Singapore
Novel:
The Art of Charlie
Chan Hock Chye by Sonny Liew
Summary: A
graphic novel that won the Eisner award in 2017, this book follows the career
of a fictional cartoonist from Singapore, Charlie Chan Hock Chye. Chan did not
support the government’s actions after the failed merger with Malaysia in the
1960’s, and he is depicted publishing allegorical comics that criticize the
government. Ultimately, it is about the ways in which art can help us to see events
from new perspectives
Response: This
book was a lot longer than I expected it to be, but it didn’t feel slow. It flows
like a documentary and takes place in chronological order. The politics are
complicated, but Liew makes them easier to follow by designing a comic series
that uses animals instead of people to represent the different political
parties involved. So, even if I couldn’t remember who was the leader of which
party, I could easily tell from the art itself. It was a lot like Art Spiegelman’s
Maus in the use of animals as
characters, but because I was familiar with the history that Spiegelman was writing
about, I get the allegory much better. In Liew’s book, and as a result of my
own complete ignorance of the history and politics of Singapore, it was like
reading a children’s history book. The animal characters helped me to differentiate
between different political actors, and it was really helpful! It makes me
think all history books should be graphic novels.
Food:
Chicken Rice
I read a story about how Anthony Bourdain was booed and even
had things thrown at him for saying that he had never tried chicken rice in
Singapore. So, that got me excited for this dish. But, I mean, the recipe I
followed really was just plain chicken and rice. Like, the kind of thing you
would eat if you were getting over food poisoning or the flu or something and
couldn’t tolerate any seasoning. It was pretty boring and disappointing. Now,
it’s totally possible that there’s a kickass chicken and rice recipe out there,
but this isn’t it. I found one which looks tastier and explains a bit
better what makes this dish good. It helps to make the rice using the broth from boiling the chicken, which I did not do. I am not knocking chicken and rice! It’s
good! And every country seems to have their version of it, so it seems like
universal comfort food. But, this project was about trying new things and
having little food adventures, and this dish just didn’t meet those
expectations. I should have tried something else!
Cocktail:
A classic Singapore Sling is my cocktail of choice for Singapore. I didn't have Benedictine, which is what this recipe calls for. I substituted Chartreuse, which is also an herbal liqueur. It was very nice and refreshing cocktail!
Tar!
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