Ethos' Favourite Picks of 2024
Dear Reader,
As the year closes, we mark it with the return of a favourite among us—aptly, Ethos' Favourite Picks of the year. This chance to reflect on some of our favourite things (in this edition, you'll find movement and moments among them) allows us to hold gratitude for the good that we've encountered, and look forward to what the new year may bring.
We hope that our picks in turn help you consider the good things that are bridging you from this year into the next.
Warmly,
Cassandra
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📚 Zining's Pick 📚
Read: Known and Strange Things
Earlier this year, a friend of mine gifted me a copy of Teju Cole’s essay collection Known and Strange Things. Each essay is brief but potent, and seemed to alter perception itself. Not wanting the book to end, I savoured it, developing the habit of reading one essay every morning.
Teju Cole cuts as he conjures, dissecting his subjects with analytical precision while casting the spells of language. On the reticence of Saul Leiter’s photographs, he writes, “…it takes a moment after the first glance to know what the picture is about. You don’t so much see the image as let it dissolve into your consciousness, like a tablet in a glass of water”. Another essay on photography captures the very moment it begins: “We are not mayflies. We have known afternoons, and we live day after day for a great many days. This long experience of how days turn—how afternoon becomes late afternoon and late afternoon becomes light—informs any photographic work we do with natural light.”
Known and Strange Things is a lesson on the expansive possibilities of criticism—to analyse and defamiliarise, to be attuned to broad cultural shifts yet intimate—as much as it is a lesson on style. I’ll leave you now with the book’s opening sentence: “Then the bus began driving into clouds, and between one cloud and the next we caught glimpses of the town below.”
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🎮 Sharm's Pick 🎮
Game: Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order & Survivor
Half my time was spent applying for jobs and anxiously waiting for replies; the other half was spent trying to stay sane with fulfilling activities. The best decision? Watching every Star Wars movie and TV show so my sister would stop calling me uncultured. It became the highlight of 2024 (closely followed by joining the Ethos team). I binged EVERYTHING in a month with a friend who patiently answered my endless questions and endured my constant “He’s so cute” every time Chewbacca appeared onscreen. I even picked up the Cal Kestis games because I couldn’t get enough of the Star Wars universe—and they didn’t disappoint. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is a 10/10 game that felt like its own movie. I’m currently playing the sequel!
2024 felt like my own Jedi training journey—minus Yoda’s guidance. I stayed hopeful, embraced new experiences, and grew along the way. Thankfully, things turned around by the end of the year. I’ve discovered my passions and am incredibly grateful to pursue them full-time with an equally passionate team.
I’m excited for 2025 and can’t wait to see what it brings!
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🧘♂️ Kah Gay's Pick 🧘♂️
Habits: Body Work
Credit: Md Omar Faruk @ Vecteezy.com
One of the best things I did for my body this year was to ask Arin, our former editor, for a one-hour yoga session, in which she got me to thread the needle, as well as suffer do various stretches. Honestly, before this, I had pretty much given up on stretching. The nerve of pulling and straining my limbs! This thought flowed like a river through my subconscious. Arin’s invite opened up this taboo activity, and after our session, I looked for and found a smooth routine (thanks, leanbeefpatty!) that I started doing, on occasion though not too often. I suppose I can next challenge myself with a food that has been taboo for the most of my life: papaya, yuk.
The small act of stretching also affords a physical foothold in a sea that is brimming with tragic news. When you experience a u-turn in your personal life, you can imagine that larger shifts are possible, how bodies come into contact with one another, listening deeper beneath our daily skins. Here, I would like to invite you to the Listening Biennial 2025 (August to October) that Ethos Books is co-programming with Alecia Neo. See you in the new year.
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🎒 Wai Han's Pick 🎒
Moments: Teaching in Cambodia
In November, I had the opportunity to share the use of our Big Book, Mango the Cat, with a group of Cambodian teachers. Their team leader had been praying to start a preschool programme for the children in her area.
Another Singaporean preschool principal had prepared two suitcases of learning materials for my group to share with these Cambodian friends. A most satisfying year-end activity for me, as the teachers were also encouraged to use the materials in both Khmer and English to lay the foundation for the education of their young charges.
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🚶♀️ Cassandra's Pick 🚶♀️
Habits: Time to Decompresss
Completing a stamp rally that involved walking around Orchard Road
One of the best things I did for myself this year was to make me-time a regular part of my weekly routine. Previously, while knowing it was important, I always let it be a “let's wait and see” thing. But after a series of incidents made me realise that placing my needs last caused my loved ones to ultimately get short shrift—while there with them, I was too wound-up to be present—I made time on my own something that I scheduled every week, with my husband's support.
Given that we share caring for an active toddler who turns somewhat grumpy when mommy is not around, we've had to figure out strategies to make this workable (e.g., I play with him a bit before I head out, husband plans activities to keep him occupied). But it's been worth it; I've found these pockets of time essential for me to rediscover what makes me, me, apart from roles at work or with family and friends. Sometimes that just means leisurely consuming a bowl of spicy mala tang without considering if my toddler can share the meal, or taking a long walk at my preferred pace.
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