I read "Peculiar Chris" at least a decade after it was first published even though I had heard about it way before that.

I was a book snob and I had never really bothered to pick it up as it was "just another local novel".

When I finally decided to give it go, it had been out of print and not on sale for many years. By some sheer luck, I happened to be at a second-hand book store at Holland Village shopping centre during lunch when I decided to see if they might have it. The answer was a disappointing "no", but they kindly took down my number and promised to call if they locate it. About half and hour after I left, I received their call on my mobile.

Bingo! They managed to dig it out from god-knows-where.

Rushing back to the store, I laid my hands on an old and worn book with a brownish-sepia picture of someone I assumed to be Chris looking downwards at an angle. Opening the cover, I saw a few names scribbled on the first page, it had been through at least two or three owners. Unfortunately, the book at present has been borrowed by someone and hasn't been returned.

At my last Google search (a few minutes ago), someone is selling a used though "like new" copy of the book through Amazon at US$72.16. That's like SGD$109.70!!!

BI-ATCH!! WHOEVER HAS MY COPY, I WANT IT BACK!!!

Of course you can get a cheaper copy at €15, but you'll need to be able to read Italian.

Anyway, the book was an easy but engaging read; I finished it within a day. And though I couldn't identify much with the characters in the story, it somehow resonated with me. It spoke of something that I could somehow identify with - a sort of love/growing-up story of a gay male that was set on this tiny red dot that we call home; moving in its own way. And besides, it is the first of its kind in Singapore no matter its flaws.

A few years later, I was honoured to meet the man who the put the tale to paper the old-fashioned way; no typewriter, no word processor, just good old pen on paper.

Interestingly, he seemed somewhat discomfited by the attention he received from Singaporeans who had read the book and met him in person. I guess it was part of a past he had left behind when he moved to London eons ago where no one knew him or had read his book.

And now, 15 years after it was first published, the book has been adapted into a play by Alfian Sa'at entitled "Happy Endings: Asian Boys Vol. 3". The first performance will be tonight at 8pm. Am I excited? You bet. I have been waiting for it since I heard that it's going to be on stage.

Should you watch it? Of course. It's going to be a gay story with a happy ending. We already have too much of those usual tragic suicidal stuff that comes out of Hong Kong, Taiwan or China.

And even if you're not gay, it's more than just about sexuality. Gay or straight, our yearnings, our hopes, our wounds, our tears and fears are all the same. It all happens on a tiny little red dot.

Besides, this is the last gay play that Alfian will ever write; for the foreseeable future that it. So don't miss it lor.

Labels: art, lgbt, singapore