gone case: A. Someone or something which cannot be rectified or redeemed. B. Irredeemable, irreparable, not rectifiable, too far gone.
- from A Dictionary of Singlish and Singapore English
I came across Gone Case by chance at a bookstore. What caught my attention was the very local-sounding title. As expected, the contents are indeed very local, so this is a book Singaporeans can easily relate to. I’m not saying that a foreigner won’t be able to enjoy this. In fact, I think this is a good read for anyone (local or foreign) as the story speaks volumes about Singaporean society.
Set in a Housing Development Board (HDB) estate, Gone Case presents the experience of growing up in Singapore as seen through the eyes of a 12-year-old boy, Yong. Juggling school life and taking care of his younger sibling, Yong has to deal with family troubles, a gang in his neighborhood, infatuation, and challenges to a close friendship.
Dave Chua (writer) and Koh Hong Teng (illustrator) have accomplished an amazing job of letting readers feel the emotions of the characters. The narrative flows so well that I felt like I was watching a movie. A picture does indeed say a thousand words here as I enjoyed those moments when I could dwell on the details of each frame, often finding something close to my heart. Koh’s illustrations are detailed and clean, giving the reader enough room to digest everything in the frame, ultimately creating greater impact.
Though the narrative is a simple one, it is both powerful and moving, invoking memories and inviting us to reflect on our own relationships, which we sometimes take for granted.
Gone Case is based on Chua’s novel of the same name which won the Singapore Literature Prize Commendation Award in 1996. Highly recommended.
Contributed by Hwee Fang
2 comments
Pat says:
Jun 8, 2012
Alerted by Hwee Fang’s review, I checked out Book 1 (published: Dec 2010) & Book 2 (published: Oct 2011) of the ‘Gone Case’ illustrated novel from the library earlier this week, & managed to finish reading both books within a day.
Although the graphics are completely rendered in black-&-white, the details are richly, realistically & thoughtfully captured. Strongly infused with the distinct flavour of the S’pore heartland, the story focuses on the aspirations, trials & tribulations of the local middle to upper working class as exemplified by boy-protagonist Yong, his family & neighbours.
The language is definitely very Singlish, sprinkled with a heavy dose of Chinese dialect phrasings (particularly Cantonese). As such, I’m not sure if a foreigner would catch the nuances, or even really understand what is being said.
And at the end of the graphical experience, I pondered over who the “gone case” is supposed to refer to.
The 12-year-old Yong who is compelled by circumstances to behave like he is 32 ? The blissfully-unaware little brother who has yet to trade childhood innocence for dejected acceptance ? The debtor dad who doesn’t know to help Yong with his primary 6 maths homework ? The clearly-exhausted mum who appears to have experienced better times & prospects before her marriage ? Yong’s frustrated & rebellious best friend Liang ? Liang’s working-girl sister Zhen ? Their respective dysfunctional families ?
Or is every main character (& his/her private hopes) a hopeless “gone case” ?
The colour-rendered covers of the 2 books provide subtle clues that support the underlying story & its poignant overall message . The 2 covers are almost identical — save for a few superficial & ultimately insignificant differences. It is like a very quiet lament of how everything stays the same for certain sectors of the society, even though some (typically those comfortably sequestered in ivory towers) may loudly claim that things have supposedly improved, advanced, progressed, or [insert euphemism of choice].
And if these hapless middle to upper working class folks are “gone cases” in wealthy elitist S’pore, what about the largely-invisible underclass that is barely subsisting on the (deliberately-undefined) poverty line ? Therein lies the ultimate tragedy — that of the dysfunctional society at large.
Wan Ni says:
Jun 15, 2012
Hi Pat, your comment certainly got me thinking. I feel rather than deciding what is considered ‘gone case’ across the different groups in society at large, it seems to be ‘gone case’ is a term used within a group from one member to another as they deviate from what is the group norm. So in that sense, all groups will have some ‘gone case’ members. Hmm.