Singapore, 1 August 2026 – A Singapore family’s pursuit of total solar eclipses has evolved from a specialised travel passion into a self-published knowledge product, showing how deep personal expertise can support small-scale publishing, educational outreach and experience-led tourism.
Retired research and development director Koh Joo Beng and his wife, Janet Tay, have travelled to observe 14 total solar eclipses across several continents since their first expedition in 2008. Their three adult sons later joined the family pursuit, turning long-term planning for rare celestial events into an inter-generational project.
Koh and his eldest son, Jared Koh, have now written Chasing Totality: The Complete Handbook For The 2026 Total Solar Eclipse. Published in June, the paperback combines scientific and technical guidance with practical advice on cameras, telescopes, eclipse glasses, drones and the emotional experience of seeing totality.
The project illustrates the economics of niche publishing. A specialist audience may be too small for mass-market scale, but digital retail platforms and print-on-demand production reduce inventory risk and allow authors to reach readers globally. The book is offered through an online marketplace at US$28.24 in paperback, according to the family’s account.
The timing is commercially relevant. A total solar eclipse on 12 August will cross Greenland, Iceland and Spain, encouraging demand for travel, viewing equipment and educational material. The family plans to watch from a cruise ship off northern Spain in a group of 16 relatives and friends. Travel costs were estimated at between S$5,000 and S$7,000 per person, depending on flights.
Eclipse tourism requires unusually long planning because the path of totality is geographically narrow and weather can defeat even careful preparation. Accommodation, transport and specialist cruises can attract premium demand, but buyers face cancellation, cloud-cover and safety risks. Reliable guidance can therefore become part of the wider experience economy.
The book also converts tacit family knowledge into a reusable asset. Joo Beng’s engineering background and postgraduate astronomy studies support the technical material, while Jared’s leadership-training experience helps structure the information for newcomers. Their partnership combines subject authority with audience communication.
For Singapore’s creative economy, the venture is a reminder that intellectual property does not need to begin with large entertainment companies. Expertise developed through hobbies, professions or family experiences can become books, courses, events and advisory products when creators define a clear audience and distribution route.
Commercial discipline remains important because self-publishing shifts many publisher functions to the creators. Editing, design, pricing, promotion and customer service require time and spending, while marketplace visibility is uncertain. The strongest niche projects use a clearly defined reader problem, credible expertise and targeted communities rather than broad advertising. The book’s value proposition is practical preparation for a specific event.
The upcoming trip also demonstrates how a rare event can aggregate demand across publishing, travel, optics and education. Small operators can participate without controlling the entire customer journey. Partnerships with astronomy groups, tour organisers and schools may create additional distribution while keeping the product anchored in verifiable safety guidance.
The Ledger Asia Insights
The investment lesson is not that every passion project becomes a scalable company. It is that digital distribution lowers the cost of testing demand for specialised knowledge. Creators can begin with a focused product, use direct audience feedback and expand only when repeatable demand emerges.
The Koh family’s venture also shows the value of authenticity. Their material is grounded in years of travel, technical preparation and unsuccessful as well as successful observations. In a market crowded with generic digital content, credible lived experience can command attention. The commercial opportunity remains modest, but the model—expertise converted into trusted intellectual property—is widely transferable.
