NEW REVIEW FOR "MY SISTER MEDA, A MEMOIR OF OLD SINGAPORE"

 

May the Year of the Dragon bode well for everyone! It has brought me yet another fine review for MY SISTER MEDA, A MEMOIR OF OLD SINGAPORE! I share it here with gratitude to the reviewer, Nzube Chizoba Okeke who gave it 5 out of 5 stars!

 https://forums.onlinebookclub.org/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=405968

 

Review of My Sister Meda

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Nzube Chizoba Okeke 

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Review of My Sister Meda

Post by Nzube Chizoba Okeke » 19 Dec 2023, 02:53

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "My Sister Meda" by Diana Saltoon-Briggs.]

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5 out of 5 stars

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Diana Saltoon-Briggs's enticing and compelling memoir, My Sister Meda, chronicles the life of a Jewish family in Singapore. It includes specifics on a portion of their daily lives, distinctive religious rituals, daily struggles, and victories.

In addition, My Sister Meda shares the tale of a Singapore that is today little known. Learn about the challenges faced by those living and working in multicultural environments and the wonders of living through World War II. You will also learn how a girl's ambition impacts her family.

My Sister Meda was an enjoyable and instructive read. I've always been enthralled with Singapore, primarily because of its aesthetics, and I hope to travel there someday. However, reading the book made me aware of the country's extensive historical past. I learned more about this nation beyond its aesthetics.

The writing style of the author was admirable. It was exciting and engaging. My Sister Meda read like a fictional narrative, even though it was a non-fiction book. The author carried me along while providing thorough descriptions of each occurrence. Reading the book was like conversing with the author while seated beside her. She put her heart and soul into this book. There were never any boring parts in this book—it was engaging from beginning to end.

Diana Saltoon-Briggs also paid great attention to detail. She went into great depth to explain the several scenarios as they were told in the book, giving the reader rich, creative images of the events. For example, when Diana had to be a flower girl in both Neshi and Joe's weddings, she went into great detail about the dresses she wore. Besides using the gown for the ceremony, the author didn't use it for any other important thing. However, it didn't deter her from describing it with so much detail that I could see the weddings play out in front of me.

The book is professionally edited. I give My Sister Meda a perfect rating of 5 out of 5 stars because there is nothing I dislike about the book. I recommend this book if you enjoy books or memoirs with a deep historical background.

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My Sister Meda
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Latest Review: The Habit of Mindful Thinking by Terry Keys

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Aleena Augustine 

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Post by Aleena Augustine » 01 Jan 2024, 00:28

Your insightful review has me eager to dive into My Sister Meda! The vivid descriptions and engaging writing style you highlighted make it sound like a must-read. Thanks for review!

THE ERA OF TREATMENT: COMING EVENT ON RESEARCH UPDATES ON ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE

ALZHEIMER'S EVENT IN MAUI, SEPTEMBER 21, 2023

Please join us if you can. 

September 21, 2023, 1-3 PM
Roselani Place, 3rd floor lobby
88 South Papa Avenue, Kahului, Maui
Parking and refreshments will be available.

We will end with a special break-out session for family or personal caregivers.
We hope you’ll join us!

Speakers: 

Dr. Poki’i Balaz, Kokua Kalihi Valley, Honolulu, Geriatric Brain Health Specialist

Debbie Priest, Roselani Place
Diana Saltoon-Briggs, former caregiver and co-author of "Wife, Just Let Go"

Shirley Kan, Alzheimer's Association, Hawaii Chapter

REGISTER BY EMAILING SHIRLEY KAN AT:  shkan@alz.org

Ms. Shirley Kan | Program and Outreach Coordinator | Alzheimer's Association, Hawaii 

I'm looking forward to learnng the latest in Alzheimer's treatment and sharing my own experiences in caregiving with others involved in nursing and caregiving.

MY SISTER MEDA, A MEMOIR OF OLD SINGAPORE

So grateful for all the support at my event on May 20, 2023, at Barnes & Noble, Kahului, Maui!  

If you missed out on the event, you can purchase a copy of my book at Barnes & Noble, Lulu.com, and Amazon.  Please explore my other publications as well.  

GRATITUDE!

MY SISTER MEDA: A MEMOIR OF OLD SINGAPORE

 NEW PUBLICATION: MY SISTER MEDA, A MEMOIR OF OLD SINGAPORE

AT BARNES & NOBLE, KAHULUI, MAUI 

EVENT DETAILS:

IN STORE  |  SATURDAY, MAY 20, 2023 12:00 PM HT
Author Event, Special Event

Author Signing- Diana Saltoon

ABOUT THIS EVENT

My Sister Meda: A Memoir of Old Singapore by Diana Saltoon revolves around the author’s family, love, relationships, and particularly her sister Meda. Saltoon brings to light a Singapore that few in today’s world know and the phenomenal harmony that existed between the country’s diverse, multicultural population under the umbrella of colonial rule.

EVENT LOCATION

Maui Marketplace

270 Dairy Rd.

Kahului, HI 96732
(808) 214-6807

MY SISTER MEDA, A MEMOIR OF OLD SINGAPORE

 

MY SISTER MEDA, A MEMOIR OF OLD SINGAPORE is based on direct experiences.   The book describes growing up in colonial Singapore in a Sephardic Jewish family in pre-and-post WW2.  My family was part of a Sephardic Jewish community, an enclave of settlers from Baghdad who came to Singapore in the 19^th century in search of freedom and prosperity from persecution in Iraq.  My sister was key to our exodus from Singapore at a time when the island was going through political difficulties.

After leaving Singapore, I traveled extensively as a flight attendant with Trans World Airlines, studied yoga, and in the 1970s developed a program that dealt with modern stress. Growing up in early Singapore, I was influenced by the many different cultures of Singapore’s population.  An interest in Buddhism later led to an exploration of Zen and Chado, practices that continue to influence my life.  

My published books include: Wife, Just Let Go: Zen, Alzheimer’s, and Love (2017, a duo-memoir with my husband Robert Briggs (then diseased) of my experiences in caregiving as he struggled with Alzheimer’s. I’m also the author of Tea and Ceremony: Experiencing Tranquility with an introduction by Deng Ming-Dao (2004), The Common Book of Consciousness, Taking charge of your life through diet, exercise, and meditation, introduction by Kenneth Pelletier (1991), and Four Hands: Green Gulch Poems (1987).  My poems of haiku and tanka are published in New Bridges: a Haiku Anthology (2018) as well as other Journals including Cattails and Moonbathing. 

I’ve received many positive reviews on MY SISTER MEDA, A MEMOIR OF OLD SINGAPORE among them are:

“My Sister Meda, A Memoir Of Old Singapore, is a story that’s visual, engaging, and memorable, a story about family, human relationships and love in a once British colony. Saltoon, who’s family was part of the Baghdadi Jewish diaspora seeking a safe harbor in Singapore, describes the island’s beauty, its multicultural attractions and cuisine, from the bright colors and rich spices of Serangoon Road, to the ritual and solemnity of the local Synagogue (now a national monument).  She then shows a darker side of Singapore, the Japanese occupation and internment in Sime Road Camp during WW2 where she and her family were imprisoned. But it is her sister Meda, who later, through an unusual chance correspondence to a man she falls in love who changes their lives.  Her marriage to an American in Hawaii paves the way for an exodus of the family to a new life in the Unites States at a time when Singapore was transitioning from British rule to independence.” 

- Dr. Kenneth Pelletier

 

"Diana Saltoon has accomplished the near impossible: the weaving of family and history without becoming sentimental. She faces the hardships of pre-war Singapore, all the while weaving not one but many family stories. My Sister Meda: A Memoir of Old Singapore sheds light on the little known world of the Japanese occupation of Singapore. The family's internment in the Sime Road Camp and her recounting of the Sephardic Jewish experience belongs in every public and school library across the globe." 

 

- Terry Ann Carter

  From Publishers Weekly:

 "With careful research and elegant prose, Saltoon pays moving homage to her family in this memoir of Sephardic Jews in the colonial Old Singapore. Saltoon tells the story in evocative scenes (“she promised him the best satay in Singapore, if not the world, served by a humble Malay vendor called Jalak out in an open-air site off the road”) and occasional poetry, tracing the family’s origins and capturing the texture of daily life in a Short Street townhouse in a neighborhood “of Chinese, Malays, Eurasians, as well as other Mahalla Jews.

The inevitability of World War II, though, looms over the island colony, and Saltoon offers illuminating background about international politics of the era as well as eye-opening accounts of life in internment camps during the Japanese occupation. Saltoon’s story opens with the origins of her parents, with mother Girjee, renamed later as Grace, born in Baghdad, and sent to far-off Singapore to marry. Little was expected of Nassim, her father, who was afflicted with a stammer and uncontrollable trembling, as he entered adulthood in a Jewish home in Singapore. Their union, the result of a matchmaker, produced not only several healthy children but a confident couple of high standing within their community. Saltoon beautifully lays out her parents' lives, and Grace stands as an example of strength as she persists in her sewing, catering, and envisioning of a grand future despite her worsening vision.

Saltoon’s sister, the beloved Meda of the title, eventually pulls the family from conflict zones and camps with the help of her American husband. Readers follow alongside each of the adult children as they find love and purpose in their lives. Detail into the family’s transition as they fled the East and transitioned into Western life comes through insightful correspondence, revealing their feelings about these changes in real time. This memoir is an act of history and of love."

Takeaway: The fascinating history of a Jewish family’s life in Old Singapore.

Comparable Titles: Joan Bieder’s The Jews of Singapore, Marvin Tokayer and Ellen Rodman’s Pepper, Silk and Ivory.

Production grades
Cover: B
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: A-
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A

Print Date: 05/01/2023

 

LATEST REVIEW FROM PUBLISHERS WEEKLY: "MY SISTER MEDA, A MEMOIR OF OLD SINGAPORE"

 

"The fascinating history of a Jewish family’s life in Old Singapore."

With careful research and elegant prose, Saltoon pays moving homage to her family in this memoir of Sephardic Jews in the colonial Old Singapore. Saltoon tells the story in evocative scenes (“she promised him the best satay in Singapore, if not the world, served by a humble Malay vendor called Jalak out in an open-air site off the road”) and occasional poetry, tracing the family’s origins and capturing the texture of daily life in a Short Street townhouse in a neighborhood “of Chinese, Malays, Eurasians, as well as other Mahalla Jews.”

The inevitability of World War II, though, looms over the island colony, and Saltoon offers illuminating background about international politics of the era as well as eye-opening accounts of life in internment camps during the Japanese occupation. Saltoon’s story opens with the origins of her parents, with mother Girjee, renamed later as Grace, born in Baghdad, and sent to far-off Singapore to marry. Little was expected of Nassim, her father, who was afflicted with a stammer and uncontrollable trembling, as he entered adulthood in a Jewish home in Singapore. Their union, the result of a matchmaker, produced not only several healthy children but a confident couple of high standing within their community. Saltoon beautifully lays out her parents' lives, and Grace stands as an example of strength as she persists in her sewing, catering, and envisioning of a grand future despite her worsening vision.

Saltoon’s sister, the beloved Meda of the title, eventually pulls the family from conflict zones and camps with the help of her American husband. Readers follow alongside each of the adult children as they find love and purpose in their lives. Detail into the family’s transition as they fled the East and transitioned into Western life comes through insightful correspondence, revealing their feelings about these changes in real time. This memoir is an act of history and of love.

More Reviews forthcoming!

NEW PUBLICATION! "MY SISTER MEDA: A MEMOIR OF OLD SINGAPORE"

 MY SISTER MEDA:  A MEMOIR OF OLD SINGAPORE, a book I've been working on for many decades, is finally published!   I'm happy to be making this announcement.  I hope you’ll take a look at the flyer and the testimonials already received. The photo has a direct link to the book. Please share this announcement as much as you can and help give this book a great launch!