Book Launch of The Sound of SCH

Launch of The Sound of SCH (new edition):

The Sound of SCH was first published when mental health was still a taboo subject. A pioneering work, it went on to win the Singapore Literature Prize and opened doors for more open conversations.

Now re-issued in an updated edition a decade later, the book returns at a time when mental health remains deeply relevant.

Join author Danielle Lim in conversation with moderator Margaret Ong as they discuss how writing and support around mental health have changed—and what more can be done. Come to listen, reflect, and care together.

About The Sound of SCH (new edition):

Can a life weave along through the same notes and yet come to play forth different sounds?

The Sound of SCH (pronounced S-C-H) is the true story of a journey with mental illness, beautifully told by Danielle Lim from a time when she grew up witnessing her uncle's untold struggle with a crippling mental and social disease, and her mother's difficult role as caregiver. The story takes place between 1961 and 1994, backdropped by a fast-globalising Singapore where stigmatisation of persons afflicted with mental illness nevertheless remains deep-seated. Unflinchingly raw and honest in its portrayal of living with schizophrenia, The Sound of Sch is a moving account of human resiliency and sacrifice in the face of brokenness.

A pioneer in mental health writing in Singapore, this new edition includes an updated Preface and Afterword.

About the Speakers:

Danielle Lim is an award-winning author of four books. The Sound of SCH won the Singapore Literature Prize 2016 (non-fiction), and has been translated to Chinese and Tamil for publication in Taiwan and India. Danielle’s first novel, Trafalgar Sunrise, was shortlisted for Best Literary Work in the Singapore Book Awards 2019. Her short story collection, And Softly Go the Crossings, won the Book of the Year as well as Best Literary Work in the Singapore Book Awards 2021. Her novel All Our Brave, Earthly Scars was published by Penguin Random House in 2022.

The Publishers Weekly (US) listed Danielle as one of Singapore’s top writers in 2016. She has been invited to speak at international events such as the Singapore Writers Festival, the Kimberley Writers Festival and the George Town Literary Festival. Her works have been featured in The Straits Times, BiblioAsia, The West Australian, as well as on radio—CNA938 and ABC Radio Australia. She has been interviewed on platforms such as Great People TV, The Brand Called You and the Quarterly Literary Review Singapore. Danielle is an alumna of the University of Oxford and resides in Singapore, where she is a lecturer.

Margaret Ong is an author, speaker and passionate advocate dedicated to redefining the narrative of mental health caregiving.
Her journey as a caregiver for her husband, which she chronicles in her two books, One Husband Two Men and Still My Husband, offers a unique and deeply personal look at the emotional complexities of loving a spouse transformed by illness. She has navigated a path from a feeling of obligation to a journey of resilience, all while still loving her two men. She aims to foster a more compassionate and understanding society, one narrative at a time.