SINGAPORE – Comics author James Suresh found himself reminiscing about his teenage years while researching and writing vignettes for his newest book, Singapore In The 70s.

Nearly a decade after his last book, Singapore In The 60s (2015), this new illustrated comic focuses on the decade when Suresh was a teenager.

Told in vignettes accompanied by illustrations from his long-time collaborator Syed Ismail, the book takes a comedic approach to remembering the past.

The 68-year-old tells The Straits Times via a phone call: “Singapore In The 60s was a book I pitched for Singapore’s 50th anniversary as a celebration of what the country was like 50 years ago. It was harder to recall because I was in primary school then and had to ask my elder siblings to get my facts right, as well as researching the decade.”

Following the release of Singapore In The 60s, he was asked if he would ever write one about the 1970s. The idea ruminated in the back of his mind until the Covid-19 pandemic offered him the opportunity to begin the necessary research.

In 2022, he began working on Singapore In The 70s with Syed and Suki Chong as the book’s designer, both of whom he has collaborated with for more than 20 years.

The jovial author says: “It’s a lot easier to remember the 1970s because I was a teenager. It was an exciting time – the economy was growing, there were job opportunities, the pop culture, rock scene and long hair were all happening at this time. I wanted younger people to know that Singapore was quite wild back then.”

The trip down memory lane is broken up into five sections – his secondary school education; what entertainment looked like then; celebrities and Singaporean personalities; his time in national service (NS); and milestones or major events in Singapore.

Of the things he misses most from that decade, Suresh says: “I think local musicians did quite well in the 1970s. We had a lot of local music and some of them had followings in Malaysia and other parts of Asia. They would get fan mail from Japan and there were successes such as singer Anita Sarawak, who went to Las Vegas and performed there for 18 years.”

Other things he misses include house parties with friends, drive-in cinemas, picnics on the beach and amusement parks such as New World and Great World, along with Wonderland Amusement Park.

Among his favourite vignettes and illustrations are the ones depicting his days in NS, particularly the one where a soldier is yelling “pay correct sir” after being given his cash pay in an envelope.

Having primarily self-published his work over the past three decades, Suresh is familiar with the challenges of trying to be a full-time author.

As co-creator of the Mr Kiasu series (1990 to 1999; 2017 to present) with Johnny Lau, the two were full-time writers for the comics until Suresh left in 1996 and Lau quit in 1999. The series was rebooted by Lau in 2017.

After leaving Mr Kiasu, Suresh became a corporate trainer, a career he enjoys to this day.

The reality, he says, is that the literary industry in Singapore is not yet conducive for full-time authors. Many will have to rely on day jobs like he does, while dedicating downtime to their passion of writing and storytelling.

“Corporate training pays the bills and gives me enough time to write books I like. It’s difficult for any author today to rely fully on writing as a means of living, and it’s no fun if you’re struggling,” he adds.

While he has no plans to write a book about Singapore in the 1980s, he remains open to the idea if research provides him with interesting material. For now, he is happy to recount his youth in the pages of Singapore In The 70s.

“This particular book is an opportunity for older people like me to tell stories. I hope that those who buy these books use them to elaborate on or tell stories to their children and grandchildren too,” Suresh says.

• Singapore In The 70s ($19.90) by James Suresh and illustrated by Syed Ismail is available at Kinokuniya (str.sg/JXkXS).