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Escape from Paradise - Banned in Singapore
No longer available in Singapore bookstores thanks to threats from Helen Yeo, wife of Singapore Cabinet Minister Yeo Cheow Tong. She had no court order and no legal basis for her action. Banned by the whim of an influential individual, and not by the law! Escape from Paradise has also been withdrawn from Singapore's National Library. (It is available in libraries outside of Singapore, including The British Library in London.)
Read about Helen Yeo's attack on Escape from Paradise in Singapore Justice, and in
The Banning of Escape from Paradise by Helen Yeo
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Escape from Paradise
Amazon's #1 best seller for four years in Singapore, where it has been banned - a woman’s escape from an arranged marriage in Singapore. She comes from the flamboyant Tiger Balm family; her wealthy husband from Brunei with CIA connections .
The difficulties May Chu encountered with corrupt lawyers and judges in Singapore made her divorce extremely difficult. This was further complicated by the wealth of her ex-husband, the owner of X10, the company behind those bothersome pop-up ads on the Internet.
The adventure takes place in Singapore, Brunei, Australia, England, and the United States, and touches on some powerful people in Singapore, as well as CIA agent Dan Arnold, and the United Kingdom's former Lord Chancellor Alexander Irvine.
From its first paragraph, Escape from Paradise draws the reader into the ambiance of a cosmopolitan Asia never touched upon by any other book ...
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CENSORSHIP IS ALIVE AND WELL IN SINGAPORE!
John Austin reviews Escape from Paradise in September issue of
Hollywood Inside Syndicate
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Singapore's Today newspaper
 Escape from Paradise was featured on the front page of the December 2, 2002 edition of Singapore's Today newspaper. Click to read.
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The Singapore Women's Weekly
An article about Escape from Paradise was published in the October 2002 issues of The Singapore Women's Weekly and The Malaysian Women's Weekly.
Click for PDF.
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Escape from Paradise destroys X10
by exposing its scam.
Oct 2003: X10, the company belonging to the bully in Escape from Paradise, lost a $4.3 million lawsuit for bullying!
In an emerging scandal, X10 has now filed for bankruptcy, owing an estimated $50 million to 200 creditors, including Microsoft and Google! X10's parent company is in Hong Kong, and owned by a front in Bermuda.
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Honors
Escape from Paradise in its Fall 2002 Edition
More about
Escape from Paradise!
Independent Newspapers
Click for the book's
Press Kit (PDF)
Bookstores! Escape from Paradise is distributed by The Ingram Group (US) Bertrams (UK), Whitaker (UK), Baker & Taylor (Asia), and Bowker's Books in Print
©2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 IDKPress
Disclaimer
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“It took me two and a half evenings to complete your un-put-downable book...it is a unique contribution to the appreciation of a life in Singapore. Thank you for having written it.” C. V. Devan Nair, former President of Singapore.
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“It is a remarkable story and so full of intrigue that it reads at times like fiction.” Jonathan Burnham, Editor in Chief & President, Talk Miramax Books.
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| “It's quite a story ” The legendary Alice Mayhew, Vice-President & Editorial Director, Simon & Schuster. |
“Bought the book from Select this weekend and can't put it down! It's a great read! And so nostalgic for me—the good old days!”
Glen Goei, writer and director of the Miramax film That's the Way I Like It and who played the title role opposite Anthony Hopkins in the London production of M. Butterfly. Mr. Goei's latest film is The Blue Mansion - Click for the trailer! |
“This book out-Dallas, Dallas. No one has written so well of the other side of paradise,” Francis T. Seow, former Solicitor General of Singapore -
Mr. Seow's Review.. |
“I enjoyed tremendously (reading more than 3 times) “Escape from Paradise” In our former solicitor general Francis Seow's words - an unstoppable reading and beats “Dallas.”
It's the most interesting book I've ever read, because the characters were so REAL, and having grown up in good old Singapore during the 50's much of what is in the book, places and people, brings vivid memories to me. It's so nostalgic.
I'm amazed that May Chu had the courage, which sadly most people lack, to write the way she did. It's a biography. And a great lesson to all of us - that wealth is meaningless - that authority is a sham - that what they say are just an eyewash to what they actually do.
How I wish more writers would write like her! My special tribute to May Chu and John Harding.”
Raymond W. (April 25, 2009)
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“...As a Singaporean I strongly identified with your book because it was so real to me. Never have I felt that level of connection with any other book. I was rivetted from the start to the finish. Your book held my attention captive and for me it falls into the category of books which are "unputdownable". ”
Jeanette (Sept. 13, 2008) |
“I received your book in the mail yesterday and I finished it in a day
It was a wonderful wonderful book.
Thank you for writing it.
Can I ask if you are writing another book about your family. I couldn't get enough of your first book. Can you please write another few books about you and your family life and I would not hesitate to buy all of them.
Your life was really fascinating and teaches younger adults like me a lot about marriage and life in Singapore.
Please let me know when you will be introducing your next book about your family.
Your loyal reader,”
Li (August 19, 2008)
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“I read this book. I could not put it down even for a minute.
Read this book, because one learn so much from it.
I wish a Movie can be made out of it. It breaks away from the type-casting of all people. ”
Amazon review, Tammy (AZ, USA) |
“Charming. I love this book, completed it in a day!”
Amazon review, Teng Kie Zin (Singapore) |
“Brilliant Book! Just can't stop reading!”
Amazon review, WL Soul (Singapore) |
“Dear May Chu and John:
I have perhaps read the book at least 5 times. It is a very gripping story and leaves me rooting for you and feeling really happy that you managed to score a victory and leave all the bad memories behind.
What fascinated me too were the stories about the past and I really enjoyed the pictures. Would you be putting any pictures up on the website? Old pictures of the yesteryears and so on?
Thank you once again for the fantastic book. Will there be a sequel?
Yours Sincerely,”
Elodie
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“Singapore Confidential at its Best.” Barnes and Noble.
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| “It's Un-putdownable!” Jacob George, Singapore Activist & Writer
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“It's a well written book. When I start reading it, I couldn't put the book down.
May Chu, who lives in Singapore shares her personal life, and speaks about her experience with the legal system in Singapore. John, her now husband helped her through all this ordeal. If this review doesn't help. Check their website out ... I highly recommend it to everyone. Especially to woman who are interested to learn more about woman's rights.” Amazon reviewer: Elaine A. from Seattle, WA |
“And this story, of the underside of paradise, has stories within stories as a woman manages to break free from a web of wealth and power in the dictatorship of Singapore and escape to America where the word 'freedom' takes on special meaning...She comes up against the Singapore legal system -- which may be legal, but its has a lot of hidden agendas...Americans have a saying: luck is a lady. And this lady and her subsequent husband have written a somber, very human tale of a woman's remarkable journey.”
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| The ex-husband, Hin Chew Chung, who is spending a fortune on those annoying X-10 pop-up ads your getting on the Internet. He was detained by the Brunei police for one full year. The revelations of Escape from Paradise derailed X10's NASDAQ IPO.
In October 2003, X-10 lost a $4.3 million lawsuit for failure to pay, and for "bullying" a supplier. X-10 has now filed for bankruptcy!
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Where did Hin Chew get all the money? He probably got it from his father, Brunei tycoon, S. P. Chung. S. P.'s ranch in Australia was bigger than the entire state of Rhode Island! He even managed to attend a party with George Bush Sr. in Washington.
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S. P. Chung has a connection with Dan Arnold, ex-CIA Chief of Station in Thailand, now a Washington lobbyist representing Burma, and ex-campaign worker for George Bush, Sr.
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The Chungs had dealings with the Sultan of Brunei, who "detained" the ex-husband in Brunei for a year, while father, S. P. Chung, was on the run.
"Pehin Isa, a tall, handsome, and friendly man, dressed traditionally, welcomed us into his immense house... "
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The current Lord Chancellor of England, Lord Irvine was hired by ex-husband, Hin Chew, to sort things out. This was immediatly after the meeting with CIA's Dan Arnold. Derry Irvine was a Queen's Counsel then, and pal of Tony Blair & wife. Did he and pal, QC Richard Field, have CIA connections?
Was Derry Irvine's firing due to revelations in Escape from Paradise?
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May Chu's father, Jackie Lee, was wanted by the Singapore police for fleeing Singapore, vanishing with his millions. He's an heir to the Tiger Balm fortune. He lost it all.
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Jackie Lee used the law firm of Helen Yeo, wife of former Singapore Cabinet Minister Yeo Cheow Tong, (now fired, thanks, in part to our book) to sell his Singapore properties for millions, while his divorce from his wife was still in progress. (Friends in high places?)
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Jackie Lee did all this to avoid paying his beautiful wife, Mabel, her million dollar divorce settlement. (Here's Mabel, in Singapore, with movie star, Cliff Robertson.)
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In the midst of the turmoil, on a trip to Los Angeles, out pops the "Movie Star."
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