Heroes Real & Fake

As a young man in university, I’d always enjoyed Jackie Chan movies. I loved his outrageous stunts and comical fighting scenes. In movies like Police Story, he played the role of a righteous policeman who was always forced to break the rules to fight evil and stand up for the downtrodden. Still, it never occurred to me that he was also a hero in real life. Nevertheless, I had a lot of respect for the man as an actor. He spilled his guts to keep audiences thrilled.

But make no mistake, Jackie Chan can get political off screen. No, he’s not a dissident. He’s sings for the Communist Party. And even if his son were not arresting and awaiting judgement, he would still be Beijing’s apologist. That can only be good for business. His business. He has often been regarded as the most pro-Beijing Chinese star. Some have labelled him as a “slave”. Others have even called him a dog. Though I wouldn’t be so unkind, I had never dragged and dropped his onscreen heroic persona into real life.

My real life hero is Chow Yun Fat.

Yes, he may not be a martial arts expert. He may not have performed any “heroic” death-defying stunts. But when asked about being banned in mainland China after voicing support for the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, Chow simply replied: mai wan siew di lor (just earn less then). This piece of news has gone viral in Singapore. It is not the sort thing you hear very often in a land where people cower in fear when threatened with stagnant property prices.

Now, this what a real hero looks like.


Dewdrop Books – Fiction and non-fiction with a focus on the colourful and exotic Asian realm. Check out our titles.

Images From The Past

When death separates lovers, regrets are inevitable. Some regret the things they’ve said or forgot to say. Some regret the things they did or forgot to do. In exasperation, the usual cop out phrase is “next life”. Can there really be a next life? Will love be back like the next morning’s dewdrops?

Check out Chan Joon Yee’s second novel, Like a Dewdrop


Dewdrop Books – Fiction and non-fiction with a focus on the colourful and exotic Asian realm. Check out our titles.

Marrying While Spellbound

It’s interesting to see how shocked some Westerners are that some of their own people are marrying prostitutes in another country. Why, they never seem to be able to figure out. But I bet that the guys who do marry these girls must have thought the same way before they got “spellbound”. When many foreigners first arrive in Thailand, all their preconceptions about Thailand’s bad reputation get shattered.

The above documentary does not really show us the real Thai girls – most of whom are very polite and refined in manners. When the lonely, unsuspecting foreigner meets these nice, friendly girls where even the most diffident get laid, a dream is created.


Dewdrop Books – Fiction and non-fiction with a focus on the colourful and exotic Asian realm. Check out our titles.

Same Tune

They met and fell in love when they were budding singers. Both specialised in sad love songs. The relationship blossomed in secrecy and soon failed. Years later, they would end up singing the same song. It’s amazing how they can sing with the same “feel”.

Generation after generation, lovers have worried that their love would not last. Time and again, the strongest and most beautiful love always burn out like dewdrops in the sun.


Dewdrop Books – Fiction and non-fiction with a focus on the colourful and exotic Asian realm. Check out our titles.

MacRitchie Trail

butterfly

Shriveled leaves sail down from the canopy
On a busy jogger’s highway,
With shuffling feet and crunching gravel
Strewn to tame the sucking mud.
Unnoticed in the undergrowth
Is a careless butterfly
Trapped in a web
Meant for a less glamorous meal.
Wings flap desperately
Between freedom and death
Till the silky chains give way
As if saying
Not today.

© Chan Joon Yee (1964 -?)


Dewdrop Books – Fiction and non-fiction with a focus on the colourful and exotic Asian realm. Check out our titles.

Sad Songs 你知道我知道

Some feel as much guilt as releasing a balloon. Some just can’t let go. Who’s right and who’s wrong? Some feel as much guilt as releasing a balloon. Some just can’t let go. Who’s right and who’s wrong? 你知道我知道…

But there are some things we didn’t know. Who was 林慧萍’s boyfriend when she first started her singing career? They sang the same sad songs. In a twisted way, it was the theme of sorrow that brought them together. They could have made a perfect pair on the Taiwanese music scene but like the stories behind their songs, things didn’t work out for them. They kept their 1.5-year relationship a secret for almost 30 years.

No wonder they could go on singing sad love songs for so many years. Their lives have been so full of disappointment. We often conjure images of our dream lovers from the unfortunate characters that actors and singers portray. We extend our sympathy to people who have been dumped without really knowing why they have been dumped. And we can all sing and act the part of the sad romantic during that stage in our lives called courtship.

This interview revealed a side of 林慧萍 I never knew.


Dewdrop Books – Fiction and non-fiction with a focus on the colourful and exotic Asian realm. Check out our titles.