When Aircraftman First Class Peter Saunders of the Royal Air Force leaves England for the Far East in 1951, he is only eighteen years of age. His two-and-a-half-year tour of duty takes him briefly to Hong Kong and Malaya before being posted as a cook to RAF Changi, Singapore. For an adventurous young man such as Peter, Singapore in the early 1950s holds all the promise of the Orient-exotic surroundings. unusual customs and mesmerizing women. Peter soon meets and falls in love with a local Chinese girl but only later does he learn she is not entirely what she seems. The Rose of Singapore is a moving work of fiction about love, loss and sexual awakening and is based on the true experiences of the author, Peter Neville. The backdrop is Singapore and Malaya during the Emergency period—a time of active Communist terrorism as well as rising nationalism—and Neville describes in minute detail daily life at that time. With chaotic scenes of lecherous sailors and bawdy prostitutes in Singapore’s infamous Bugis Street and other red-light districts; nail-biting episodes of jungle combat in Malaya; glimpses into the daily toil of stallholders and trishaw drivers; as well as the prejudices of the British colonial regime, Singapore and Malaya of old is brought vividly to life in this Tanamera-style blockbuster.

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