For this episode I spoke to Charmaine Leung author of 17A Keong Saik Road: A Personal Story. Her memoir recalls a childhood in 1970s Chinatown when it was a prominent red light district in Singapore, and takes its name from the address of the brothel that her mother used to run. The book starts with Charmaine's mother coming to Singapore as a young child after being sold by her birth parents, and weaves together an intimate family portrait with the broader history of Keong Saik's transformation from the 1930s up to the present day. I learnt about a lesser-known part of Singapore's history, traditional customs and even some of the requirements of running a brothel successfully. But what shines through most of all is the resilience of the women whose lives are chronicled, as they persevered through immense challenges towards a better future. Links to all of the topics we cover can be found in the show notes at https://henryyorke.com/podcast/