#QBMCSG10: The Gigolo Murder by Mehmet Murat Somer

We are celebrating 10 years of QBMC this 2019 twentybiteen with a throwback to past books, movies, and a couple of exciting socials!

Moderator: Vicky
Attendees: Alexius, Rachel, Ron, Dorcas, Malcolm Sunny, Jason, Raj, Asy, Darren, Zoe, Clement, Timmy

Thank you to dearest Raj “Ponpon” for the wonderful spread of Turkish delights! All of us were definitely delighted (heh heh) with the delicious morsels. “Come for the book club, stay for the food,” Timmy declared.

A summary of the book by moderator Vicky started the discussion, highlighting events such as the depressive episode the narrator was going through at the start of the book, the lusting of Haluk Pekerdem, and the openly queer culture of Istanbul.

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Merry New Year 2018 with QBMC

The club said goodbye to the final days of twentygayteen with our third year-end social! After a couple of hours of eating and socialising, we finally settled down and went around the group, hearing out everyone’s recommendations.

101st Discussion: Unlimited Intimacy: Reflections on the Subculture of Barebacking by Tim Dean

Attendees: Rhys, Colin, Asy, Vicky, Yi Sheng, Rui Jie, Qian Hui, Azura, Calvin, Daniel, Raj, Maya
Moderator: Timmy

Thank you to our friends from gayhealth.sg, Calvin and Daniel, for joining us and sharing their knowledge and insights for this discussion, and of course to our host Raj for the Deepavali snacks and alcohol.

100th Discussion: Eight Plays by Ovidia Yu

Attendees: Asy, Joyce, Rachel, Yi Sheng, Pamela, Timmy
Moderator: Vicky

All of us completed the required reading and were raring to go! 

99th Discussion: Night Sky with Exit Wounds by Ocean Vuong

Attendees: Asy, Pamela, Kenny, Maya, Timmy

All of us read the book, but the abstractness left us perplexed. Pamela said reading the book was like reading “random words strung together”. Kenny was left frustrated, as he really tried to find resonance with the collection; this ultimately marred his enjoyment of the book. Asy shared that the sense of fulfilment after reading was missing, since they didn’t get what the poems meant. Maya admitted to Googling his poems to find any interpretations of them. We collectively agreed that the book is an esoteric collection not meant for the masses.

There were a lot of things to unpack and decipher with this book:

98th Discussion: Queer Singapore edited by Audrey Yue and Jun Pow

Attendance: Timmy, Ash, Raj, Yisheng, Ron, Sophia, Claudia, Y-Lynn, Veronika, Karen, Rachel, Michelle, Jun, Qian Hui, Pam, Shawn, Aaron.

We talked about reaching an acceptance between homonationalists and radical advocates; 377a and how it affects both gay men and lesbians; the queer culture in Singapore (if any); lesbian spaces in Singapore; racism and national identity in Singaporean Indians.

We also want to see more diverse topics in queer research in Singapore such as transgender, age, technology, BDSM, etc.

97th Discussion: Naked Killer (1992)

Attendance: Asy, Scott, William, Aaron, Ernest, Raj, Pamela, Maya, Timmy, Rachel.

Is this really our 97th discussion? As usual, the snacks served (courtesy of Ernest and Raj) were in theme: sausages, meatballs, and cream puffs.

Most people find the movie bizarre and illogical. We talked about the emasculation of men, phallic and yonnic symbols, motifs (milk and big hats), sex scenes, and strong women characters (Sister Cindy and Princess.)