Scorpion Orchid

An exciting first novel set in pre-independence Singapore. Scorpion Orchid follows the lives of four young men—a Malay, an Eurasian, a Chinese and a Tamil—against a backdrop of racial violence and political factions struggling for dominance. Excerpts from classical Malay and colonial English sources appear throughout the narrative, illuminating the roots and significance of this period in history.

“Scorpion Orchid, as a first novel, is a work of rampant youth, a lyrical adventure into the pre-independence Singapore of social quakes, student sieges and race riots…you get the sense, not of human characters, but of great mythic rhythms, you hear the entrancing footfall of the multicultural legend which haunts the heart of the author.”
—New Straits Times

“A brave book in which Lloyd Fernando has crafted an imaginary, historically well-informed exploration of the meaning of independence for Singapore.”
—Asian Cultural Quarterly

“Addresses the difficulties and prospects of harmonising disparate cultures in an emerging postcolonial nation.”
—Asiatic