The House on Silat Road

Si-Hoe S.S. and Sim Ee Waun
Lim An-Ling (Illustration)
Paperback, 128 pages
9789811192777

Adventure-loving Sing and her enormous family are back in this sequel to The House on Palmer Road.

Set in World War II Singapore, The House on Silat Road tells the adventures and experiences of nine-year-old Sing and her family during the Japanese Occupation. Barely have they moved into their big new house on a hill which Father built, that the first Japanese bombs fall on Singapore and their idyllic life is turned upside down.

Through Sing’s simple but vivid storytelling, readers witness some of the most iconic events in Singapore’s history—the Battle for Singapore, the fall of the island, the Sook Ching and finally the return of the Allies. Follow Sing and her family as they do their best to survive the Japanese Occupation—buying groceries under ration, growing their own vegetables, outwitting the Japanese while having English lessons, and listen to rumours of the outside world from people with hidden radios. Then through Sing’s eyes, witness historic events that are not often described—the first Allied bombings as they re-take Singapore, the incredible shower of leaflets that announced the end of war, the seaborne return of the Allied Fleet, amongst others.

Based on the childhood of 85-year-old author Si-Hoe S.S., the authors hope to bring readers into the life of an ordinary family in Singapore in these tumultuous times—from how unprepared people were for the reality of war to their tenacity and resilience when the worst actually happened.