Wordsworth’s book of poems.
Acknowledgements
With gratitude to the National Arts Council (NAC) and Gardens by the Bay for awarding me the Gardens by the Bay Writer-in-the-Gardens Residency 2014 to write this novel.
I would like to thank in particular Annabelle Low of NAC who assisted me with my enquiries.
Thank you also to the staff of Gardens by the Bay and in particular, Leong Cheng Yee, for facilitating the writers residency programme. and co-ordinators Bernadette Yew, Daniel Tang, Pheely Hsu and Jezreel See.
I am particularly grateful to the experts at Gardens who have given me their valuable time and expertise: Dr Adrian Loo, Director of Research and Horticulture, who gave me insight into healing plants; Sean Koh, Manager, Flower Dome, for his advice on Europeans flowers; Edwin Ong and Phira Unadirekkul, on migratory birds visiting the Gardens.
Thank you to Brendon Phuah, Senior Officer from the National Parks, who helped me with information on the heritage trees.
I was very fortunate to run into several people who had either grown up in the seaside villages mentioned in this novel or holidayed there. So thank you to Peranakans Mr Chia Hock Jin and his cousin Mr Alan Koh who gave me valuable information on the area around Kampong Padang Terbakar, Koh Sek Lim Road and Bedok Rest House. I would also like to thank Joyce Tan who reminded me about the agar-agar seaweeds, and Amy Tsang, my companion for bird and butterfly watching, who is extremely knowledgeable about both. I would also like to thank Linda Chee of the Peranakan Association for verifying some of the Peranakan terms.
Thank you also to Mr Chun See Lam whose blog, Good Morning Yesterday, refreshed my memory.
I am indebted to several books which helped me when my memory failed:
100 Useful Herbs of Malaysia and Singapore by Joseph Samy, M.Sugumaran, Kate L.W. Lee, edited by K.M. Wong (Marshall Cavendish, 2014).
Jamu: The Ancient Art of Herbal Healing by Susan-Jane Beers (Periplus Editions HK Ltd, 2001).
The Encyclopedia of Healing Plants: A guide to Aromatherapy Flower Essences & Herbal Remedies by Chrissie Wildwood (Judith Piatkus Publishers Ltd, 1998).
Plants That Heal, Thrill and Kill by Wee Yeow Chin (SNP International. 2005).
Dream Gardens of England: 100 Inspirational Gardens by Barbara Baker, Jerry Harpur, Marcus Harpur (Merrell, 2010).
I would also like to thank my readers and friends without whom I will remain only a closet writer. In particular, I would like to thank Mary Narayan who is a firm supporter and faithfully attends most of my readings and discussions. I would also like to thank my sister, Magdalene, and her family, who provided a roof over my head so that I can write.
I would like to thank my editors, Tara Hasnain who edited the MS in its first draft and to Ng Kah Gay who edited the final draft. Thanks also to Julia d’Silva for proof-reading the MS. And last but not least, I would like to sincerely thank Fong Hoe Fang who is publishing a second work of fiction from me, and to Jacaranda Literary Agency for taking on my book.
About the Author
Josephine Chia is a Peranakan author and is published internationally in both fiction and non-fiction. She was born in Kampong Potong Pasir in colonial Singapore. Her first short stories were published in SINGA, a Singapore literary journal published in the 1980s and 1990s.
She immigrated to England in 1985. In 1992, she became one of twelve winners of the Ian St. James Awards for short fiction, the first Singaporean to win the award. Her story “Tropical Fever” was published together with the other authors in an anthology, Blood, Sweat And Tears, published by Fontana, an imprint of Harper Collins. Since then, she has also been published by other UK publishers as well as Malaysian and Singapore publishers and has won other awards and prizes. She has returned home to live since 2012.
Ethos Books brought out a new edition of her first novel, My Mother-In-Law’s Son, in 2013. Serambi Indonesia translated her first memoir, Frog Under a Coconut Shell into Bahasa Indonesia with the title, Katak Dalam Tempurung. Her second memoir about her village, Kampong Spirit, Gotong Royong: Life in Potong Pasir 1955 to 1965, won the Singapore Literature Prize for Non-Fiction in 2014. It has been scheduled for translation into Malay by Pustaka Nasional.
Josephine has run Creative Writing workshops for the National Book Development Council, the National Arts Council, the National Library Board and the Ministry of Education’s Creative Arts Programme. Josephine is mentor to aspiring writers under the National Arts Council’s Mentor Access Programme (MAP) and the Ministry of Education’s Creative Arts Programme.
Josephine was Writer-In-Residence at Gardens by the Bay in 2014. She has participated in several Literary Festivals and Book Fairs around the world. She is a member of UK’s Society of Authors UK’s Society of Women Writers and Journalists.
About Ethos Books
Established in 1997, Ethos Books is an imprint of Pagesetters Services Pte Ltd:
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