(This is the working title for a book I’m working on.)

“The title is based on a phrase that, if you grew up in Singapore in the 90s and 2000s, you’d have heard Gurmit Singh yell out at National Day Parades. “Maaaaake soooome nooooise!!” It’s an interesting thing to hear, in Singapore. Make some noise. Singapore, which was a noisy, bustling port city for hundreds of years (yes, even before Sir Stamford Raffles’s white buttocks showed up to grace our fine island). You never had to ask, back then. Singapore, Sin Galore, hotbed of drugs and prostitution, of sweaty hawkers and coolies yelling in a rojak-potpourri of colours and sounds. Before we became the air-conditioned nation, with air-conditioned hearts and air-conditioned minds, with one of the top chilling effects in the world. Disneyland with the Death Penalty Singapore, Stop at 2 Singapore, Graduate Mothers Singapore, When our State Organs suppressed any sort of noise. Singapore, where one person is an unlawful public assembly. Singapore, where musical instruments are banned at Thaipusam, where firecrackers at Chinese New Year were banned in …. ?, Singapore, Make Some Noise. “