Another Literary Award received for MY SISTER MEDA, A MEMOIR OF OLD SINGAPORE!
From International Impact Book Awards;
Check out the latest blog 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
ALZHEIMER'S EVENT IN MAUI, SEPTEMBER 21, 2023
Please join us if you can.
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.
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!
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
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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 19th 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
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
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!
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!
December 2021
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Greetings!
Wishing you all Happy Holidays and a very fortuitous, peaceful New Year! As we shed the old for the new, may 2022 bring blessings of contentment, equanimity, good health and joy.
May all beings be at peace and happy! diana keishin
December 2021
I am finally revisiting this blog. It has been quite a journey these past two years with the pandemic restrictions in tow and still about. Yet, in spite of difficulties, loss, and trials, life continues to bless me with good health and surroundings. Moving to Maui in 2019 was a major decision I'm still pondering about. I left the support of many friends in Portland and feared that somehow I'd be alone on this island with this new life I've taken on. But then, I realize that I'm never alone. Even with his death 6 years ago, I still have my husband with me, in my heart where he'll always reside. And of course, making friends on the Aloha island is easy and already I've a community of close friends which support each other.
And, here in Maui, with endless summers, constant trade winds and beautiful
scenery of ocean and mountains, I've come to believe I've been offered a slice
of heaven. Though, in reality, if the mind is clear and unhindered, any
season or place is a good one. Wherever I am, alive at eight decades and more,
with good health during a serious pandemic and strong energy, seems short of a
miracle and true blessing. At the same time, I'm aware of others not as
fortunate, grieving for loved ones lost, struggling, confused and drawn into an
atmosphere rife with anger, division and hatred.
And, even in what seems heavenlike, there is sadness. My only living brother
who passed away in early 2020 made me an orphan as he joined my parents and
other siblings to a shore welcoming the dead. Besides my brother, other dear
friends recently passed away, creating more sadness and the need to reach out
to loved ones and friends, expressing my love for them. The year of 2020 seems
a lost year for many, even dreamlike, as we attempted to keep in touch
digitally. For others it produced more creativity in music, painting, writing,
poetry, and published works of fiction and nonfiction.
Before the pandemic, after the publication on Wife, Just Let Go I was
encouraged to share my experiences in caregiving for my husband who had
Alzheimer's. To those who are struggling with your own caregiving experiences,
take heart in knowing that your loved one is still with you and there are
still ways to express the profoundness of your own love. If you've
already lost your dear ones, please know that in honoring them in their
transitions, you lift your own sorrow. Shifting the focus from yourself to your
loved ones, blessing them with ease and peace, blesses you too in your union
with each other.
I encourage you to reach out to me if you've any questions. I will be happy
to help.
Just now, the tears shed express a profound love rising from your heart to
theirs.
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