Boh Beh Zhao

SGD 20.90

Poetry • 104 pages
Published Apr 2025

Poems by Cheng Him

“I finally can understand poetry. It is written as it should be—in Singlish… to see it in this form is nothing short of brilliant.”—Gurmit Singh

“Cheng Him’s poems draw from a jukebox pastiche of references and memories—Mandopop lyrics, Hokkien folk songs, children’s games, Buddhist sutras, everyday expressions, and a Marx quote comprise the various epigraphs that begin the poems. Together, these fragments of linguistic flotsam assemble into an image of a diasporic Singaporean Chinese cultural milieu, caught in swirling tides of language and culture in a nation constantly wracked by transformation.”—SUSPECT

Cheng Him’s explosive debut poetry collection is a narrative-in-poems exploring the inner psyche of the mythical Singaporean Ah Seng, made prismatic through the lens of Buddhism and mid-2010s clubbing fervour. 

From the tumultuous days of his childhood to the wayward hurricane of his youth, Boh Beh Zhao charts the trajectory of someone wandering through life as though it has no beginning or conceivable end, and plots his eventual landing into the barren fields of the latter. Hop onboard Ah Seng’s chaotic journey and ask yourself: what does it mean to live life so fast that all else seems to stand still?

📌 Boh Beh Zhao by Cheng Him is also available as an e-book at Kobo, Google Play and other retailers: Amazon US, Apple US
📌 Enter discount code IDESERVEIT for orders over $50 to get free local shipping.

Poetry • 104 pages
Published Apr 2025

Poems by Cheng Him

“I finally can understand poetry. It is written as it should be—in Singlish… to see it in this form is nothing short of brilliant.”—Gurmit Singh

“Cheng Him’s poems draw from a jukebox pastiche of references and memories—Mandopop lyrics, Hokkien folk songs, children’s games, Buddhist sutras, everyday expressions, and a Marx quote comprise the various epigraphs that begin the poems. Together, these fragments of linguistic flotsam assemble into an image of a diasporic Singaporean Chinese cultural milieu, caught in swirling tides of language and culture in a nation constantly wracked by transformation.”—SUSPECT

Cheng Him’s explosive debut poetry collection is a narrative-in-poems exploring the inner psyche of the mythical Singaporean Ah Seng, made prismatic through the lens of Buddhism and mid-2010s clubbing fervour. 

From the tumultuous days of his childhood to the wayward hurricane of his youth, Boh Beh Zhao charts the trajectory of someone wandering through life as though it has no beginning or conceivable end, and plots his eventual landing into the barren fields of the latter. Hop onboard Ah Seng’s chaotic journey and ask yourself: what does it mean to live life so fast that all else seems to stand still?

📌 Boh Beh Zhao by Cheng Him is also available as an e-book at Kobo, Google Play and other retailers: Amazon US, Apple US
📌 Enter discount code IDESERVEIT for orders over $50 to get free local shipping.

ISBN 978-981-94-1549-6 (paperback)
ISBN 978-981-94-1574-8 (ebook)

First edition, 2025
First published in 2025 by AFTERIMAGE
the publishing arm of Sing Lit Station Ltd
22 Dickson Road, #02-01, Singapore 209506, Singapore

  • (b. 1995) is from Singapore. Their work has previously been published in Strange Horizons, the Willows Wept Review, the Kindling, the Quarterly Literary Review Singapore, and the Neuro Logical, amongst a number of other publications. 

    By a stroke of divine providence, Cheng Him was awarded an honourable mention in English Poetry for the 2023 Golden Point Award. Sadly, attempts to buy 4D and TOTO using numbers found at the award ceremony did not yield any substantial rewards. 

    Cheng Him is descended from Cantonese, Hainanese, and Hakka migrants, from sailors, property agents, provision store proprietors at Bras Basah, and herb-drying medicine makers from Choa Chu Kang. They are nominally a Budhhist with sprinklings of Taoism, and also a graduate of Singapore Polytechnic and Yio Chu Kang Secondary School.