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THE LAST QUEUE
In a city where your queue number determines your destiny, how far would you jump to save your child?
Mei Ling Tan is the "Queue Queen." In a hyper-competitive, near-future Singapore where meritocracy has mutated into a ruthless algorithm, she knows every loophole. She knows which forms to forge, which palms to grease, and exactly how to hack the digital waitlists that decide who gets into the elite schools and who gets left behind. She has built an empire on the desperation of parents, promising them the one thing the system a shortcut.
But for Mei Ling, this isn’t just business; it’s survival. Her daughter, Zoe, is drowning in the pressure, retreating into a terrifying silence. To save her, Mei Ling aims for the ultimate a spot in Raffles Girls’ School.
When the Ministry of Education launches a brutal crackdown, Mei Ling’s house of cards collapses. Arrested, humiliated, and facing financial ruin, she is offered a Faustian bargain by the betray the community of desperate parents she helped, or watch her daughter be blacklisted from society forever.
Caught between the sterile, crushing machinery of the Ministry and the warm, messy solidarity of the "heartlanders" she once looked down upon, Mei Ling must decide what "success" really costs.
The Last Queue is a biting social satire and a heartbreaking family drama. It is a story about the terrifying lengths a mother will go to for her child, the crushing weight of expectation, and the courage it takes to step out of line and walk a different path.
Mei Ling Tan is the "Queue Queen." In a hyper-competitive, near-future Singapore where meritocracy has mutated into a ruthless algorithm, she knows every loophole. She knows which forms to forge, which palms to grease, and exactly how to hack the digital waitlists that decide who gets into the elite schools and who gets left behind. She has built an empire on the desperation of parents, promising them the one thing the system a shortcut.
But for Mei Ling, this isn’t just business; it’s survival. Her daughter, Zoe, is drowning in the pressure, retreating into a terrifying silence. To save her, Mei Ling aims for the ultimate a spot in Raffles Girls’ School.
When the Ministry of Education launches a brutal crackdown, Mei Ling’s house of cards collapses. Arrested, humiliated, and facing financial ruin, she is offered a Faustian bargain by the betray the community of desperate parents she helped, or watch her daughter be blacklisted from society forever.
Caught between the sterile, crushing machinery of the Ministry and the warm, messy solidarity of the "heartlanders" she once looked down upon, Mei Ling must decide what "success" really costs.
The Last Queue is a biting social satire and a heartbreaking family drama. It is a story about the terrifying lengths a mother will go to for her child, the crushing weight of expectation, and the courage it takes to step out of line and walk a different path.
802 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 5, 2025
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