SINGAPORE – Children can now get a peek into what happens in a presidential election with a new book featuring Ong Lai, a pineapple with self-esteem issues, and its friend Jambu Jane.
Titled Pineapple, Let’s Roll, the children’s book draws inspiration from the presidential election held in September 2023, at which economist and former Cabinet heavyweight Tharman Shanmugaratnam won a three-way race with 70.4 per cent of the vote.
It is written by award-winning author and journalist Peh Shing Huei, who was involved in Mr Tharman’s presidential election campaign.
For the hustings, President Tharman chose the pineapple as his campaign symbol and he was greeted with chants of “ong lai” wherever he went during the nine-day campaign.
Ong lai is the Hokkien word for pineapple.
The children’s story relates how Ong Lai overcomes his feelings of inferiority and runs for the head prefect’s post at the School of Fruits.
The tale touches on values such as respect, diversity and empathy that President Tharman espoused during his campaign.
In the book, Ong Lai the pineapple adopts the campaign slogan: Respect for all fruits.
The Nutgraf Books, the publisher of the book, said in a statement: “The book delicately addresses issues of self-esteem and self-worth, a crucial aspect of children’s development.
“The book goes further by educating children on the importance of a healthy diet by introducing various types of fruits, from popular options like rambutan and tangerine, to lesser-known ones such as huckleberry and yuzu.”
It is chock-full of references to the 2023 Presidential Election but the book adds a disclaimer that “all characters appearing in this work are clearly fictitious because fruits can’t talk”.
“Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental but also somewhat intentional,” it adds.
The book is neither authorised nor funded by the office of the President of the Republic of Singapore.
It is illustrated by illustrator and author Quek Hong Shin, who won the Hedwig Anuar Children’s Book Award (Picture Book Category) in May. The award, named after the first Singaporean director of the National Library, is presented biennially and recognises outstanding published works by local writers and illustrators.
The book will be launched on July 11 at the National Library Building by Singapore’s ambassador-at-large, Professor Tommy Koh.
It costs $18 and is available at all major bookshops and online on the Nutgraf website.
