I wanted to do a quick author's note to accompany the reading of LTS for my international readers who might not be familiar with the cultural landscape of Singapore/Malaysia, as well as to address potential triggers.

*spoilers ahead*
- "casual racism" in the context of dating ("you only date within your community!")--this is quite often espoused by older members of Asian diasporic communities, even those that have established themselves in a host country with some success--maybe even especially so in such communities. Perhaps this mindset comes from the fact that members of this generation have been discriminated and othered in their host countries, hence they feel the need to protect people they love (family members, their children) from further attacks and hurt by encouraging them to date others from a similar ethnic/cultural/religious background-- even if they believe that by doing so they are not racist, as they don't condone "outward acts" of racism towards others. It's a mindset that needs to be changed, of course, but my hope is that readers understand where this "casual" racism is coming from, and why. In this book, I took care to portray this issue, through the interracial relationships depicted, with as much sensitivity as I could. I hope the international reader will understand, after finishing the book, that the book has a clear anti-racist theme and message.

- queer representation in the book: there is an openly-gay supporting character who has had to pretend to live their lifestyle differently, at face value, to their parents/older generation, even though their sexual orientation is known to the protagonist and all of their peers (of their generation) and accepted as such. It's a difficult and unfortunate double life/reality for many members of the LGBTQ community in this part of the world. Much needs to be done to protect the rights and safe spaces of LGBT members of our society. While this character is clearly a very successful, wealthy individual, with a lot of power in their professional world, the fact that they are still subject to the moral code of the wider, more conservative community highlights this absurd tightrope the queer character has had to walk. I depicted this without varnishing it in hopes that we start to question why this is the case, and that sympathy for their plight might lead to understanding, and understanding to acceptance by the wider community in this, and many other parts of the world where more conservative views are held when it comes to LGBTQ community. [Note: there is also another minor character (a male relative) that is openly gay, and a closeted queer character formerly married to one of the supporting characters.]

I hope that this author note helps serve as an important cultural lens through which these issues might be viewed in LTS. From a personal note, I believe that debate, and real change, are needed in both areas, but also that, more importantly, kindness and compassion towards others whose lived realities (and thus struggles) are different from ours.