Move aside, Dan Brown, Singapore is going to pwn [that's when someone 'owns' you, for tech n00bs out there] your writing ass with a bestseller of our own, called Men in White: The Untold Story Of Singapore's Ruling Political Party.

In case you have been living under a rock (which the HDB would like to remind you is still a very affordable rock, and that the HDB has a rock for every budget. At every income level, there is a rock available, there is a choice whether it is new or resale, whether it is in the mature estate or non-mature estate), Men In White is a book published by Singapore Press Holdings, the guys who give us the Straits Times newspaper.

The book is, according to the very objective and balanced newspaper report in the newspaper SPH owns: "the story of the People's Action Party (PAP) through the voices of the victors and vanquished in their epic struggle for the hearts and minds of the people".

75percent of the 10,000 copies of this book were sold within the first four days of the book's launch.

Wow, that's impressive. Such good sales with only minor publicity from several days of full page excerpts and news coverage in their papers.

A friend told me that this book is also one of the fastest books to appear in the National Library. How's that for efficiency?

Following the success of the book Men In White, I suggest that more spin-off books be published.

Like Rich Men In White Dad, Poor Men in White Dad. This is the story of two fathers, one who is hardworking and poor, and another who is entrepreneurial and rich. The book will teach you the hidden secrets of the rich and their epic struggle to build a nation via flipping real estate and selling board games and self-help seminars.

Next in line is Harry Potter and the Men In White. In this book, Harry meets a wizard also named Harry who also has a lightning scar on his face. In an epic struggle, Harry Potter dies after pitting his magic against the latter Harry's massive brain and rapier wit in a political debate.

And may I also suggest The Men in White Code: Untold Stories of Angels, Demons and the Lost Lightning Symbol. Symbologist Robert Langdon discovers an epic struggle between factions of a ruling political party over the secret that the former Prime Minister was actually not a god and even got married and fathered a child.

And how can we not have a Bond book with all this political intrigue? James Bond returns in The Men in White Who Loved Me Because Tomorrow Never Dies Another Day When the World Was Not Enough.

Bond loses his licence to sleep with random women when he proposes a merger with Malaysia, and is forced to go undercover to clear his name, even though Double-M (who was promoted from M, to PM, to SM and then Double-M), tells him not to.

Since we are talking about epic struggles, a story like this surely cannot be just one measly 692-page volume. No! We must go fully epic!

Behold, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Men in White, and the rest of the trilogy, The Two Untold Towers and The Return of the King's Son.

Gandalf the Man in White leads his merry fellowship to retrieve The One Ring to rule Middle Road. Their epic struggle for the hearts and minds of the people ends in a huge battle at the city of Minus Tariff and features interviews with the victors and vanquished, like the leftist Saruman the Former Man in White, who now lives in exile in JB.

Finally, I would like to humbly suggest that a comic book be spun off from this epic book (did I mention the book is epic?) so that kids who don't like to read can look at pictures.

P for PAP will be a ten-issue comic book, sorry, graphic novel, featuring a mysterious protagonist, "P" who wears a Guy Fawkes mask.

In this fictional future, Singapore is ruled by a communist party and, "P", a social democrat with leanings towards neoliberalism and a free-market economy, schemes to bring it down.

Just before "P" releases his fireworks on National Day, he declares, "People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments love their people." Then "P" gets beaten up by the mob who does not understand what his Guy Fawkes mask means.

As you can see, there are all kinds of possibilities here. With a book like Men in White, we can have many more Untold Stories. I am personally writing on my own series, Men in White: Untold Singapore Ghost Stories.


About Mr Brown
mrbrown aka Mr Kin Mun LEE is the accidental author of the popular Singapore website, mrbrown.com, and has been documenting the dysfunctional side of Singapore life since 1997.

Affectionately known as the Blogfather of Singapore, his readers follow his writings closely, which these days range from current affairs, his family, and even his trips abroad.

Currently, mrbrown also hosts the mrbrown show (mrbrownshow.com), probably Singapore's best known comedy and satire podcast.

mrbrown is married to Ginny, his long-suffering wife for 12 years, and is father to three lovely kids, Faith,  Isaac and Joy.