A powerful story of young love and idealism set in Singapore in the 1960s, a time of political uncertainties and economic insecurity.

Young, passionate and idealistic, Sister Marie rejects the conformity of her first love, a Singaporean police inspector, and embraces the liberalism of her second love, an American missionary. Fresh into university, she leads a group of students to question the values of a nation gripped by fear of the government and loss of their rice bowl. They organise a protest march against the Vietnam War, which leads to a riot, detention and deportation of the workers they try to help. In the midst of this, a student meets a tragic death, while a lecturer and a suspected Communist agent provocateur goes crazy in his attempts to radicalise the students-workers’ movement.

“I have been struck by the sheer power and force of this short, exciting and absorbing book. Rice Bowl is a tour de force. Any reader experiencing this dramatic narrative of shattered dreams and realised hopes will be compelled to re-examine his/her values for Rice Bowl is a book which demands our personal and honest engagement.” — Dr Kirpal Singh, writer, critic, scholar