Ooi Kee Beng calls his short essays or opinion pieces creative nonfiction.
This book, Passing Glimpses of the Present (2026), is a collection of his short essays previously published in local magazines and foreign newspapers.
I find them lightweight and a breeze to read. Nothing taxing on the brain or time. Read if you have the time.
Is China a Menacing Empire by Toh Han Shih (2025) is a book by a Singaporean business journalist.
He dissects, inter alia, whether China was laying debt traps when it gave bank loans to nations, as alleged by US politicians like VP Michael Pence and Secretary of State Pompeo.
I find his analysis meandering. Anyone worth his salt won’t buy such nonsensical statements.
The book would benefit from tighter editing. The facts presented are impressive, but the conclusions in each chapter are unclear.