Neil Humphreys

Neil Humphreys (born 5 December 1974) is Singapore’s best-selling author. His works on Singapore - Notes from an Even Smaller Island (2001), Scribbles from the Same Island (2003), Final Notes from a Great Island: A Farewell Tour of Singapore (2006), the omnibus Complete Notes from Singapore (2007), Return to a Sexy Island: Notes from a New Singapore (2012) and Saving a Sexier Island: Notes from an Old Singapore (2015) – are among the most popular titles in the past decade. His book Be My Baby (2008) chronicled his journey to parenthood and was his first international best-seller. Humphreys has also penned two football novels – Match Fixer (2010) and Premier Leech (2011) – to critical acclaim. Premier Leech was selected as the FourFourTwo Football Novel of the Year in the UK in 2012. In 2014, Humphreys published the first Inspector Low thriller, Marina Bay Sins. The crime satire was an international indie ebook best-seller in the UK and Australia. The print version was launched in Singapore in March 2015 and Malaysia in April 2015. The Inspector Low sequel, Rich Kill Poor Kill, was released in 2016.

Brought up in Dagenham, London, England, Humphreys arrived in Singapore in November 1996 and had initially planned on staying in Singapore for only 3 months. However, he instantly fell in love with the island-state and decided to settle there. Humphreys lived in Housing and Development Board (HDB) flats in Toa Payoh, a public housing estate in central Singapore, for 10 years, moving three times along the way. He wrote about his experiences in his first book, Notes from an Even Smaller Island, where he compared his life in Toa Payoh to his quirky working-class upbringing in the UK. The book was a massive success. As a result, Humphreys went on to become a well-known humour columnist, first at TODAY and then The Straits Times and The New Paper. Humphreys continues to write extensively for newspapers, magazines and websites in Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, Australia, and the UK. His humour, football and lifestyle columns have appeared in FourFourTwo, Esquire, The New Paper, The Age, The Straits Times and TODAY. Humphreys is currently working on an Abbie Rose and the Magic Suitcase TV series.

Family life

Humphreys is married, but his wife keeps a low profile. He writes about her quite frequently in his columns and books. They have a daughter. Humphreys' mother lives in Kent, England. He often recounts with humour his childhood relationship with her.

Early career

Humphreys began as a speech and drama teacher, teaching at primary and secondary schools across Singapore, including Victoria School.

Career with Today

Humphreys was a popular humour columnist with local newspaper Today. He contributed to its sports section, mostly with news related to the English Premier League, and its entertainment section, with regular movie reviews. He later wrote for the Straits Times.

But he was best known for his humorous columns poking fun at various facets of life in Singapore, and revealing aspects of his childhood in working-class London. He once said that he speaks with a Cockney accent.

Migration

When Final Notes from a Great Island was released in 2006, it became obvious that Neil Humphreys had decided on leaving Singapore. It was later revealed that he has decided to migrate to Australia with his wife. Humphreys explained the reason for his migration as having the 'travelling itch'. He lived in Victoria for five years.

Many people wrote to Today after news of Humphreys's migration was announced, expressing their dismay at his decision to migrate to Australia. Many readers expressed heartfelt appreciation for his contributions over the past few years. Sales of his books also jumped due to the publicity of his impending departure. In 2007, he started writing for the Straits Times, ARENA Singapore, Tiger Airways' in-flight magazine and Young Parents.

Return to Singapore

In August 2011, Humphreys returned to Singapore and kicked off a new humour column with The New Paper. He also released a new book, Return to a Sexy Island, humorously describing how Singapore had changed while he was away.

Books

Notes From an Even Smaller Island (2001)

Notes From an Even Smaller Island was the first of three books published by Neil Humphreys. It details his experience of arriving in Singapore and adapting to the unique local culture of Singapore. After it was first published, it quickly rose to the top of Singapore's bestsellers list as the local Singaporeans could identify with his writings. It was after this book that he became well known and was subsequently hired by Today newspaper as a columnist. The title of the book is ostensibly a nodding reference to Bill Bryson's Notes from a Small Island, a travel book about Humphreys' native land, Britain. A new edition was issued in late 2008.

Scribbles from the Same Island (2003)

Scribbles from the Same Island is the second book published by Neil Humphreys. It is actually a collection of his weekly columns published while he was at Today. As the book was published in 2003, it only includes columns written by him before that. After the book was released under high expectations from the public, there was criticism that the material of the book was unoriginal as it was merely a compilation of his past columns. There were claims that this book was published to 'milk' the popularity gained from the publication of his first book. Nevertheless, the second book quickly rose up Singapore's bestsellers list as well.

Final Notes from a Great Island (2006)

Final Notes from a Great Island is the final of the three books published by Neil Humphreys about Singapore before he migrated to Australia. In the book, which was meant to be a final, affectionate look at Singapore before he left, Humphreys takes an island-wide tour of Singapore where he explores the lesser-known side of Singapore. He started his tour from the HDB estate of Toa Payoh as that was where he had lived for the entire ten years that he spent in Singapore.

After the book was published, some readers used it as a guidebook and followed the route Humphreys took around Singapore. Humphreys has said this is his favourite book in the Singapore series.

Complete Notes From Singapore The Omnibus Edition (2007)

Complete Notes From Singapore The Omnibus Edition brings together all three previous books with some updates. There is also a chapter on his life and experiences in Australia. The new edition was relaunched in late 2008 with a new cover and is a proving to be the most popular of Humphreys' books, probably because it contains "Singapore" in the title and is being used as a travel guide for Singapore visitors.

Be My Baby: on the Road to Fatherhood (2008)

In November 2008, Neil Humphreys released his new book Be My Baby: On the Road to Fatherhood. It was launched in Singapore and the region and will be launched in Australia in early 2009. Set in Geelong, Australia, it is about his journey to becoming a father. The back cover reads, “When two lines appear on the pregnancy test kit, Humphreys’ world is turned upside down. He is excited but clueless and urgently needs some directions. After all, his biggest responsibility to this point had been a pet hamster and he lost that twice.

From the moment his doctor tells him to book an obstetrician’s appointment, he knows he is out of his depth — he does not know what an obstetrician is.

Humphreys deals with parents who mock his sex drive, midwives who question his usefulness, friends who share only horrific birth stories, strangers who rub his wife’s belly and folks who seem to know everything there is to know about pregnancy (but often do not have kids of their own). And there’s that troubling dream about her giving birth to a plastic toy lizard made in China. Both funny and poignant, Be My Baby is a frank account of Humphreys’ quest to be a good father.

The book was a success with Humphreys' established readers, as well as prospective parents.

Match Fixer (2010)

Match Fixer is Humphreys' first foray into writing fiction.It was released in late 2009. The book recounts the misadventures of young ex-West Ham striker Chris Osbourne as he arrives in Singapore to salvage a footballing career gone wrong at S-league Club Raffles Rangers. Chris foreys into a world where football is only seen as a cash cow and a Singapore that is kept under wraps. It also shows Singapore's darker side: a world of vice. Will Chris be able to survive this unfamiliar world? Will Raffles Rangers win the S-League again?

Premier Leech (2011)

Premier Leech: A Story of Greed, Sleaze and Corruption is a book written by Humphreys, published in December 2010. It is a behind-the-scenes story of famous footballers' dark side of life. This book, a fictional work that touches on the ills of modern football, gives an insight to the reality that happens inside the Premier League. Premier Leech was selected as the FourFourTwo Football Novel of the Year in the UK in 2012.

Return to a Sexy Island: Notes from New Singapore (2012)

After five years chasing echidnas and platypuses in Australia, Neil Humphreys returns to Singapore in 2012 to see if the rumours are true. Like an old girlfriend getting a lusty makeover, the island transformed while Humphreys was away. Singapore is not just a sexier island, it s a different world. So Humphreys embarked upon a nationwide tour to test that theory. He went in search of new Singapore, visiting only locations that either did not exist five years ago or had been extensively rebuilt, renovated or revamped in his absence. From the cloud-topped heights of Marina Bay Sands and Pinnacle@Duxton to making ill-advised bomb jokes at the subterranean tunnels of Labrador Park, Humphreys walks, cycles, kayaks and swims across a rapidly evolving country, meeting Guinness-swigging aunties in Resorts World Sentosa, eccentric toy museum owners in Bugis, political activists in Aljunied and a security guard at Marina Barrage ready to 'tekan' anyone who crosses his path. In new Singapore, Humphreys discovers a country still grappling between the economic rewards of progress at Biopolis and Fusionopolis and the historical cost at Bukit Brown Cemetery. With Humphreys' characteristic honesty and wit, Return to a Sexy Island provides an insightful account of new Singapore; its best bits, it ugly bits and, most importantly of all, what it's really like to pee in the world s best toilet. Every Singapore resident and visitor should read this book. In 2013, Return to a Sexy Island was also turned into a popular TV series on Channel NewsAsia, which Humphreys wrote and hosted.

Saving a Sexier Island: Notes from Old Singapore (2015)

Singapore has been evolving at a blistering pace. Old Singapore is in danger of being left behind. As a result, active citizenry is taking off like never before with Singaporeans campaigning to save heritage sites such as Bukit Brown, Joo Chiat’s HDB flats and Toa Payoh’s Dragon Playground, with areas like Jalan Besar, Balestier and Tiong Bahru championed for their history. Nostalgia is spreading through the country. Old Singapore has never been more hip as Singaporeans cling to the last vestiges of what actually makes them Singaporean. The race is on to save an even sexier island. So as the nation celebrates its 50th anniversary, Neil Humphreys heads off on a tour of Old Singapore to find the sights and sounds that are at risk of being overlooked, forgotten or bulldozed. He walks, rides, swims and snorkels across land and sea, taking in distant islands and bluish lagoons. He paddles with otters, ventures into haunted hospitals and suffers an unfortunate slip with a tanned teenager in a sarong. Written with Humphreys’ usual acerbic wit and quirky humour, Saving a Sexier Island is one man’s journey to find 50 significant places worthy of preservation. It’s a funny, insightful and unashamedly sentimental search for what’s left of Singapore’s soul.

Marina Bay Sins (2015)

After introducing Detective Inspector Stanley Low in a small role in Match Fixer, Humphreys liked the character so much he decided to give him a crime thriller series of his own. Marina Bay Sins was the first instalment, released in March 2014. At the start of the novel, Low's bipolar condition is already ruining another therapy session when a sadistic sex murder-suicide at Singapore’s most prestigious hotel plunges him back into a sordid underworld he was desperate to leave behind. He has no choice. Dead bodies at Marina Bay Sands are bad for business. They ask questions of a sanitized society no one is keen to answer. As Inspector Low gets closer to the unpalatable truth, the search for the murderer races to a gripping, horrifying finish. An intelligent, thoughtprovoking novel, Marina Bay Sins is Humphreys at his satirical best. The crime satire was an international indie ebook best-seller in the UK and Australia. Humphreys is now in talks to turn the Inspector Low thrillers into a TV series.

Rich Kill Poor Kill (2016)

Released in 2016, Rich Kill Poor Kill is the second novel in the Inspector Low crime series. When a foreign worker is found dead in a Singapore back street, few people care. But then another victim turns up, and then another, all killed with the same weapon. With its reputation as a safe, global city in ruins, Singapore struggles to come to grips with its first serial killer in decades. And when a famous woman disappears, terror takes hold. In desperation, the authorities turn to Detective Inspector Stanley Low. Belligerent and unrepentant, Low is angry and refusing to address his bipolar condition, making him the least qualified detective to head a murder investigation with the world watching. He is also the only man capable of understanding what drives the serial killer: Low's mental health deteriorates as he mimics the mind of a madman in search of the sickening truth. He must solve the case quickly to stop a serial killer and save his sanity. Rich Kill Poor Kill was shortlisted for the 2017 Singapore Book of the Year Award.

Abbie Rose and the Magic Suitcase (2012-2017)

Eager to write something that was age appropriate for his daughter, Humphreys wrote a series of illustrated children's books. He collaborated with award-winning artist Cheng Puay Koon and published five books. The Day a Panda Really Saved My Life (2012), I Trapped a Dolphin but it Really Wasn't My Fault (2013) and Picking up a Penguin's Egg Really Got Me into Trouble (2014) were all Singapore best-sellers. In 2014, Humphreys' Magic Suitcase book - I Really Rescued a Goat to Save Chinese New Year- was an Apple iBooks exclusive that went to No.1 in eight Asian countries and reached the top 10 in China, the US, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. The ebook was downloaded more than 300,000 times. In July 2017, I Saved Two Tigers with a Really Magical Idea will be released to celebrate International Tiger Day. Humphreys is currently writing scripts for a Magic Suitcase TV series.

TV

Singtel Mio Football TV (2012-2014)

In 2011 and 2012, Humphreys was a regular panellist on the EPL show Tiger, It's Your Shout. In 2013, he appeared on the pioneering football show, Game On, a live, interactive EPL discussion that followed every game in real time. Humphreys was on the panel with former England and Manchester United defender Paul Parker.

Return to a Sexy Island (2013)

Humphreys wrote and hosted the series, Return to a Sexy Island, for Channel NewsAsia. The six-part series was based on his No.1 best-selling book. The series was so popular that it was repeated in its entirety on Singapore's National Day.

Eleven Sports' The Social (2017)

Humphreys appeared on a weekly football show with host Richard Lenton, discussing the Premier League's topical issues.

References

• "TODAY's funny man Neil Humphreys hit by travel bug again". Retrieved 2006-09-24. 

External links

• Neil Humphreys on Twitter