Blue Moon

Joshua Parapuram

Silverfish Books 2004; RM30

The years of indoctrination about some sort of higher meritocracy in everything south of the Causeway as compared to things on 'the other side' had created in the young National Servicemen a false confidence that bled to death in the mud and the blast craters.

The back cover of this book optimistically sets the stage for this book: "In his 'cautionary tale', Joshua Parapuram dares to think the unthinkable and teases us with his wicked sense of humour. This is a serious story but one can't help but notice Parapuram's tongue firmly planted in his cheek throughout."

This is a story set in the very near future describing what happens when the relationship between Malaysia and Singapore deteriorates. Singapore's new visionary leadership gets somewhat uppity over threats from Putrajaya to turn the tap off.

What ensues is a calculated combat operation that starts out as friendly as the Canadian civil war but ends up escalating into a full-out, full-on war. This book attempts to merge fiction with current events ala Tom Clancy Jr . You'll need a lengthy suspension of disbelief to get through this one, but it's an interesting novel nonetheless.