SINGAPORE - How do you write a book about Singapore's Covid-19 journey when the story, so to speak, is still unfolding?

Journalists from The Straits Times (ST) grappled with this challenge while working on In This Together: Singapore's Covid-19 Story, a 352-page book chronicling the first two years of the pandemic.

The project began in August 2020, with publication originally scheduled for the middle of last year.

But twists and turns in the pandemic, such as the arrival of the Delta variant, meant interviews had to be redone and chapters rewritten.

After being delayed three times, the book has hit the shelves and made its debut at No. 1 on The Sunday Times bestsellers list for non-fiction.

It is published by Straits Times Press and edited by executive editor Sumiko Tan.

It aims to pay tribute to front- liners - such as healthcare workers, public servants and those in essential services - and document a period in Singapore's history for future generations, Ms Tan says.

The project involved contributions from people across the newsroom - not just the writers, who interviewed more than 300 people, but also copy editors, sub-editors, transcribers, graphic artists, book designers, proof checkers, photographers and more.

Ms Tan adds: "Is it corny to say just how the newsroom was also in this together?"

The Straits Times speaks to 15 people who helped bring the book to life.

Ms Sumiko Tan, 58, executive editor

Book editor

Biggest takeaway: That fact is stranger than fiction. Never did I imagine I would live in an era of a global pandemic and witness the sort of surreal scenes we saw.

Biggest challenge: The biggest challenge was a technical one - whether we do a picture- or text-heavy book. For photos to look good, the book has to be in a large format. But if it is too big, heavy and wide, it won't be easy to read.

We discussed this at length, took out our rulers and did many mock-ups to test the weight of different types of paper.

We came up with a configuration that, we hope, has allowed us to tell the Covid-19 story in both words and beautiful photos.

Mr Timothy Goh, 28, health correspondent

Writer

Biggest takeaway: While Singapore's response to Covid-19 has appeared very calm and smooth, it was only through the various interviews that I realised the huge, huge amount of effort that went on quietly behind the scenes to ensure we could get through the crisis, and how close we came at certain points to ending up with a much worse outcome.

Biggest challenge: When we started working on the book, there was an unspoken feeling that Covid-19 had been beaten.

When the number of cases started rising again last year, we had to redo the interviews, re-angle stories and re-check all our information multiple times - and each time when we thought we could publish the book, cases would rise again and the cycle would repeat itself. It was a very, very long and tedious process.

Mr Lock Hong Liang, 45, creative director of Straits Times Press

Book designer

Biggest takeaway: Magic happens when everyone in a team shares the same goal of seeing a meaningful project through to its completion against all odds.

It's an indescribable sentiment when you see the book honour the lives of real people whose personal stories, losses, triumphs and sacrifices we have committed ourselves to telling and preserving.

Biggest challenge: Having to work intensely together yet not often in the same physical space, where we could easily brisk-walk to one another's work stations, look at master files on the same screen and make changes to the pages directly.

Ms Joanna Lim, 47, senior executive sub-editor

Book sub-editor

Biggest takeaway: Covid-19 has profoundly changed the lives of people, striking even when one least expects it to. Hearing the stories while working on this book has led me to re-evaluate what I want to do with my time.

Biggest challenge: As the project stretched over more than a year and the Covid-19 situation was changing rapidly, the challenge was ensuring that the information from different writers was kept updated.

Mr Lim Yan Liang, 35, assistant political editor

Writer

Biggest takeaway: The sheer scale of the efforts - public, private, community - that were undertaken to contend with the pandemic and deal with its effects.

Hearing directly from key decision-makers such as Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean and Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen really brought home to me how much was unknown in the early days, and how policymakers had to draw from everything in their arsenal - be it past experience, global practices or literally from the reserves - and still they had to be able to make adjustments on the fly.

Biggest challenge: The constantly evolving virus and the new challenges it kept throwing up meant we were essentially writing two books. The first dealt with the first year of the pandemic up to the point where we were starting to roll out vaccines en masse. While none of the ministers we spoke to in late 2020 or early last year expected the pandemic to come to a quick end, some were quietly confident that we had turned a major corner in the fight. Of course, that just showed the capacity for Covid-19 to constantly surprise us.

Ms Sally Lam, 53, senior executive designer

Book designer

Biggest takeaway: Understanding the impact of the virus.

Biggest challenge: The start-stop changes during the project due to the uncertainty of the Covid-19 situation, as these disturbed the team's momentum while designing the book.

Ms Chang Ai-Lien, 51, associate news editor

Writer

Biggest takeaway: What stood out is how so many people here rose to this unprecedented challenge - with nerves of steel and hearts of gold.

Biggest challenge: The mercurial nature of the virus and its longevity meant that the book had to evolve along with it. Some of the people we interviewed left their jobs and, sadly, one died before she was able to see it.

Mr Lim Yaohui, 39, executive photojournalist

Photographer

Biggest takeaway: The virus is out there and we do not know who may be infected with it. I have to be careful and observe good personal hygiene when I am out shooting my assignments.

If I feel unwell, I do an antigen rapid test straight away and see a doctor if necessary. If everyone acts responsibly, we will be able to keep the number of Covid-19 cases down and reduce the load on our healthcare workers.

Biggest challenge: For the photographs I took inside Singapore General Hospital's isolation wards with Covid-19 patients and the Emergency Department, I had to be careful to keep a distance so that I would not get in the doctors' and nurses' way.

I also had to shoot in a way that no one could identify the patient.

Mr Lee Hup Kheng, 58, art editor

Infographics editor

Biggest takeaway: To have played a part in presenting stories about the greatest war of mankind, against one common enemy, and the drama that unfolded within each passing chapter in Singapore.

Biggest challenge: For the design team, the biggest challenge was to work on a book that carries a bag of emotions, from triumphs to tragedies, using carefully chosen visual tools such as design, graphics and illustrations.

Ms Stephanie Yeow, 51, picture editor

Photo editor

Biggest takeaway: It is really hard work putting a book of this magnitude together. But I also realised how mammoth the task was and still is for a government to manage this pandemic well. It is not easy to control a virus like this and this book tells exactly what went on behind the scenes, which members of the public would never know... unless they read this book.

Biggest challenge: We have amassed a huge collection of Covid-19-related images over the past two years as our photographers are shooting what we call "Covid generics" every day. These are photos of anything relating to Covid-19, be it safe management stickers, queues, checking in and out of establishments - you name it, we have probably shot it. My task was to find the gems amid the jewellery and immortalise them in this all-important book.

Ms Lee Hui Chieh, 42, publishing editor of Straits Times Press

Book sub-editor

Biggest takeaway: The book brought home the fact that so many people have been striving so hard, at significant sacrifice and risk, to keep Singapore safe and going strong despite the pandemic. I feel grateful for all these efforts and fortunate to be living in Singapore.

Biggest challenge: Having to keep up with the rapid developments in the pandemic and the countermeasures was challenging.

Ms Sharon Loh, 55, copy editor

Book copy editor

Biggest takeaway: Singapore knew very early that it had to scrap for everything it needed - from masks to hand sanitisers to vaccines. Unsung procurement agents went directly to sources to buy what we needed.

Then there was the vaccine expert panel that must have had ice in their veins as they trawled through huge amounts of data on vaccine candidates. They did this while trials were ongoing, so they could place their bets on what they thought was most promising. At the risk of getting it wrong - though it turned out to be right - Singapore wanted to get in the queue early for a vaccine and not be caught flat-footed.

Biggest challenge: How to tell a story that many Singaporeans already knew so much about, and were probably heartily sick of.

In addition to the exclusive interviews the authors had, we wanted to convey, as viscerally as we could, the human experience behind the bald facts. The other thing was how to write it so that it wasn't self-congratulatory, but a faithful account of events.

Ms Karamjit Kaur, 51, news editor

Writer

Biggest takeaway: That there are no easy answers to how to deal with Covid-19, with so many factors at play. Which is more important? Lives or livelihoods? From our chats with the multi-ministry task force co-chairs, it is clear this is something they grapple with every day.

Even when decisions are made, it is not always possible to say with 100 per cent certainty if it was the right call. That is part of the challenge in dealing with a virus that continues to mutate and develop.

Biggest challenge: Writing amid an ever-changing landscape is tough. You don't know if what you say today will still be relevant the week or month after.

This meant that we had to go back to the multi-ministry task force co-chairs and other people we approached for the book more than once to update comments and quotes. All complied willingly and we are thankful for that.

Mr Rahul Pathak, 60, associate editor

Book copy editor

Biggest takeaway: Normal rules have not applied during the pandemic. Meticulous planning and even robust execution have not meant you are safe, though being careless has certainly got you in trouble.

It struck me as I went through the stories that with our knowledge always lagging behind the evolving virus, there was a large element of luck that decided who got hit and who escaped. It was very humbling.

Biggest challenge: We were trying to capture a story that was still unfolding and kept taking unexpected twists. That's why several chapters had to be revised more than once because they got overtaken by fresh developments.

Mr Rohit Brijnath, 59, assistant sports editor

Writer

Biggest takeaway: Journalists, it's been said, produce the first draft of history and, really, this is what the book is. A hundred years from now when a young person wants to understand the impact of Covid-19 on Singapore, it is this book, hopefully, which he or she will reach for.

Biggest challenge: Remembering you are writing a story, or editing one, for a book and not the newspaper. And so you must write it in a way which, you hope, won't feel dated or dull even if you read it years later.

You're also trying to find a balance, ensuring that the small human details don't get lost while charting the enormity of the challenge. And I think Sumiko, editor of the book, has managed to deftly accomplish that.