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Past lives on the island of belonging

Meira Chand knew writing an historical novel would not be easy. But penning A Different Sky became a labour of love as three years of research were followed by five years of writing about a country that she barely knew.

To write about Singapore, the British-born author of Indian-Swiss parentage, who moved to the city state in 1997, had to merge fantasy and facts into riveting fiction.

'I have no memory of Singapore, no intuitive connection with its roots and culture. So I had to build a memory on the memories of other people through research,' Chand says. 'Then, to release fiction and fantasy, facts have to be absorbed, digested and then thrown over the shoulder. It is not an easy task.'

A Different Sky, Chand's eighth novel, charts the 30-year sagas of three Singapore families caught up in events beyond their control. It moves from the late 1920s, and the first local communist riots, through the Japanese occupation of the British colony and then the fight for independence.

Through a wide cast of characters drawn from various ethnic groups, the author translates Singapore's way of life into vivid fiction.

Chand credits Singaporean president S.R. Nathan for giving her the idea. 'President Nathan had casually suggested I write something about Singapore history, though he hadn't specified any period.

'His suggestion appealed to me. It seemed like a good way to align myself with Singapore, to learn about its past.'

Although Chand 'hates' the research process, she took a forensic approach to learning about the period, digging out newspapers articles, interviewing numerous sources and reading memoirs, history books and novels. She also drew on the wealth of information in the National Archives' oral history department. 'They have systematically gone through every community, from prostitutes and rickshaw runners to pioneer politicians. It's a wonderful cross section of society,' she says.

Chand had so much material her main problem was to decide what to leave out, rather than what to put in. In the process, she had to set aside her first draft, feeling she was paying 'more attention to historical facts and accuracy' than to her characters.

'Too many facts can imprison imagination,' she says.

Born and raised in London, Chand studied art at St Martin's School of Art before specialising in textile design at Hammersmith Art School. She credits her visual writing style to her beginnings as a painter. 'When I imagine a scene, it's almost like clairvoyantly I'm there. I see it visually.' In 1962, she left England to settle in Japan with her husband, an Indian businessman, where she lived almost all her adult life, except for five years in the early 1970s spent in Mumbai, India. It was in India that the writing bug really took hold of her. 'This was my first major contact with India and in a sense, I met the half of myself I hadn't met before. With writing, I felt I could pin down my own feelings and my own duality,' she says.

Chand started writing short stories but it wasn't until she returned to Japan that she penned her first novel, The Gossamer Fly (1979), a story about the loss of innocence of a nine-year old British-Japanese girl.

Most of Chand's novels explore the search for identity and belonging, with mixed parentage a recurring theme. 'I suppose it's inevitable for someone like myself. The search for identity, the sense of duality, the clash of cultures, all these things are a part of my life, so they're a part of my work,' she says.

In A Different Sky, one of the main characters, Howard Burns, is Eurasian, working for the Harbour Board, supervising cargo coming to the British-controlled island. His ambitions are constantly stifled by his European employer, leading him to question British rule and his allegiance.

'I wanted to show the transition of Singapore [from] being nobody's home to establishing itself as a place of belonging for new generations,' Chand explains. Another key character, Mei Lan, born into a wealthy Chinese family, is often torn between being the dutiful granddaughter and her desire to be her own woman.

Singaporean women have come a long way quickly, and in many ways Mei Lan's story represents their struggles. 'The struggle for independence is easily forgotten. Not just the struggle for independence for a nation, but also the struggle for women's independence,' Chand says.

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