If we dream too long by Seng, Goh Poh - 1972

Singapore: Island Press, 1972. 177p., very good hardcover first edition in very good pictorial dj, with light rubbing or soil to some edges of the dj. Warmly inscribed by the author about twenty years after publication, in Vancouver BC. Hailed as Singapore's "first modern novel," this work was completed in 1968 but did not see print until the author himself founded Island Press as a venue for publication. Received with indifference by critics of the time, the passage of years has brought it increasingly positive attention. In 2015 critic Akshita Nanda of the Straits Times ranked it as one of Singapore's top ten classic novels: "Widely considered the first true Singaporean novel, it should be enjoyed for the lightness of its prose and the wit and insight of the author.