This excellent book I also picked up in my charity shop Carr Gomm. Having read the title and read the synopsis on the back cover I was intrigued having spent a year living in the city state of Singapore. I had not heard of Terry Tan but according to the book he is a big TV guy out in The Lion city.

The book itself is very funny but is also a good historical guide as Singapore transforms through the decades. Singapore itself, as the reader might be aware, has both Western and Eastern influences on it in the present day but also historically. Singapore was a British colony for a long time and an important port in the Far East. Its very interesting to read about how ideas like feminism and traditional Chinese culture and tradition mix. The book is also a sort of autobiography of Mr Tan, who was born during the 40s when the Japanese occupied Singapore. Mr Tan has more than a few stories of his youth to tell. A reader who knows little of Singaporean culture would also find this book interesting, for instance Mr Tan’s father actually has 2 wives (Mr Tan’s mother and First Wife) which obviously is not a thing in the West. Mr Tan even has a Scottish lady for a teacher who was apparently very fierce and had to be bribed with knitted tea cosies! For the reader who doesn’t know about Singapore: Mr Tan is Singaporean Chinese, the majority ethnic group. There is also Singaporean Malaysian and Singaporean Indian and of course Caucasians (who are a small minority).

For the reader who has not visited Singapore this book serves as an interesting introduction. The Hawker food culture still existed when I lived there in 2012-2013. The famous durian that Singaporeans are still proud of today is talked about in this book. National Service is explained (my roommate at NTU served 2 years in the army before commencing his university studies). The red light district culture is also explained in this book.

One part of the book I particularly enjoyed was hearing how Western fashion trends entered Singapore from the West. Mini skirt fashion and the padded bra began to be popular in the 1960s in Singapore.

The writer himself does well in education and ends up getting a job with Radio Singapore, which he got in part due to his good pronunciation (no doubt aided by his Scottish primary school teacher). As the book goes on, Singapore’s prospects and prosperity increase and Mr Tan’s interests improves correspondingly. Nowadays Singapore is a city that is extremely well run and wealthy, one of the most wealthy cities in Asia and even competes with Western cities.

To sum up this is a book about a city where East meets West, Chinese meets British influence. Its a story of growing up and comedy. It’s also a story of how modern Singapore came to be. 

Stir Fried and not Shaken is an excellent book.