Kindred Memories

"Kindred Memories: A Flash Fiction Collection" by Lynette Wan

This is the Foreword of the new book:

The oral tradition of storytelling predates the first historical recordings.  Pervasive across cultures, storytelling simply points to man's obsession with narrative and its ability to draw audiences together.  It is also my preoccupation.  When I first contemplated publishing a collection of stories as a project proposal for SG50 Celebration Fund, the idea of gathering true accounts from our nation's pioneer generation came almost naturally as I recounted the many occasions in which the older members in my family readily shared their strangely distant  but fascinating memories of their youth.

While I had very quickly come up with a concept for the project, I tussled with the form and presentation of the stories.  I was reluctant to portray them as they are - accounts written from a third  person's point of view - as such depictions often diminish and simplify the dramatic actions and emotions experienced by the characters in the stories.  I wanted my readers to be in the stories, not observers and well wishers on the side.  Then came this crazy idea to present the true accounts as fiction, as flash fiction - particularly suited for the highly energised and slightly restless younger readers.

A year on since that decision, I have come to learn that the resilience and can-do attitude of our nation's pioneer generation are no mere legends.  They truly are a community of people who do not allow adversity to change or define them.   Rather, their readiness to accept, adapt and persevere reflects their belief in something larger than themselves.  Their stories have also profoundly moved me.

It is my hope that readers of this publication will experience for themselves the same spark that ignited in me a warm fuzzy sense of familiarity and strength to go on - for out country, our families and more importantly, for themselves.

Happy 50th birthday, Singapore!

Lynette Wan, 2015

HOME [BUKIT HO] SWEE HOME

I would like to thank Lynette Wan for the invitation to share this story as a contribution of pioneer generation Singaporeans for her SG50 book.

"Time flows like memories on the shores of the past" -  Michael Joseph Murano