A review by heathcliff
Ministry of Moral Panic by Amanda Lee Koe

5.0

One of the strongest, if not the strongest, collection of short stories I’ve read. Also the strongest work I’ve read from a local author (to be fair, I have also not read a lot of #singlit and am working to rectify this). Amanda Lee Koe is a marvel at characterisation. I usually have a problem with short stories because often they feel like they end prematurely and/or the author isn’t skilled enough to really tell a story of who the characters are so I end up feeling very uninvested. This collection doesn’t have this problem.

I agree with poet Joshua Ip’s comment that the collection feels both very Singaporean and un-Singaporean at the same time. Koe does a great job at capturing desire and longing in way that speaks to a very uniquely Singaporean condition. A great showcase of her talents, I would recommend Ministty of Moral Panic to all who want to delve into local literature.