Dirty Old Media Men

by Millie Lee Millie Lee

Millie Lee is 22, smart and ready to start the Singaporean media job of her dreams. She just has to avoid the sexual advances of dirty old men in a newsroom both digitally and emotionally stunted.




This proves to be a tougher challenge than she expected.




Her supervisor wants to sleep with her. Her editor wants to take bets on sleeping with her and her CEO thinks her cleavage will boost their TikTok numbers. Will Millie survive the casual misogyny of Hokkien Half-Ball, Peranakan Pervert, Uncle Groper, Slick Scholar, Captain Mayhem and other questionable colleagues in the old-school haunts of news reporting, TV and radio?




This is the fictional memoir of a young woman in Singapore trying to make it in a man's media world.

272 pages, Paperback

Published October 21, 2024

Reviews

[Cherlynn | cherreading · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone working in Singapore mainstream media, I can tell you that this book about Singapore mainstream media hit the nail on the head 🤣 Fictional memoir? Strike out the fictional.

I loved everything about this! It's wildly entertaining, laugh-out-loud funny, tragically accurate and painfully relatable all at once. I couldn't tear myself away and devoured it all in a few hours.

The writing/tone is satirical and tongue-in-cheek, yet the commentary is no less scathing and on point. It's been awhile since I had so much fun with a novel and you can bet I laughed a lot.

Despite being more of a salacious popcorn read than serious literature, the author perfectly captures social issues such as sexism, misogyny, homophobia and all the things very wrong with Singaporean society and our media landscape. In fact, I love how the book delves into such topics without taking itself too seriously while still being so enjoyable.

- Yes, please follow the press release 🤣
- Yes, that sums up pretty much every celeb interview 🤣
- Ad dollars always 🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑

✨ "Singapore knows it exists... But Singapore doesn't want to know it exists."

✨ "I suddenly couldn't remember the last time I'd heard a question that wasn't loaded. The questioner usually wanted to sleep with me, date me, criticise me or tear my work to shreds."

✨ "Those who can, do; those who can't, teach idealistic Mass Comm students about the virtues of pure reporting. And they're right, until they work with politicians who want to sign off on every press release. Or advertisers who demand everything or take their money to Facebook. Or readers who whack us every day for being government lackeys. So what do we do? Give up? No lah. We pick our battles."

✨ "We're the barometers for the public. We test the water for the government. We know exactly where the OB markers are and that's how we move them. We get things changed, at society's pace, not mine and not yours, whether we like it or not. It's a game, but we still play it better than anyone else. And that's why we'll outlast them all."

[Vivian Teo · Rating 4 out of 5]

After winning a media scholarship to work at a leading media company in Singapore, 22-year-old Millie Lee believes she’s on track to her dream job. However, her six-month probationary period proves more treacherous than she anticipates. To become a journalist, she’ll first need to survive reticent interviewees, ethical dilemmas and the dirty old men in her company.

Dirty Old Media Men - a fictional memoir by Millie Lee (a pseudonym) who works in Singapore’s media industry - highlights the misogyny faced by women in the workplace and society. While the book blurb emphasises the inappropriate behavior she encounters, the story also sheds light on the realities of working in local media.

As a former journalist (albeit not with Singapore media), I found the news chasing anecdotes (“The problem is Singaporeans don’t like to share their honest opinions with a wide audience. They save them for small audiences at reunion dinners.”), behind-the-scenes of radio and TV, and the sad truth about compromises journalists sometimes have to make in editorial work due to commercial and political pressures, particularly relatable and engaging. I had many laugh-out-loud moments reading this.

This is a fun and salacious read (the blurb a bit sensationalised, in my opinion). I enjoyed it most for the acerbic voice, truths about news writing, and its scathing commentary on journalism in Singapore.

“Those who can, do; those who can’t, teach idealistic Mass Comm students about the virtues of pure reporting. And they’re right, until they work with politicians who want to sign off on every press release. Or advertisers who demand everything or take their money to Facebook. Or readers who whack us every day for being government lackeys. So what do we do? Give up? No lah. We pick our battles.”

Thank you Definitely Books (Pansing) for sending this over for my review!

[lauren · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wouldn’t read it again but it gets two stars cos some of the anecdotes were so on the nose. It was hard to get through cos it wasn’t written well.

Update; I think it only deserves one star I’m sorry

[Jamin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this in one sitting after buying it same day. Very interesting read.

Find it a little hard to divorce art from artist here as the author's identity is a limited list of candidates. As a piece of singlit, I found this kindly modern and a lot more based in reality than what you usually get with edgelord attempts, especially written (presumably) by woman

Some things I thought were a bit silly, like the author's unmotivated desires to have sex with the men around her. She out here slandering them for being perverts uninterested in her for anything but her sexual proclivity... but then oso never once tries to convince us she is interested in them as people either. She even crits these men for being interested in her purely as sex object in same breath as she admits to having sex with them on a whim. I not pass judgement on her but it just felt unmotivated and ultimately unrealistic

After that the silliness also go up. The ending is all about some triumph over the bad dirty scholar man but its more like a everyone sucks here situation. I don't know if that was intention. If it was that would be cool, but author seems to have a feminist victory postscript which mottled that idea from being real

The other funny thing is all the obvious references to real people that even someone as simple as me knows who these characters are irl, although some are amalgamated. So actually what I really like is a genuine success in accurately describing these quite real personalities. They felt and acted like real people (apart from author's fleabag larp). That was the most engaging and interesting part of book.

However, all of the activities of these characters are hyperbole, which I think is the biggest shortcoming. The sex part is flatly unbelievable, no one is having that much sex in Today Online Newsroom. The wondrous events that transpire in the form of a plot is also kinda silly. But I'm sure something interesting happened to inspire it.

The author also has a weird bone to pick with Ang Mohs, although they seem to be the most respectably represented demographic in the book. While all the chn men around the author are cheaters and manipulators, the ang mohs' biggest offensives are being fond of chicken rice and vomiting. The vomiting was really r/thathappened but obv me is going to pick up with that

[Tessa · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book advertises itself to be a critique of sexism in Singapore's media industry, but instead seems to perpetuate the same misogyny that it proclaims to critique. Rather than tackling misogyny in Singapore's media scene, the book seems to be indulging in the scandalous and salacious nature of the story to hook readers and sell copies. Just see how the book is being advertised on social media -- an AI voice reading a passage of the book where Millie describes an "orgasmic" experience meeting the national editor for the first time.

Which brings me to this: it is hard to believe that Millie Lee (pseudonym) the author is or was ever a young female journalist. And if Millie Lee is truly a woman, then it is hard to believe that the author has spoken to, or knows, any young female reporters that are working in any newsrooms today (which is the time period in which the story is set).

It reads more like an older man's fantasy of what it would be like to have a young ingenue/upstart be so smitten with him. Millie Lee may be the protagonist, but the real main character seems to be Slick Scholar, the Henry Golding-lookalike that is an ex-sportsman and comes from an elite background. Even the descriptions of the incidents of sexual harassment have a heavy tinge of the male gaze, and are brushed off humorously rather than seriously investigated.

Many other things seem odd about the story. That Millie has no friends or peers to confide in is itself very odd. (The only older mentor figure she has, and the only other real female character in the story, turns out to herself be sleeping with both the editors that Millie gets involved in and it becomes a pseudo-competition between the two journalists to sleep their way to the top and win "Slick Scholar's" affections.) That no other female journalists would tap her on the shoulder or try to warn her about these predatory editors and sub-editors is strange and unrealistic. For a book supposedly tackling misogyny, it hardly passes the Bechdel test.

Anyone going in hoping for a thoughtful critique of sexism in a "man's media world" (as the blurbs, synopsis and early reviewers advertise) will be disappointed. But if you're looking for a tabloid read to pass by a boring weekend, go for it.

[Sometimes IRead · Rating 3 out of 5]

I finished this in one sitting. Which is a feat nowadays because life has a knack of getting in the way and I’m just so very tired. There was just something about the book that had me flipping page after page as time ticked on.

Dirty Old Media Men by Millie Lee is a fictional memoir exposing the misogynistic culture of the media industry in Singapore. We follow Millie over the course of her six month probation in a leading media company, as she learns the ropes of an industry in decline while navigating the murky waters of workplace harassment.

Although the book begins with a disclaimer on how all the characters are fictional with any similarities being purely coincidental, certain characters had pretty obvious real world counterparts. Of course, most of the characters were based on types and named as such, in case it wasn’t obvious enough. Think “Slick Scholar” or “Uncle Groper”. Still, it made me wonder how this book even came to see the light of day, exposé as it is.

Reading Millie’s account was like experiencing a relentless onslaught of sexual harassment and innuendo. The sheer intensity of it was so tiring, it’s insane to think that anyone is supposed to function in such an environment. It made me realise that a safe working environment is not a given in Singapore and that’s pretty horrifying. It came to a point where even Millie was making allowances for certain advances after a while, categorizing them as harmless. It’s sad to see how people are forced to adapt to their situation, no matter how toxic it is, and how their perspective slowly gets skewed. More should be done to ensure a safe space for all to work, not just women, because work is hard enough, no one needs a dangerous workplace on top of it.

Diversity meter:
Strong female characters
Singaporean characters

[Rashini D · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book warnings: sexual harassment, crude language

A fictional memoir narrating the misogynistic and patriarchal system of Singapore’s media industry. Having to deal with the blatant sexism of her seniors (done with lewd aliases), the character Millie has to face the sexual advancements and deal with the derogatory treatment of women in the newsroom. She recently graduated from University, and as a fresh graduate, she doesn't want to lose her job. Throughout the read, I felt pretty irked many, many times and squirming from the crude language used to portray the interactions between Millie and her colleagues. I have to understand it’s depicting Singapore’s working industry but the extremeness of the perverted interactions (the stares, gestures and remarks) makes me want to put my hand into the book and shut their mouths and eyes.

It’s my first time reading a fictional memoir, so I’m still puzzled if my detachment from the text is because of a disjointed blurred line between fiction and reality. I felt enraged at the sexual harassment women face in a male-dominated environment. But one thing is certain: I felt uncomfortable after reading this. However, the part where she claims she has to agree or “tahan” her old colleague’s sexual advances because she is still on probation is something that doesn’t sit well with me.

Overall, if you like a no-filter, salacious, and provocative glimpse into Singapore’s media industry through the eyes of a woman, Dirty Old Media Men is a good choice.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow!

I was sent a copy of this hugely controversial work by Monsoon Books ahead of publication.

I can see this book upsetting many of the old guard across Singapore media. And rightly so.

Millie Lees fictional memory dares to left the lid on a stale, male dominated newspaper industry. It really is a must-read for anyone who has had dealings with big media in the squeaky clean little red dot.

[Katdakoo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kept reminding me of Sarong Party Girls - a decade later - down to the family dynamics. It was a sad read in the way that all novels which capture the reality of misogyny are sad. The glimpse of hope at the end is just that - a glimpse. Argh.

[Raine · Rating 1 out of 5]

An uncomfortable, misogynistic read that has barely any humorous moments. The ending felt rushed and lacklustre. I wish I could get back the time and money I spent on this book.

[Jennith Chen · Rating 2 out of 5]

“I wanted to feel legitimately wanted.”

[kelli h · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75/5

I took a 1.5hr bus to borrow this from the nearest library that had the book available, and boy was it worth the transport fare.

having studied mass communication myself — albeit in polytechnic and not in university like Millie herself, the media assignments and newsroom workings were described well and jolted a sense of familiarity within me. intern complaints? heard them. "juxtaposition"? an understandable but frustrating game I had to learn to play. ad dollars and rehearsed lines for real-time coverage? as they say, practice makes perfect.

while I *thankfully* never had to witness or experience the badBAD sides of the local media scene, it's still infuriating to read, even despite knowing Dirty Old Media Men was deliberately written in satire. it's witty some, disgusting some. Millie too had her moments where even I had to close the book shut and cringe at her naivete, but she as our protagonist still holds merits and values that I stand by.

the book in an of itself is a hilarious but deliberate industry expose of sorts. it gaveeee and I'm living for it.

[Hazel Tang · Rating 2 out of 5]

I honestly don’t know what the writer is trying to achieve, satire? irony? mockery? Whatever it is, it misses the point. The story skims the surface of how rigid and messy newsrooms or the whole media landscape in Singapore can be, but from the point of view of someone who has long left the scene and still pretends to know what is going on. So Bertha.