★ Simplified and Traditional Chinese rights sold!
★ A story about transforming discarded food into gourmet cuisine—a novel on “eating trash.”
★ Written by a virology PhD and award-winning lyricist, this novel uses food waste as a lens to explore profound human dilemmas.
★ Xiaohan, the author, has penned hit songs for iconic artists: Eason Chan’s “Lonely Patient,” JJ Lin’s “Greatness in the Small,” Tanya Chua’s “Darwin,” Jolin Tsai’s “I,” Sandy Lam’s “Paper Airplane,” Fiona Sit’s “Better Me,” Peggy Hung’s “Tiptoeing Love,” and Stefanie Sun’s “Rainy Day,” among others. She has won the Singapore Golden Melody Award for Best Lyricist seven times and been nominated four times for Taiwan’s Golden Melody Award for Best Lyricist. Her latest work, “You Deserve Better” (the original script for Jason Zhang’s micro-film “Worth Better,” with over 20 million views), is also under active rights negotiation.

Over 1.3 billion tons of food are discarded globally each year, a significant percentage of which remains perfectly edible. The problem is most severe in wealthier, developed nations, where wasteful practices have become a daily routine for consumers and the food industry alike. Ugly produce, scraps, misshapen items, improperly stored ingredients, or crops deemed unmarketable due to oversupply—all end up in landfills.

While the world wastes such vast quantities of food, more than 800 million people still suffer from hunger every day—a heartbreaking irony.

In major cities worldwide, a quiet revolution is underway: restaurants that transform surplus ingredients, “ugly” produce, and scraps into exquisite dishes are emerging. These establishments, led by some of the world’s top chefs, champion environmental respect, waste reduction, and unbiased appreciation of food. Food Wastrels tells the story of one such boutique restaurant that specializes in recycling “waste” into culinary delights. Through the journey of a restaurateur from a broken family—from struggle to maturity and success—the novel critiques and satirizes modern attitudes toward food, family, love, and the very concept of “value.”

Must everything in life be first-hand, fresh, and perfect to be worthy of admiration, love, or worship? Does accepting what others discard or beg for mean settling for less? Should what is given or obtained through plea be valued any less?

Xiaohan, a seven-time winner of the Singapore Golden Melody Award for Best Lyricist and the first lyricist to be nominated four times for Taiwan’s Golden Melody Award in the same category, has moved audiences with songs like Eason Chan’s “Lonely Patient,” JJ Lin’s “Greatness in the Small,” Sandy Lam’s “Fiber,” Jolin Tsai’s “I,” Tanya Chua’s “Darwin,” A-Mei’s “Good in the Bad,” Gary Cao’s “Mr. Lonely,” and Peggy Hung’s “Tiptoeing Love.”

Holding a PhD in virology, Xiaohan has also written lyrics for musicals (Lao Jiu, Liao Zhai), films (*881*, Turn for You), and major campaigns such as the Promote Mandarin Campaign, Singapore National Day, and the Chingay Parade.

Beyond songwriting, she is a seasoned columnist, having written for Lianhe Wanbao and Shin Min Daily News for over 15 years. Her first illustrated essay collection, Tears Are Capsules, published in 2011, has been reprinted four times. Her novels include Fingerless Happiness (published in Singapore 2013, Malaysia 2014, and mainland China 2015), the fantasy-inspired The Unreturnable Bus Stop (2015), the award-winning motivational work Luckily I’m Not a Perfect Girl (2017), and the youth campus novel The Teacher in Uniform (2019), followed by its sequel Prank Middle School in early 2021.