Siva Choy: The Life of a Singaporean Legend

Best known as the writer and performer of the smash-hit comedy album ‘Why U So like dat?’, Siva Choy was a multi-talented musician, journalist, stand-up comedian, movie actor, and teacher.

From schoolboy pop music sensation to down-to-earth movie star, this intimate and revealing book paints an affectionate portrait of Siva throughout the course of a life filled with pioneering artistic endeavour.

‘Siva Choy: The Life of a Singaporean Legend’ pays tribute to the man who has been variously described as the ‘Grandfather of Singlish comedy’, one of ‘Singapore’s Everly Brothers’, a key member of ‘The Beatles of Singapore’, as well as the ‘Godfather of the Singapore blues scene.’ But who was the man behind the media labels?

Drawing on personal archives, interviews, and over forty years of his private letters and audio recordings (exclusively reproduced here for the first time), Siva will frequently speak for himself as he describes in his own words an astonishingly eventful life of creative achievement, travel, and adventure.

By turns warm, wise, moving, and often very funny, his letters bring to light the kind and thoughtful man who was sometimes hidden behind the public performer. They provide an insight into his life beyond the glare of the spotlight, his unique humour, his humanity and deep concern for others, as well as his wider interests in the world away from the stage.

His letters also reveal key insights into the deeply thoughtful man who would go on to make his own very unique contribution to the cultural heritage of the region. We learn of the inspiration behind some of his most famous ‘Why U So like dat? sketches, his career highs and lows in advertising, and the decisions that lay behind his eventual move to Perth in Western Australia.

Combining extensively researched biography with deeply personal memoir, the book charts in intimate detail Siva’s formative young life in Singapore, his school days, teenage pop music career, university years and early forays into journalism. His life-changing decision to head for Europe as a young man and his five years in London and the Netherlands are explored in depth.

It is while living in Amsterdam that Siva conceives of an audacious plan to cycle back to Singapore, a journey of over 25,000 km.

This mad-cap bicycle escapade, undertaken with Siva’s typical last-minute do-or-die enthusiasm and filled with narrow escapes, comedy, and high drama, is described here in detail by the author, who accompanied Siva on that perilous year-long overland adventure.

At its heart, this is the story of one man’s remarkable journey through an event-filled life, one which embodies the enduring power of friendship across many decades of triumphs and moments of tragedy.

Told with affection, honesty, and candour, it traces Siva’s surprising road from the shy school boy who became a chart-topping pop star, to his years of travel and the struggle to forge his own inimitable path to stardom.

Discover the writer and performer behind one of the most successful and ground-breaking Singlish comedy albums of all time, the man who was also the creator of the classic ‘Kitchi Boy’ stories, as well as a down-to-earth blues legend and inspiring English teacher.

An illuminating read for anyone wanting to know more about the fascinating inside story behind one of Singapore’s most influential and sadly missed cultural icons.

Contains twenty rarely or never-before-seen photographs.

The book has recently been published in Singapore on Amazon.sg and is available either in paperback or as an e-book and can be read on any Kindle device, tablet, or smartphone.

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