http://www.cnngo.com/singapore/shop/mrbrown-all-presidents-seamen-834868
Questions abound with President Nathan's literary debut
As President Nathan asks "Why Am I Here" in his new book, mrbrown asks "Why did you call it that?"
I love books. I used to sell them, as a bookseller in one of the largest bookstores in Singapore. I remember the fuss when Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew's memoirs came out. It was like a new Bible was being released.
I recall being told you would never see a paperback version of the two volumes. Only hardcover will be sold (in case you were still waiting for it). And the books must never find their way to the Bargain books section. Not that they would anyway. The memoirs sold like Jalan Kayu pratas, flying off the shelf like hot cakes.
Another senior person has since released his book too. President SR Nathan published his first book, entitled "Why Am I Here?"
This, of course, sent Singaporeans into a nationwide collective giggle. You see, many Singaporeans don't think the President does very much and the title just screamed irony. Responses ranged from, "I also want to know why he is here!" to "He needs to justify his existence?" to "Our President so free to write book, ah?"
Of course, their views are wrong. I am sure our President performs many important duties and stuff and deserves every cent of the S$3 million (about US$2 million) he is given.
And for the sake of my non-Singaporean readers, I would also like to point out that unlike ye days of olde, our current two-term President was chosen via an election, even though the last two elections were walkovers because the Choosing the Right Presidential Candidate Committee (sorry, the official name escapes me) deemed all the other candidates not sufficiently qualified to even run.
And thus, Singaporeans did not get the benefit of a public holiday for both walkover Presidential elections.
Upon reading the news reports (that read like glowing book reviews), we discover that the President's book was about his time as a young civil servant in the 1950s, looking after the welfare of sailors. He was Singapore's first Seamen's Welfare Officer and the job was tough. So tough that he considered quitting and had to ask himself "Why am I here?" Hence the title of the book.
Having the sense of humour of a 13-year-old, I confess that reading the headline "President Nathan and the seamen" in the news reports sent me into uncontrollable fits of laughter.
Blame it on President Clinton but the words "president" and "seamen" should never be in the same sentence. Much less the term "Seamen's Welfare Officer."
I think our President should write more books, with maybe better titles.
One of the roles of the Singapore President is to be the holder of the "second key" to unlock past reserves accumulated by the Singapore government. I think it would be great if we could have a fantasy novel called "Harry Potty and the Second Key". Or maybe "Percy Jackson Lim and the Lightning Chief".
Or go Tolkien, and write books like "There and Back Again" and "The Return of the King".
That will surely attract a younger audience who can then learn from the wisdom of our President's many years in the civil service.
Or we could use the current title as a base for the Presidential sequels. I would love to read "Why I Am Still Here" and "Why I May Still Be Here".
One day, I would like to write my memoir too even though I am not a big Somebody. I can share about how I survived my youthful days as a Literary, Drama and Debating Society (LDDS) nerd in school without being beaten up by the rugby jocks (I made them laugh).
Maybe I should write a romance novel, about my eight-year courtship of my wife and the time I camped outside her house to win her over and she didn't even call the cops or take out a restraining order.
Or I could regale you with tales of my time in the army, as a seasoned veteran of the camp canteen. I was a mechanic with a combat engineer unit and oh, the stories I can tell you about changing the oil of the rear differential of a five-ton military vehicle! Gritty stuff.
And I will certainly sell paperback versions of my book so that more of you can afford it. I will even produce a comic book version of it so that those of you with the attention span of a tweet can also enjoy it.
I don't have any seamen stories though. Not the kind that can be published.
