[1] It was founded after poet Yong Shu Hoong, a former national service platoon-mate of Ng, approached mediaexodus LLP with a manuscript of poems for editorial work.
Ng started firstfruits publications to publish the manuscript, Yong's debut Anglophone poetry collection titled ‘Issac’.
This launch marked the genesis of firstfruits as an independent publishing house and a key feature of Singapore's expanding literary scene.
[3] In 2000, the National Arts Council approached firstfruits to act as a coordinator to run its Mentor Access Project (MAP).
The MAP sought to promote the building of a multiracial, collective Singaporean cultural heritage which was ethnically specific yet inter-relational.