235 Articles
Sometimes, You Have to Leave Home to Learn to Love It Again
People are not mountains.
But the people of New Zealand are more impressive than their mountains, a friend insists.
I am sceptical, because New Zealand has been on my bucket list precisely for her mountains, valleys, rivers, and lakes. As a teenager, I’d right-click and save dreamy Tumbl
Think of Arthritis, and We Think of Old People. This Singaporean Got it at 20.
All images from interviewee.
When you grow up in a close-knit family and have great friends, love feels a lot like freedom. This rare form of love embraces you, warts and all, and bestows upon you the space and courage to live the life you choose, knowing your kin and close friends will be ther
This FB Group Satirises How Boomers Speak About the Coronavirus. Hilarious or Harmful?
All images from here.
Over the Chinese New Year, my 28-year-old cousin said, “You know, before this whole virus thing, I didn’t even know Wuhan existed.”
In some way, I understand his ignorance. When most of us think of China, we don’t immediately think of Wuhan—a city that will,
Dear Singaporean Chinese Millennials, Will Reunion Dinner Endure When Our Elders Pass On?
Top illustration by Lam Yik Chun.
I might not continue the tradition of the annual Chinese New Year reunion dinner with my extended family once my elders pass on.
I can’t speak for every blasphemous individual, but the sole reason I don’t appreciate reunion dinners is simple: I am not
Downloading Movies Before a Flight is for Noobs. Listen to Audiobooks Instead.
Top image: Unsplash. The rest of images from Storytel.
For all my empathy, I will never understand people who hate flying.
Being on an airplane always brings me a hallucinatory sweetness. The MSG-laden food that suddenly tastes like a Michelin-starred dish because my tastebuds are impaired
In Defence of Eating Alone at Your Desk
All photos by author.
A very long time ago, I partook in Singapore’s inescapable lunch culture. Every day around 12 noon, I traipsed into suffocating, humid eateries with a gaggle of colleagues, who proceeded to reserve our tables with tissue packets and lanyards.
After hearing about some
No One Should Feel Pressured to List Their Accomplishments of the Decade
Top image from Unsplash. The rest of the images are screenshots of tweets.
At the start of the previous decade, I had my career all planned out at 20.
I would graduate within the top 10% of my cohort in university just like I did in polytechnic. Then I would embark on a career in journalis
These 16-Year-Olds Want to Build an App That Will Help Youth Consume News. Will It Work?
All images by the team at XSNews.
Most of us may remember this decade as the one where the news finally broke our brains.
In the attention economy, every person’s attention span becomes a commodity that news organisations fight for with their constant output. When we’re bombarded by 10
Describe Your 20s in a Single Soundtrack. No Wrong Answers.
Tone Deaf is a column where we discuss music. From personal stories to cultural analysis; from lyrics and instrumentation to music videos and live performances, we put it all under the microscope to understand how we experience music through our everyday lives.
All images from Unsplash.
I am
Things to Do On a Mind-Numbing 7-Hour Bus Ride from Malaysia on Christmas Day
All photos by author.
There is a certain weight of expectation that hangs over the festive season, as though anything less than merry-making over glasses of wine and countless rounds of boardgames carries an unspoken shame. But these are only the celebrations you see on Instagram.
In realit