Trigger warning: Contains depiction or discussion of violence and death.
It’s been a year since COVID-19 restrictions prevented Minhua Zhang from leaving the Lis’ house in North York. Tears welled in her eyes and trickled down her skinny cheeks as … more »
My clothes are my first line of defense. Matching the local style is an easy form of security. Safe from prying eyes and too many questions. Dressing up like this is not paranoia when it deals with an actual threat. … more »
Thirty years after the pandemic swept through the country swiftly and cruelly, forcing a state of emergency in the whole of Malaysia and the evacuation of the entire population, I found myself back in Kuala Lumpur. Good, old KL.
It … more »
I come from a long line of men who have served in the army. My Ah-Gong (Grandpa) was a pilot, my dad was in the army, and my brother had just finished not too long ago. It’s the norm for … more »
The stone remained cold and silky gray in the boy’s palm.
He was in the middle of a procedure that many in the village had seen performed and found nothing spectacular about. Yet he sat on the bamboo steps of … more »
The kid’s girlfriend phoned it in to his parents, who ran a red light at Bloor and Jarvis on the way to the viaduct.
I squint at the nurse’s chicken scrawl, which indicates our patient pulled over and surveyed … more »
It happened because I looked poor today.
My mother was an elegant woman, even in the most undignified chapters of our life in America. She said that spending her youth under the boot of Japanese occupation taught her the importance … more »
Late one night, before summer turned to fall, Ocean Boy was born in a desert town at the confluence of two mythic rivers. He was descended from men who dove for pearls in the waters of a faraway Pacific archipelago, … more »
At the age of five, I was taught by my Great Auntie how to slaughter chicken.
Earlier in the day, Great Auntie went to the open market and bought a live, year-old hen. It had passed its prime for laying … more »
Anna sat on the old barstool, propping her elbows on the counter and swinging her legs back and forth as her mother cut rice flour dough into flat squares. Mama had cracked open the rusty window over the sink. Outside, … more »