Stories In Orbit: The Moon

There are stories to be found all over the city. On graffiti-strewn streets, in an art gallery, at a clandestine gig, in the sleepy heartlands; or sometimes, in an unlikely bookstore in the heart of Chinatown.

Over a thousand stories, in fact, lie within The Moon – an adventurous multi-conceptual space that’s been adding a new chapter to the ever-developing tale of creative crannies in Singapore. A café hums and whirrs quietly on the ground floor, while the floor upstairs adapts to a myriad of disciplines, whether it’s a practice room for theatre companies or a craft workshop area for kids. Even pop-up concerts have landed on The Moon, from the electronic odysseys of Fauxe to the somnambulant dream-pop of Subsonic Eye. The Moon is a space where, like nebulous occurrences in the cosmos, anything can happen. And that’s what makes it kind of special.

In a digitally-obsessed world where information gets scrambly and attention spans are speeding recklessly across virtual highways, it’s important to have a physical space that reminds one to slow down. Sarah Naeem, the founder of The Moon, agrees with me on this, as we have a midday cuppa in the establishment’s café.

“People don’t realise that this is what they miss or need when they’re caught up in a digital life,” Naeem remarks on the significance of a physical space. “It’s almost an intangible feeling to be in a physical space. But because it’s so intangible, it’s so important to have. I brought this thought into The Moon.”

True enough, the warmth and charm of The Moon is alluring enough to make the most sequestered reader put aside their Kindle and pay it a visit. Upon entering, you’re greeted with mahogany-hued shelves of books, charming decorations like a miniature phone booth and rocking horse-reindeer, miscellaneous knick-knacks and the toasty smell of coffee.

Peruse the shelves deeper, and it’s clear to see that the book selection of The Moon is diverse, daring, and most of all, inclusive. This principle of inclusivity runs deep within the dogma of The Moon, and naturally, Naeem herself.

“I was in this bookstore in my hometown in Pakistan, and at the time, I had just finished my thesis on representation of women in modern media,” Naeem reminisces on the origin story behind The Moon. “I was browsing through the philosophy section in the bookstore, and it struck me that there were no female philosophers represented in that moment. So my next thought was to ask the staff if they could give me books from [sic] ‘so-and-so’ female philosopher, except I realised I couldn’t even name one myself.”

“Yes, there are certain situations where the choices that we have are limited to the gatekeepers in those industries. But at the same time, am I making those conscious decisions to go out there and look for things that are outside of what I’m currently comfortable consuming?”

It was this revelation that spurred on Naeem’s desire to build a space that fostered this inclusivity. In curating their selection – which now spans beyond a thousand titles – Naeem and team are specific when coordinating with distributors, opposing proposed bestsellers and opting for bolder selections.

That’s why 50 per cent of the pro-diversity collection at The Moon is written by female authors or people of colour, and a sizeable portion of them independently published. Even within Naeem herself, such a left-field approach initially evoked some scepticism in sales, but these doubts turned out to be positively unfounded.

“It was incredible,” Naeem reveals, “because a lot of the titles that we were first hesitant about flew off the shelves. It was validating in that way.” Nowadays, you’ll find both rare gems as well as literary classics lining the shelves of The Moon, in hopes of educating visitors to make that leap in their book discoveries.

This canon of inclusivity also runs through other tenets of The Moon. On the menu, the offerings are tweaked to be as inclusive as possible for people with dietary restrictions. “We use non-dairy milk, and we try to be gluten-free and as vegan as we possibly can,” Naeem assures.

The multi-functional event space upstairs has hosted everything from pop-up gigs to themed movie marathons

As an event space, The Moon also hosts a multitude of events – from gong meditation sessions and book swaps to children’s readings and poetry nights. “Again, we have a few basic criteria that our events upstairs need to fulfil. It has to be cultural, has to add some value, has to be thought through, and has to have a purpose. With the children’s book readings we had last time, it was actually for one of the books we had in the store and that book itself is about acceptance and not judging people.”

Naeem also recounts when The Moon threw a Harry Potter movie marathon during Christmas, as she wanted to stay open to create a space for people who didn’t have families to spend the holidays with.

“We had this one couple who came down a couple of days prior to that,” she recalls. “The girl was Singaporean, and I think her boyfriend had come to visit her from the US. They had come for a book swap, and they had such a good time that they decided to come back for the movie screenings we had on Christmas day. They came at 11am when we opened and stayed till the last movie at 9pm. It was nice because they had limited time together, but they chose to spend it here.”

Such is the magic of The Moon – its innate ability to gather people from all walks of life together. Aside from its regulars, The Moon attracts everyone from children to inquisitive elderlies, and other wandering beings simply looking for a story, whether it lies on the establishment’s shelves or within a serendipitous encounter just waiting to happen.

“What do we do when we meet our friends? We tell stories, and we do that over coffee and drinks,” Naeem adds. “I think bringing those two together was what created this little bubble inside Chinatown. Storytelling never gets old; that’s the only the thing that we as people have done continuously over generations and generations. If that’s something you embody in a space, I believe that people will find that sense of comfort.”

The Moon, 37 Mosque Street, Singapore 059515. Open Sun-Thu 11am-9pm, Fri-Sat 11am-12am.