This collection of short stories celebrates the Merdeka Generation. These are the baby boomers born a little after the Second World War, following the heels of the Pioneer Generation. These Seniors experienced the development and growth of modern Singapore. They were the people who lived through four National Anthems: God Save the King, God Save the queen, Negara-Ku and Majulah Singapura.

The majority of them had helped built this nation. During the colonial period and pre-independent days, many Singaporeans were poor and were living in adverse conditions, without running water, electricity and amenities. Before HDB flats were built, they had been living in kampungs. These shaped their mind-set. Most of them struggled to work hard so that their children would not suffer as they had suffered.

In the 21st Century, this band of the population is in their seventies. New problems surfaced for them as their children became smarter than them, or some moved abroad. There are many MG Seniors without their children and grandchildren in this country.

This collection attempts to highlight some of the issues facing this group who had to cope with such emotional issues, modern technology and the fast pace of life in modern Singapore. They are an admirable group as they had the resilience to progress as this nation had progressed.

This book also celebrates the music industry of the 1960s and 70s, both locally and internationally.

About the Author

Peranakan author Josephine Chia is a Merdeka Generation Senior. She grew up in the impoverished village of Kampung Potong Pasir in the 1950s. Her family moved out of the village in 1975 during the dissolution of kampungs. Like many of her generation, she grew up with the nation as it moved from colonialism to independence. Many in the Merdeka Generation helped build the country, experiencing the early hardships and, later, enjoying the fruits of success.

Josephine has published fifteen books, both fiction and non-fiction, for adults as well as children. Her latest memoir, Ayam Buah Keluak and the Art of Writing, was published in 2024. Josephine has won several literary prizes in Singapore and the UK. She was a finalist for the UK’ s Ian St James Award.

In 2014, she won the Singapore Literature Prize for her non-fiction memoirs Kampong Spirit - Gotong Royong: Life in Potong Pasir, 1955 to 1965. Her children’ s novel Queen of the Sky was shortlisted for the Scholastic Asian Book Award 2018. In 2019, she won the Singapore Publishers Book Award for her first YA novel Big Tree in a Small Pot.

Josephine is a speaker and creative writing mentor. Several of her students are now published writers