It's Chinese New Year and the only soldiers in camp on guard duty are Malay or Indian. That is, until Corporal Russell Lim turns up. Things start turning ugly when the insults start flying and all that's taboo becomes fair game. By the end of the night, a Chinese and a Malay soldier are found dead.
Enter Investigating Officer Victor de Souza, who needs to uncover the chain of events that have led to the tragedy.
The stakes are high because the incident has led to an eruption of tension between the Malay and Chinese communities in Singapore. Yet with each interview that he conducts, he plunges deeper into a labyrinth of slippery half-truths and sly omissions.
Can Officer de Souza arrive at the truth? Or will he be confronted with something so terrible that there is no other choice but a cover up?
Set in the claustrophobic confines of the army, Chong Tze Chien's Charged interrogates the thorny issue of race with brutal honesty and a refreshing lack of political correctness.
