OMG, I just finished this book by Low Kay Hwa, a Singaporean novelist. A fellow Singaporean!! :D A Singaporean Love Story made me cry. I rate this book 4 stars out of 5. Awesome.

Okay, a quick summary. Valerie and Michael have known each other since they were 7 years old and they began dating at the age of 15 (i think). Valerie comes from a rich family, while Michael on the other hand, an orphan raised by his poor uncle who depended on him for money. She has great grades while he fails subjects. They're practically from different worlds. Valerie consistently urges Michael to strive harder and plan ahead in life. It's sweet, Michael works doubly or triply hard to earn a stable income, just so he can marry Valerie. Just when everything seems to be going right, Valerie cracked her head in the bathroom while showering and died. Coming back as a ghost, she helps Michael build up his career as a magician, gaining fame and fortune. Nobody sees or hears Valerie besides Michael. Valerie decides to cross over to the other world forever. Michael bargains for a year before she crosses over. As the days go by, Michael becomes increasingly distant and Valerie can't understand why. Eventually, Valerie finds Michael hugging his assistant. However, at the end of the story, we are told that it was in fact Michael who had died. Valerie was able to travel to the world of the dead through her sleep. Valerie's parents had divorced and they were living in poverty. Michael realised that she wanted to cross over foreverby committing suicide. Hence, he plots the entire hugging-his-assistant plot with the sole purpose of making Valerie drop the idea of committing suicide. In the end, Michael's alone in the world of the dead and Valerie's left in the real world.

That summary was so not quick. At first, the whole storyline didn't make sense to me. Valerie said some strange things like crossing over forever, which made me think: was she planning to be revived? I really really love how the whole story line was twisted, with the author dropping subtle hints that there was in fact more to the plot.

As I read the story, I grew to dislike Michael more and more, thinking he turned into a materialistic guy who kept Valerie around with the aim of being successful in life. The moment he hugged Jane (the assistant), I wanted to slap him. It isn't fair to Valerie! She gave up so much to be with him and this is what she gets?! And then there was the big twist in events. Michael suddenly became the one sacrificing his happiness for Valerie. He did all that, just so Valerie would forget him and live her life in the real world. My heart broke and I started crying :( Poor Michael, poor Valerie.

The characters in A Singapore Love Story are people most of us can connect with. It's like the author breathed life into them and gave them their own personality. One question I had was on Valerie's behaviour. It's perfectly normal to be materialistic. But accepting gifts, help and rides from rich guys when you have a boyfriend is a bit... um.. I don't know. And when she tells Michael that she loves him the most, over all the materialistic things, I got confused. Was she doing that to motivate Michael to work harder or was she unsure and indecisive over her love for Michael?

This story reminds me of The Fault in Our Stars, both equally heartbreaking.

I like the way the titles are named after train stations in Singapore. It felt really meaningful to me. The first chapter starts with the train station furthest on the West, ending with the furthest station if the East and then back tracking to where we realised that things were different in Michael's POV. It's like a unique representation of a storyline flow. This idea sort of made me smile. Singaporean things.

Also, there were a lot of things I could identify with, the Singlish (Singapore's version of English) way Michael initially spoke in, the Singaporean way of looking at life (aims for big cars and big houses and parents wanting children to be married to high flyers), places in Singapore etc etc. 

I loved how there was a twist in the story, except that I wish the twist (the part written in Michael's POV) could have been lengthened. It made it seem like the book was ending with a rush.

I think this is really true:
“Someone once told me this: Love is a rubber band. It can either be stretched to its limit so that it can hold the most number of things, or it can be stretched till it breaks. If you stretch till it breaks, it means that the relationship will not last. The one who stretches the rubber band is reality. No matter how much two lovers love each other, reality will stretch that love. Whether it holds or breaks doesn’t just depend on how strong the love is. It depends on how aggressive reality is stretching as well. If the rubber band has broken, there is no way to fix it.”

“Have you broken a rubber band before?”
“Who hasn’t?”
- Low Kay Hwa, A Singapore Love Story