Isis’s Comments (group member since Dec 11, 2017)

Isis’s comments from the 2022 ONTD Reading Challenge group.

I read This Is What Inequality Looks Like. It's about inequality and poverty in my home country (Singapore), which last year ranked in the bottom ten of countries for reducing income inequality. The writer's a sociologist, but the prose is mostly accessible. I recommend it if you're keen on learning about the non-crazy rich Asian side of Singapore!

I read Crazy Rich Asians for this theme, picked because it's not every day a book set in my home country gains international attention. Unfortunately, that meant I know too much about the context in which the book was set to really enjoy it. For instance, I had severe misgivings about the Chinese-centric portrayal of Singapore. Also, to me, the use of Singlish was jarring in that 1) Kwan's insertion of them felt unnatural and incorrect, and 2) I'm certain that uber rich Singaporeans think themselves too good for Singlish (which is generally seen here as an indicator of lack of education and belonging to the working class).

Regardless, I'll give the book props as it was a fast read, a lot of fun and a good escape into the world of rich folks. I might check out the sequels if I feel like reading something light, and I'm still going to watch the movie when it comes out because it'll be pretty cool to see on the big screen local TV stars I grew up watching. Overall though, a so-so read. 2 stars.