People of the Pear Tree is a 1993 novel by Eurasian Singaporean writer Rex Shelley, which tells the story of a Eurasian family, the Pereras, during the Japanese Occupation of Singapore and Malaya. [1] The book won a Highly Commended Award from the National Book Development Council of Singapore (NBDCS) in 1994. [2]
The Pear Tree of the story refers to the Eurasian Perera ("pear" in Portuguese) family, whose viewpoint the story takes. The younger generation of the Perera family moves from Singapore to a Eurasian colony near Bahau, where Augustine "Gus" Perera, a young man of twenty-one, is recruited by a group of British-backed Chinese communists fighting a guerrilla war against the Japanese invaders. Meanwhile, Gus's sister, the beautiful Anna, is courted by Japanese officer Junichiro Takanashi.
Pears are fruits produced and consumed around the world, growing on a tree and harvested in the Northern Hemisphere in late summer into October. The pear tree and shrub are a species of genus Pyrus, in the family Rosaceae, bearing the pomaceous fruit of the same name. Several species of pears are valued for their edible fruit and juices, while others are cultivated as trees.
As of June 2021, the population of Singapore stands at 5.45 million. Of these 5.45 million people, 4 million are residents, consisting of 3.5 million citizens and 500,000 permanent residents (PRs). The remaining 1.45 million people living in Singapore are classed as non-residents, a group consisting mainly of foreign students and individuals on work passes.
Otters are carnivorous mammals in the subfamily Lutrinae. The 13 extant otter species are all semiaquatic, aquatic, or marine, with diets based on fish and invertebrates. Lutrinae is a branch of the Mustelidae family, which also includes weasels, badgers, mink, and wolverines, among other animals.
Pyrus pyrifolia is a species of pear tree native to East Asia. The tree's edible fruit is known by many names, including: Asian pear, Japanese pear, Chinese pear, Korean pear, Taiwanese pear, apple pear, zodiac pear, three-halves pear, papple, naspati and sand pear. Along with cultivars of P. × bretschneideri and P. ussuriensis, the fruit is also called the nashi pear. Cultivars derived from Pyrus pyrifolia are grown throughout East Asia, and in other countries such as India, Nepal, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. Traditionally in East Asia the tree's flowers are a popular symbol of early spring, and it is a common sight in gardens and the countryside.
Eurasian Singaporeans are Singaporeans of mixed European and Asian descent. Their Asian ancestry trace from Colonial India to other colonies while their European ancestry trace back to western Europe primarily, although Eurasian settlers to Singapore in the 19th century came largely from other European colonies. These included British Malaya and British Sarawak, part of the former British Raj India, of the former Portuguese India and Chittagong, the Dutch East Indies and French Indochina. When the European maritime powers colonised Asian countries, such as Colonial India, Ceylon, Malaya, Singapore, Indonesia and Indochina, from the 16th to 20th centuries, they brought into being a new group of commingled ethnicities known historically as Eurasians.
Makgeolli, sometimes anglicized to makkoli, is a Korean alcoholic beverage. The milky, off-white, and lightly sparkling rice wine has a slight viscosity that tastes slightly sweet, tangy, bitter, and astringent. Chalky sediment gives it a cloudy appearance. As a low proof drink of six to nine percent alcohol by volume, it is often considered a "communal beverage" rather than hard liquor. In Korea, makgeolli is often unpasteurized, and the wine continues to mature in the bottle. Because of the short shelf life of unpasteurized "draft" makgeolli, many exported makgeolli undergo pasteurization, which deprives the beverage of complex enzymes and flavor compounds. Recently, various fruits such as strawberries and bananas are added to makgeolli to drink in new forms.
Patrick Kenneth Martin is an American professional wrestler and physical therapy clinician, better known by the ring name, Alex Shelley, makes appearances with Impact Wrestling, where he is a former one-time X Division Champion and two-time World Tag Team Champion.
The literature of Singapore comprises a collection of literary works by Singaporeans. It is written chiefly in the country's four official languages: English, Malay, Standard Mandarin and Tamil.
Sin Boon Ann is a Singaporean former politician. He was the Member of Parliament for Tampines GRC from 1997 to 2011, where he was replaced by then Minister of Education Heng Swee Keat.
"The Twelve Days of Christmas" is an English Christmas carol. A classic example of a cumulative song, the lyrics detail a series of increasingly numerous gifts given on each of the twelve days of Christmas. The carol, whose words were first published in England in the late eighteenth century, has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 68. A large number of different melodies have been associated with the song, of which the best known is derived from a 1909 arrangement of a traditional folk melody by English composer Frederic Austin.
Rex Anthony Shelley was a Singaporean author. A graduate of the University of Malaya in Malaysia and Cambridge trained in engineering and economics, Shelley managed his own business and also worked as member of the Public Service Commission (PSC) for over 30 years. For his service, he was conferred the Bintang Bakti Masyarakat by the Government of Singapore in 1978, and an additional Bar the next year.
Weeratunge Edward Perera MBE was a Malaysian Sinhalese educator, businessman and social entrepreneur. He brought some semblance of peace to Teluk Anson during its occupation by the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II and the Malayan Emergency that followed. W. E. Perera oversaw the restoration of water, electrical supplies, medical services and governance to Telok Anson after its invasion by Japanese forces following the withdrawal of the British forces to Singapore.
Island in the Centre is a 1995 novel by Eurasian Singaporean writer Rex Shelley, which tells the story of a Japanese, Nakajima Tomio, working in Malaya from the 1920s until the Japanese Occupation of Singapore and Malaya in the 1940s. The book won a Highly Commended Award from the National Book Development Council of Singapore (NBDCS) in 1994.
A River of Roses is the fourth novel by Singaporean Eurasian writer Rex Shelley, first published in 1998 by Times Book International. The novel was awarded the Dymocks Singapore Literature Prize in 2000.
The Shrimp People is a 1991 novel by Eurasian Singaporean writer Rex Shelley. The book won National Book Development Council of Singapore (NBDCS) Book Award in 1992.
Pyrus ussuriensis, also known as the Ussurian pear, Harbin pear, and Manchurian pear, is a species of flowering plant in the family Rosaceae.
This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 2015.
Victor Haim Perera was an author and journalist primarily concerned with Latin America and Sephardic Jewry. He was best known for his history of the Sephardic Jews, The Cross and The Pear Tree (1995), which traced the path of his own family from 15th-century Spain to 20th-century Guatemala.
Mahapatabadige Anthony Crisman Kivlojiyas Perera [Sinhala]), popularly as Anthony C. Perera, was an actor in Sri Lankan cinema and theater. One of the earliest pillars in Sri Lankan film history, Perera also worked as a singer, screenplay writer and director in his career that spanned more than four decades.