YICL staff participates in READ! Singapore

Reported by Lee Kwee Eng, Adult & Young People Services Librarian, Public Library Services.

Staff from Yishun Community Library (YICL) held a book discussion on "Tangerine", on 24 May 05.



Admittedly, some of us were stuck at Chapters One and Two, as there were a lot of flashbacks at the beginning of the story. One staff had to read Chapter One thrice before she could understand - but that was perfectly fine. The resource kit for Tangerine from the READ! Singapore website was useful in providing a brief background.

The discussion focused on what staff liked or disliked about the book. We didn't know that in Vietnam, tangerines could be offered to strangers as a form of friendship instead of cigarettes. We liked the way the author described the "5 Cs" that were important to Singaporeans. We also enjoyed the description of the westerners' response regarding SDU and matchmaking in Singapore.



After the session, staff had a better understanding of the story. Some of us were encouraged to finish the entire book once we realised there were many interesting things in the subsequent chapters.