Singapore writer Goh Poh Seng, a doctor by profession, has been hailed as "one of Asia's finest living poets." Now living in Vancouver, Canada, Goh has published both poetry and prose. In this novel, he explores the complex lives and human relationships of two men in modern Singapore. Their lives are interwoven with others, all of whom -- in their own ways --try to break loose from what they perceive as the monotony of their existence by reaching for the "light." The main theme in the novel is the individual's sense of alienation and his search for meaning in his life. Goh Poh Seng's first novel, "If We Dream Too Long," won the Singapore National Book Development Council Fiction Book Award.