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How We Live Now: Stories of Daily Living
How We Live Now offers a multi-faceted, multi-voiced view of contemporary life in Singapore: its comforts and conflicts, personal tragedies and social tensions, and also opportunities for joy, hope and empathy.
Featuring an exciting ensemble of both established and new writers, the stories invite readers to think seriously about the world around them, with urgent contemporary challenges such as social inequality and mental health, as well as age-old frictions in personal relationships and friendships.
As this slate of characters grapples with crisis, loss, and what it means to hold each other close in a rapidly changing Singapore, we are invited to ponder: if this is indeed how we live now, should we continue in this vein?
Featuring an exciting ensemble of both established and new writers, the stories invite readers to think seriously about the world around them, with urgent contemporary challenges such as social inequality and mental health, as well as age-old frictions in personal relationships and friendships.
As this slate of characters grapples with crisis, loss, and what it means to hold each other close in a rapidly changing Singapore, we are invited to ponder: if this is indeed how we live now, should we continue in this vein?
- GenresFictionShort Stories
188 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2022
5 people are currently reading
74 people want to read
About the author
Yu-Mei Balasingamchow
24 books51 followersYu-Mei Balasingamchow is the author of the novel, Names Have Been Changed, which will be published on June 23, 2026 by Tiny Reparations Books. Her short fiction has received a Pushcart Prize Special Mention, won the Mississippi Review Fiction Prize, and been shortlisted for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize.
Yu-Mei is also the co-author of Singapore: A Biography, editor of How We Live Now: Stories of Daily Living, and co-editor of In Transit: An Anthology from Singapore on Airports and Air Travel. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from Boston University. Her writing has been supported by Ucross Foundation, Massachusetts Cultural Council, Elizabeth George Foundation, Sewanee Writers Conference, Ragdale Foundation and Vermont Studio Center, and in Singapore by the National Arts Council and Nanyang Technological University.
Originally from Singapore, Yu-Mei now lives in Boston. She is editor at Gaudy Boy, an independent press that brings literary works by authors of Asian heritage to an American audience, and teaches at GrubStreet.
Yu-Mei is also the co-author of Singapore: A Biography, editor of How We Live Now: Stories of Daily Living, and co-editor of In Transit: An Anthology from Singapore on Airports and Air Travel. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from Boston University. Her writing has been supported by Ucross Foundation, Massachusetts Cultural Council, Elizabeth George Foundation, Sewanee Writers Conference, Ragdale Foundation and Vermont Studio Center, and in Singapore by the National Arts Council and Nanyang Technological University.
Originally from Singapore, Yu-Mei now lives in Boston. She is editor at Gaudy Boy, an independent press that brings literary works by authors of Asian heritage to an American audience, and teaches at GrubStreet.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
January 21, 2025
stories of modern Singaporeans- loved reading this while I’m here and to notice all of the things I’ve seen here!
December 7, 2022
This is a lovely anthology comprising of short stories by Singaporean writers in the past few decades, and it's one that is still relevant to this day (hence, the title, "How We Live Now", and the question 'how do we want to live in the future' posited in the editor's note in the preface). I really liked all of the stories in here, but my personal favourites were "Close to Home", "Letters", "The Missing Clock", "Fireworks", "After the Valley" & "Night Fishing" for their melancholic & nuanced take on universal subjects that affect us in this globalized age.
July 16, 2022
《How We Live Now, edited by Yu Mei Balasingamchow》
I wasn’t prepared to feel what I felt while reading this book, so do bear with me as I try to put my feelings and thoughts into words. Sorry if this sounds more like a rambling dairy entry than a book review—to have resonated with so many characters over 188 pages of short stories is a truly bizarre experience for me as well.
Jessica Tan’s “Letters” actually reminded me that I, too, had a childhood pen pal overseas! Like the protagonist Lynn, my weeks of waiting were rewarded with the joy of holding a fancy envelop with stamps from the other end of the world. I caught glimpses of my older relative in Uncle Boon, the postman who coldly responded in typical Singaporean fashion that he was just “waiting lor” for something unspecified. While the pessimist in me interpreted that he was simply awaiting death just like my relative, I’m happy to be proved wrong that Uncle Boon had a sweet ending to his wait.
The tense wedding situation in Yolanda Yu’s “The Missing Clock” had awakened memories of late night phone calls with friends who wrestled with ‘must-haves’ and ‘deal breakers’ in their marriage. The symbolic item in this story—the missing clock—was expertly used to reveal the wounds, expectations, and biases in this family drama. Very often, the real issue lies deeper beyond the cracks on the surface.
Karen Kwek’s “Night Fishing” was a painful and timely read as right at this moment, my Dad is undergoing diagnoses for suspected Alzheimer’s disease. As the narrator reflected on how growing older meant lesser night fishing trips with his Pa, I recalled my family’s own father-child routine as well. When was the last time that I accompanied Dad on his evening jogs in ECP? Just like the narrator’s recounting of Pa’s last stories, I too was caught unaware. Who knew that the last trip was going to be the last?
How We Live Now is a beautiful tapestry put together by Yu Mei Balasingamchow, featuring each writer’s threads of the everyday men and women of Singapore. I’m sure you’ll meet someone you know—the elderly cleaner resting at your void deck, the FoodPanda cyclist on the street, the homesick migrant worker, and even your loved ones at home. My deepest thanks to each contributor for lending your voice to tell our stories. And lastly, thanks @ethosbooks for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I wasn’t prepared to feel what I felt while reading this book, so do bear with me as I try to put my feelings and thoughts into words. Sorry if this sounds more like a rambling dairy entry than a book review—to have resonated with so many characters over 188 pages of short stories is a truly bizarre experience for me as well.
Jessica Tan’s “Letters” actually reminded me that I, too, had a childhood pen pal overseas! Like the protagonist Lynn, my weeks of waiting were rewarded with the joy of holding a fancy envelop with stamps from the other end of the world. I caught glimpses of my older relative in Uncle Boon, the postman who coldly responded in typical Singaporean fashion that he was just “waiting lor” for something unspecified. While the pessimist in me interpreted that he was simply awaiting death just like my relative, I’m happy to be proved wrong that Uncle Boon had a sweet ending to his wait.
The tense wedding situation in Yolanda Yu’s “The Missing Clock” had awakened memories of late night phone calls with friends who wrestled with ‘must-haves’ and ‘deal breakers’ in their marriage. The symbolic item in this story—the missing clock—was expertly used to reveal the wounds, expectations, and biases in this family drama. Very often, the real issue lies deeper beyond the cracks on the surface.
Karen Kwek’s “Night Fishing” was a painful and timely read as right at this moment, my Dad is undergoing diagnoses for suspected Alzheimer’s disease. As the narrator reflected on how growing older meant lesser night fishing trips with his Pa, I recalled my family’s own father-child routine as well. When was the last time that I accompanied Dad on his evening jogs in ECP? Just like the narrator’s recounting of Pa’s last stories, I too was caught unaware. Who knew that the last trip was going to be the last?
How We Live Now is a beautiful tapestry put together by Yu Mei Balasingamchow, featuring each writer’s threads of the everyday men and women of Singapore. I’m sure you’ll meet someone you know—the elderly cleaner resting at your void deck, the FoodPanda cyclist on the street, the homesick migrant worker, and even your loved ones at home. My deepest thanks to each contributor for lending your voice to tell our stories. And lastly, thanks @ethosbooks for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
July 31, 2022
3.8 stars.
This book made me reflect on what i loved and loathed about Singapore-writing. I found all of these aspects in this book.
These stories' common Singaporeanity are intended to raise questions about (you guessed it!!) How We Live Now in Singapore.
So - i quite liked this collection. I was pleasantly surprised to find I liked almost every story. I only despised 2 stories. This is rare for the few Singanthologies I've read.
The stories I loved most snagged my imagination with a shard of Singapore. Some small, lived moment.They made me ache quietly, with words and meanings that hung unsaid, or only half-spoken.
Jinny Koh's "Close to Home", though heavily described at the start, ended on a very wrenching note. I also liked very much Dave Chua's "Fireworks", about (in part) all the unspoken things left unsaid between fathers and their daughters.
Yeoh Jo-Ann's very weird The Thing, unexplained and just sitting there all on its own, really made me appreciate the value of letting some images just sit/hang/float there, unexplained and unexplainable.
Rachel Heng's "After the Valley", about growing old alone or with friends in an old folks' home was also quietly wrenching.
Karen Kwek's "Night Fishing" conjured up scenes of older, wilder Singapore coastlines; its vivid, strangely ambiguous ending ended on the book on a powerful note.
But some stories also made me go, YUCK.
Should I be Understanding and say: oh maybe they were written in diff contexts so we we shouldn't be too harsh...Ok, there: I have said it.
Now, let me say that I despise writers who preach to me. Use a lecture or soapbox, maybe. Don't use a story to preach your naked opinions at me. I'm here for story, not sermon.
And don't use stale animal tropes to do it. Especially, don't resort to Merlions or Tigers. It is often clumsy and probably very insulting to the animals involved.
Also, PLEASE don't tell me about how Banal, Unimaginative, and Materialistic Singaporeans are!
That just SCREAMS to me how banal, unimaginative, and materialistic of a writer YOU are!!
If you have an urge to rant abt the Gahmen, young condo buyers, head over to Facebook!! Please don't inflict unsuspecting readers with your opinions!!
Yet - only 2 stories made me roll my eyes. The other 8 in this collection were all solid pieces in their own way, lovingly and thoughtfully crafted.
3.8/5 majulahs 🇸🇬
This book made me reflect on what i loved and loathed about Singapore-writing. I found all of these aspects in this book.
These stories' common Singaporeanity are intended to raise questions about (you guessed it!!) How We Live Now in Singapore.
So - i quite liked this collection. I was pleasantly surprised to find I liked almost every story. I only despised 2 stories. This is rare for the few Singanthologies I've read.
The stories I loved most snagged my imagination with a shard of Singapore. Some small, lived moment.They made me ache quietly, with words and meanings that hung unsaid, or only half-spoken.
Jinny Koh's "Close to Home", though heavily described at the start, ended on a very wrenching note. I also liked very much Dave Chua's "Fireworks", about (in part) all the unspoken things left unsaid between fathers and their daughters.
Yeoh Jo-Ann's very weird The Thing, unexplained and just sitting there all on its own, really made me appreciate the value of letting some images just sit/hang/float there, unexplained and unexplainable.
Rachel Heng's "After the Valley", about growing old alone or with friends in an old folks' home was also quietly wrenching.
Karen Kwek's "Night Fishing" conjured up scenes of older, wilder Singapore coastlines; its vivid, strangely ambiguous ending ended on the book on a powerful note.
But some stories also made me go, YUCK.
Should I be Understanding and say: oh maybe they were written in diff contexts so we we shouldn't be too harsh...Ok, there: I have said it.
Now, let me say that I despise writers who preach to me. Use a lecture or soapbox, maybe. Don't use a story to preach your naked opinions at me. I'm here for story, not sermon.
And don't use stale animal tropes to do it. Especially, don't resort to Merlions or Tigers. It is often clumsy and probably very insulting to the animals involved.
Also, PLEASE don't tell me about how Banal, Unimaginative, and Materialistic Singaporeans are!
That just SCREAMS to me how banal, unimaginative, and materialistic of a writer YOU are!!
If you have an urge to rant abt the Gahmen, young condo buyers, head over to Facebook!! Please don't inflict unsuspecting readers with your opinions!!
Yet - only 2 stories made me roll my eyes. The other 8 in this collection were all solid pieces in their own way, lovingly and thoughtfully crafted.
3.8/5 majulahs 🇸🇬
July 9, 2022
How We Live Now presents a multifaceted and multifaceted vision of modern Singaporean life, including its conveniences and conflicts, personal tragedies and social tensions, as well as its chances for happiness, hope, and empathetic connection.
-
4 ✨
-
The stories, which are written by a talented group of both established and up-and-coming authors, encourage readers to consider the important issues facing society today, including social inequity, mental illness, and the age-old conflicts that exist in friendships and personal relationships.
-
Out of all the short stories, "Fireworks" and "Live! At the Wet Market" were my favorites since they truly spoke to me and reminded me of some of my murky childhood memories. It was difficult to have family concerns and be unable to discuss them. Even though there are many jobs in Singapore, working in the market is far more enjoyable than working in an office since there is a sense of kampong spirit there as opposed to stepping on one another to advance in a career.
-
However, "Before the valley" should be read if you're looking for a deeply moving short story to read.
-
Thank you so much for the arc and apologise in the delay in review @ethosbooks and congrats 🥳 for the publication !
#ethosbooks #howwelivenowstories #bookstagramsg #singlit
-
4 ✨
-
The stories, which are written by a talented group of both established and up-and-coming authors, encourage readers to consider the important issues facing society today, including social inequity, mental illness, and the age-old conflicts that exist in friendships and personal relationships.
-
Out of all the short stories, "Fireworks" and "Live! At the Wet Market" were my favorites since they truly spoke to me and reminded me of some of my murky childhood memories. It was difficult to have family concerns and be unable to discuss them. Even though there are many jobs in Singapore, working in the market is far more enjoyable than working in an office since there is a sense of kampong spirit there as opposed to stepping on one another to advance in a career.
-
However, "Before the valley" should be read if you're looking for a deeply moving short story to read.
-
Thank you so much for the arc and apologise in the delay in review @ethosbooks and congrats 🥳 for the publication !
#ethosbooks #howwelivenowstories #bookstagramsg #singlit
October 29, 2023
Was excited to check out the Singlit shelf in Kinokuniya and was slightly dismayed to see the dominance of short stories and anthologies. Remembered how I was excited to sink my teeth into Nigerian literature when I moved to Lagos but heard a more critical view from my local friends — the exoticisation of Lagos for the benefit of the foreigner, and how one’s story was strongly was tied to their country and city rather than something more universal. So my personal view about Singlit is: why the short stories? I would have preferred more world-building.
Still, I decided to give this a shot because I would love to read more about modern Singaporeans. There, we dip into classic stories, starting with the myth of the Merlion vs the White Tiger in the Singapore zoo, and ending with the hobby of night fishing — with many stories about growing old/ sick/ Alzheimer’s/ unexpected deaths, and strained relationships.
Stories ranked:
1. Child’s Play
2. The Missing Clock
3. Before the Valley
4. Live at the Wet Market
5. Fireworks
6. The Thing
7. Night Fishing
8. Close to Home
9. Letters
10. Painting the Tiger
Still, I decided to give this a shot because I would love to read more about modern Singaporeans. There, we dip into classic stories, starting with the myth of the Merlion vs the White Tiger in the Singapore zoo, and ending with the hobby of night fishing — with many stories about growing old/ sick/ Alzheimer’s/ unexpected deaths, and strained relationships.
Stories ranked:
1. Child’s Play
2. The Missing Clock
3. Before the Valley
4. Live at the Wet Market
5. Fireworks
6. The Thing
7. Night Fishing
8. Close to Home
9. Letters
10. Painting the Tiger
September 21, 2022
Short stories embedded with the daily turbulents of high and lows, dissapointments, happiness and melancholy Ensembled by local writers, this felt like I have been taken or travelled across a spectrum from a kid to where I am today, throw in with a hint of “welcome to aging” and its social tensions and conflicts living in a contenporary Singapore.
As gloomy as it seems, I like how the author injected hope and make the stories lively, trying to diminsh the outlook of bleakiness that each short stories contains. Every stories here lies a certain subject matters and social issues that the millennials has to ponder and deal when the times comes.
Very multi-faceted, surely, with differeing voices of echoes in the contemporary Singapore.
As gloomy as it seems, I like how the author injected hope and make the stories lively, trying to diminsh the outlook of bleakiness that each short stories contains. Every stories here lies a certain subject matters and social issues that the millennials has to ponder and deal when the times comes.
Very multi-faceted, surely, with differeing voices of echoes in the contemporary Singapore.
May 3, 2024
A series of short stories about fragments of contemporary life in Singapore. While not all the stories were set in the milieu I grew up in (I suspect many were written by people in the 1.5 generations before me), they were written with life-like detail and felt very much like coming home. Would recommend for anyone who wants to envision (not understand) life in Singapore beyond more clinical/factual descriptions or well-outlined narratives.
October 30, 2024
my literature book!! :> just did my olevel paper for this story :))
November 8, 2025
it’s no ministry of moral panic but singlit once in awhile js always nice! my faves are “Fireworks” & “Letters”
June 13, 2024
My thoughts on these stories:
Painting the Tiger - Painting as a way to capture the animal that is lost in the wild due to society’s modernisation and progress. 🐅
Close to Home - A story of loss viewed from the perspective of a boy living with his neighbour. 🤰🏻
Fireworks - This story is not very clear-cut, but it focuses on the relationship between a father and his daughter, who meet each other for fireworks-viewing. 🎆
LIVE! At the Wet Market - A funny story of a girl who is ashamed of her parents working at the wet market. But her close friend changes that! 🥩
Letters - Having a pen pal write you physical letters is such a beautiful thing! Too bad I don’t think I’ll ever experience it! 📮
The Thing - The elephant in the room manifests itself as ‘the thing’ in this story of a missing mother and the uncommunicative husband and son she leaves behind. 🧶
Child’s Play - A couple grapples with childlessness while a child tortures cats outside their house. 👦🏻
The Missing Clock - When family members all have their own versions of the truth, just like how they don’t trust the time on each other’s clocks (which should be the same). 🕰️
Before the Valley - The previous occupation of an elderly man is revealed, resulting in a change in his social status at the senior’s home he is a resident of. 👨🏾🦳
Night Fishing - The author remembers night fishing with his dad who is now afflicted with dementia. 🎣
Overall a collection of stories that showcase different perspectives of life in Singapore. There are discussion questions for each story at the back of the book, making this a suitable book for group discussions! 📖
4/5
Painting the Tiger - Painting as a way to capture the animal that is lost in the wild due to society’s modernisation and progress. 🐅
Close to Home - A story of loss viewed from the perspective of a boy living with his neighbour. 🤰🏻
Fireworks - This story is not very clear-cut, but it focuses on the relationship between a father and his daughter, who meet each other for fireworks-viewing. 🎆
LIVE! At the Wet Market - A funny story of a girl who is ashamed of her parents working at the wet market. But her close friend changes that! 🥩
Letters - Having a pen pal write you physical letters is such a beautiful thing! Too bad I don’t think I’ll ever experience it! 📮
The Thing - The elephant in the room manifests itself as ‘the thing’ in this story of a missing mother and the uncommunicative husband and son she leaves behind. 🧶
Child’s Play - A couple grapples with childlessness while a child tortures cats outside their house. 👦🏻
The Missing Clock - When family members all have their own versions of the truth, just like how they don’t trust the time on each other’s clocks (which should be the same). 🕰️
Before the Valley - The previous occupation of an elderly man is revealed, resulting in a change in his social status at the senior’s home he is a resident of. 👨🏾🦳
Night Fishing - The author remembers night fishing with his dad who is now afflicted with dementia. 🎣
Overall a collection of stories that showcase different perspectives of life in Singapore. There are discussion questions for each story at the back of the book, making this a suitable book for group discussions! 📖
4/5
October 9, 2022
“Singaporeans—you do not mess with their time.”
▪︎
“Do they know what they are doing…those Indonesians and Malaysians, happily following our lead in the taming of swamp and jungle, eliminating untidiness in the name of progress? Do they understand the loss of spirit that follows the destruction of wildness?”
▪︎
‘How We Live Now’ edited by Yu-Mei Balasingamchow is a collection of short stories about the way we live in Singapore, the quiet despair and the occasional glimpses of hope and connection.
▪︎
“Do they know what they are doing…those Indonesians and Malaysians, happily following our lead in the taming of swamp and jungle, eliminating untidiness in the name of progress? Do they understand the loss of spirit that follows the destruction of wildness?”
▪︎
‘How We Live Now’ edited by Yu-Mei Balasingamchow is a collection of short stories about the way we live in Singapore, the quiet despair and the occasional glimpses of hope and connection.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews