Zachariah Quek ^hot^ May 2026

Quek attended Raffles Institution before reading Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) at the University of Oxford. Unlike many of his peers who funneled into Singapore's civil service or investment banking, Quek returned to Singapore to take a low-paying job as a researcher at a defunct literary society.

The book was rejected by five major publishers before a small independent press, Ethos Books , took a chance. It sold 500 copies in its first six months. Then, something strange happened. During the COVID-19 lockdowns, Singaporeans trapped in their high-rise apartments began reading Quek’s descriptions of vertical living. His lines about "the loneliness of the elevator shaft" went viral on Telegram and Reddit. zachariah quek

For ten years, he was invisible. He wrote essays for journals with circulations under 500. He translated obscure Malay poetry into English. He lived in a rented HDB flat in Tiong Bahru, surrounded by stacks of critical theory and pulp detective novels. It sold 500 copies in its first six months