Middle and First : Short Stories

A collection of short stories in two groups.


“First” relates closely to the Singapore of the 1990s when an old way of life loses its grip in a fast-changing society. “My Grandfather Tim” – a sequel to “My Cousin Tim” the author’s earlier story which has captured public imagination, unravels the accepted truths of a family’s history. In “Grandmother: A Horror Story”, a man exorcises the domineering spirit of his grandmother. Two women in opposite continents confront who they are expected to be in “A Sisters’ Correspondence”.


“Middle” suggests what is happening to many Singaporeans who were born in the first years of the country’s independence. “The Middle of Something, Everything” empties out the lives of old friends who, having achieved the Singapore dream, are unsure of the future they will awake to. A senior civil servant meets his “Curious Death by Duty and Logic” when he obediently runs a massage parlour to raise the Total Fertility Rate of Singapore. A seasoned journalist admits for the “First Time” his loss of innocence.


“Simon Tay’s stories leave a residue of disquiet that stays with the reader long after the stories are finished.”

~ Meira Chand, author of A Different Sky