Month: April 2019

POETRY | Catcalling by Delilah Ho

POETRY | Catcalling by Delilah Ho

Posted by | Apr 29, 2019 | |

Image credit Got a Girl Crush Do not show fear because it only makes them stronger, my dear. They will turn you into dusts with their venomous tongue and sweep you under the rug and step on you like you are nothing. Do not show eye contact because it is the thing that they use to jerk off to in the middle of the night. Do not respond because your worth is not the degrading words that they spit at you. Fight back, but don’t fight back because you still love the sunshine on your face and not on...

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SHORT STORY | A Parable of The Sky and The Soil by Evelyn Philip

SHORT STORY | A Parable of The Sky and The Soil by Evelyn Philip

Posted by | Apr 26, 2019 | |

Photo by Ramin Khatibi on Unsplash In the land of Serotolia, the soil was crusted, brittle and fragile. The drought had done it. Disappointed and dejected, the soil hardened. Whenever anyone walked over it, it grumbled bitterly and lamented its fate. As the weeks passed, the grumblings turned into cynicism. The soil began to vent out frustration at its surroundings. There was only one thing the soil yearned for; the rain. The hardened the soil became bitter at the sky. Bitterness soon turned to rage. It began cursing at the sky. Hearing the terrible words, the sky began to feel gloomy. Instead...

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Malaysians among the world’s biggest spenders when it comes to books

Malaysians among the world’s biggest spenders when it comes to books

Posted by | Apr 24, 2019 | |

The Big Bad Wolf Books sale by The National Looks like Malaysians have been spending their hard earned monies on the right stuff: Books. According to Polish e-commerce platform, Picodi, Malaysia is ranked sixth globally for being among the world’s top purchasers of books. Even more than Singapore! The below statistics you’re about to read does not reflect the reading habit among Malaysians, rather, their exercise in purchasing power online when it comes to books on Picodi’s website and the websites of their affiliates. Speaking of books, support these local indie publishers. There’s more here too.  ***Edited: These figures were derived after...

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POETRY | Classroom Blues by Anuradha Chelliah

POETRY | Classroom Blues by Anuradha Chelliah

Posted by | Apr 22, 2019 | |

Image by Cole Stivers from Pixabay Sitting at the desk, Looking at the board, Staring at the textbook, Copying and writing the questions, Discussing with friends, Completing the written work, Handing in the exercise books, It is the classroom blues. Presenting at the front, Standing with a mah-jong paper, You do it, no, no, it’s your turn, Passing the ball game starts, Standing without opening the mouth, Move … presenter presents, Done … comes the comments, The next classroom blues. The class is in a mess, Who is on duty? Clean it before the teacher comes, No responsibility, No...

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SHORT STORY | A Teacher’s Journey On A School Bus by Lo Sin Yee

SHORT STORY | A Teacher’s Journey On A School Bus by Lo Sin Yee

Posted by | Apr 19, 2019 | |

School Time by Jed Villejo Since my father was taken ill, I have been taking a school bus to work.  Every day, I have to wake up very early in the morning, do my ablutions in a half-asleep fashion before waiting outside the gate for the bus. Surrounded by darkness, except for the dim street lights, most of the residents are still in slumberland. The morning air is cool and the stillness is occasionally punctuated by the sound of housewives stir-frying rice and the slow trickle of traffic plying the road in the dis­tance.  I stand drowsily at the gate,...

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