Nanyang a graphic novel by Tan Choon Hong

They came in search of gold.
One found love, the other salvation.

Since ancient times the Chinese have sailed the seas of Nanyang in search of the wondrous riches that are the stuff of dreams. Many have become fabulously rich, others paid with their very lives. From their enterprise great cities have sprung up linking peoples of many skins and tongues through their common desire to trade. It is in this romantic setting that my story unfolds.

"Nanyang" tells of two brothers who, hearing tales of a city where the streets are paved in gold, embark on an epic journey seeking a piece of the action. After a traumatic separation and several harrowing experiences, the brothers finally meet on opposite sides of the law. Will they recognise each other as family or will loyalty to their masters triumph to turn them into deadly enemies?

Set in the cataclysmic 19th century in the lands surrounding the South China Sea aka Nanyang, this fast-paced adventure romance brims with hope, intrigue and betrayal threaded into a tender love story of two people destined for each other against impossible odds.

Thematic highlights:
• Chance encounter on the high seas
• Shipwreck of the gargantuan Tek Sing and agonising aftermath
• Blood thirsty pirates and slave traders
• Sleazy opium dens in Raffles' Singapore
• Sacrifices of the Sisterhood of the Sworn Virgins
• Native rites and rituals of the feared Borneo headhunters
• Sexual hospitality in the time of the White Rajahs
• Betrayal of the coolies or bonded labourers
• Turmoil and rebellion in Batavia, Dutch East Indies
• Blood initiation into the ranks of the secret societies
• Brotherhood affirmations, feasting on live monkey brains and swallowing live mice