BooksActually Expose

Singapore Unbound released our public statement on BooksActually this morning. Below are my own personal reflections on the revelations that emerged last weekend.

Like many of us, I'm still processing the news. My heart goes out to the women who had to endure the ill treatment and have now so bravely told their stories. I believe them, and I wish for them justice and healing, however difficult it seems right now.

I have a professional, not personal, relationship with Kenny Leck, the owner of BooksActually. He published two of my early books, and I have done readings in the past at the Tiong Bahru bookstore. I have only spoken with Renee, his ex-wife, at the bookstore when she worked there. I have heard from a writer closer to him about Kenny's divorce due to his philandering ways, but I had not known how young and vulnerable were the women that he hit on.

Thinking back now, I should have been more alert to the unequal power dynamics at the store, which I visited often on my trips to Singapore. I wrongly gave Kenny a pass, not only because he was doing so much for Singapore literature, but also because he seemed to be working as hard as his employees with as little monetary reward. Both reasons are not good enough reasons for not paying one's employees, but like many in the literary community, I was blinded by the romance of an indie bookstore fighting against the odds. When I heard of BooksActually's cash-flow problems, I could have raised questions about employee compensation. I did not.

For these mistakes, I owe Renee and the other women an apology. I do not know when and where I will meet them again, but I hope they will let me apologize to them in person some day.

Kenny has admitted to personal failings and apologized for the harm done to certain people. He has taken the first step of restitution by turning over his company to the current team, a step that I hope will be carried through fairly and honestly. I hope his closer friends will persuade him to seek help.

 
September 28, 202

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