Palace of Ghosts: Singapore's Untold History

 Think Again! The Craft of Inquiry (Part 2) Istana Woodneuk (circa late 1940s), is the younger "sister" palace of Istana Tyersall. Its ruin still stands on the land which used to be known as Tyersall Park In my previous post I wrote about the manuscript submission process and the questions literary agents ask, in particular the question “why does this book need to be published?” The questioning and answering involved in the submissions process led me to think about the art of questioning in other contexts, such as in business and management, where it is an extremely valuable technique when deployed by masterful questioner. I also presented a couple of examples of the answers I came up with in repose to the question "why does this book need to be be published?" However, the most comprehensive answer to this e question of can be found in the Introduction to Palace of Ghosts : in other words, in the book itself. Here is an excerpt from the book’s Introduction. (3) Th...

  Think Again! The Craft of Inquiry (Part 1) It is a challenging question to be asked why the book you have worked on for the last couple of years needs to be published. Many of us have experienced that moment of an epiphany or, alternatively, perhaps anxiety when being asked a question which cuts to the bone and challenges some of your most basic beliefs or assumptions. It’s a sobering moment but also one that can open your eyes to unexpected currents of thought or avenues of inquiry. It is also a useful technique that can be utilised in management or even in navigating personal relationships. It plays a critical role in helping to develop people to think differently or creatively. In an earlier post I wrote about why I decided to write Palace of Ghosts ( See here ), but the new question of why the book needs to be published, did indeed succeed in making me think differently about my own ideas and assumptions, as well as about the art of masterful questioning more generally. An Ag...

On the 22nd of August 2018 a global audience was treated to a spectacularly glamorous event staged at Tyersall Park, but this time the entire production was a work of fiction. The date was the global release of the movie Crazy Rich Asians , based on Kevin Kwan’s novel of the same name. The event took place 133 years after the official opening of the real Tyersall Palace (Istana Tyersall) in Singapore. For a year or more the Crazy Rich Asians movie took the world by storm, including Singapore, where the story is set. A few months ago, I met an ex-colleague for lunch. She was, and is, one of the smartest people I know and, since we worked together has gone on to achieve further highs in her successful career. The conversation ebbed and flowed, eventually touching upon my progress in completing Palace of Ghosts and the daunting path to publishing that lay ahead. She, like myself, had lived in close proximity to the plot of land where the now ruined Istana Woodneuk still stands in the gro...