ministry of moral panic stories amanda lee koe

Being the majority race (Chinese) in Singapore and a minority in NYC has been fruitful in allowing me to plumb blindspots I might have had on either end of that spectrum and has hopefully, helped build more complexity into my writing”.Īppearing in the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival, one of the sessions you’ll be appearing in is centred on ‘identity’ where it comes from, what shapes it, how it evolves and grows. There’s also, at once, that nice, oft-quoted idea of the “cultural melting pot”, but with it, also, the subtle and not-so-subtle classism and racism that can arise/be exacerbated by systemic inattention, socioeconomic inequality and the occasional/historic friction of diversity. The density, the grid, the literal vertical-ness of both cities never escapes me-and with that the inevitable intersection of humans eking out wildly varying existences… The obsessive energy of both cities too, but in this regard Singapore’s energy feels much more adolescent: our energy is marked by a sort of prestige anxiety, whereas New York’s energy feels a lot more mature, relaxed into itself. “Moving between these bastions of late-capitalist cosmopolitanism it’s very easy to take a lot for granted. To what extent do you find similarities between the two places, and how does that filter into some of the issues you explore in your writing? You grew up in Singapore, and now split your time between ‘home’ and New York City, two landscapes characterised by cultural complexity. As to how that position is reached, I think it requires in equal parts curiosity, observation, imagination and extrapolation, all these things applied in a nuanced yet rigorous manner”. “I would like to think that embodying a character is most true when it comes from a radical sort of empathy, and that once that position is reached, the reader should be able to feel that the writing is giving rather than voyeuristic, open rather than closed (perhaps this is also true of acting at its best?).

Where do you find inspiration for these characters, and how do you step into their shoes? In Ministry of Moral Panic, there are so many diverse characters whose stories you explore an urban-anthropologist posing as a Laundromat proprietor, a retired pop singer reunited with a lost love, a ladyboy in the form of Singapore’s most-celebrated mascot, the Merlion. Ahead of her appearance in this year’s Festival, we chat to Amanda Lee Koe about inspiration, identity and the changing face of Singaporean literature. Tackling issues of gender, sexuality and race, Ministry of Moral Panic is a reflection on a changing culture – one increasingly at odds with its public image and what lies beneath the surface. In the 2014 winner of the Singapore Literature Prize for Fiction, Ministry of Moral Panic, writer Amanda Lee Koe creates deliberate confrontation between her short story characters and the moral and ethical landscapes in which they live.

Ministry of moral panic stories amanda lee koe