This collection of short stories celebrates the MerdekaGeneration. These are the baby boomers born a little after the Second WorldWar, following the heels of the Pioneer Generation. These Seniors experiencedthe development and growth of modern Singapore. They were the people who livedthrough four National Anthems: God Save the King, God Save the queen, Negara-Kuand Majulah Singapura.

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

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

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

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

About the Author

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

Josephine has published fifteen books, both fiction andnon-fiction, for adults as well as children. Her latest memoir, Ayam BuahKeluak and the Art of Writing, was published in 2024. Josephine has won severalliterary prizes in Singapore and the UK. She was a finalist for the UK s IanSt James Award.

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

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