Life in Transit
I wanted to write about Joanna after attending the launch of her exhibition titled Departure, Transit, Arrival at the Migration Museum in Adelaide. Joanna had put the...
Category
Migration
An antidote to nostalgia
Oxford Dictionary definition of ‘nostalgia’: from the Greek ‘nostos’ return home + ‘algia’ pain I once stayed in an Airbnb apartment in...
Giving Someone a Chance
Although my dad knew that a Taiwanese degree would not be recognised in Malaya, it was the best chance he had to leave his small hometown. In 1964, dad enrolled in Civil...
Laundry on Life: thoughts on privacy and friendship
It’s Australia Day today. For dinner, I’m cooking Janelle Bloom’s easy carve leg of lamb with lemons and smoked paprika. There’s macaroons for dessert...
Where is home?
First published on 12 December 2015, I mull on a peculiarity in the life of the migrant: the uncertainty of where home is. I sit in my study in Adelaide, thinking of the...
Goal setting: competitive vs collaborative
Grappling with the disappointment on not making the Adelaide Literature Awards shortlist, I ask if the creative process is essentially a competitive process or a collaborative...
My evolving Asian and Oz Christmas traditions
Christmas in West Malaysia 1970s Christmas is a public holiday. I don’t have to go to school. The street is quiet. I wonder how I might celebrate. It is suggested that I...
My grandfather’s legacy: from general merchant to something more
I always thought of my maternal grandfather as a wealthy man but digging deeper I learn that he was a small town migrant kid who became prosperous enough to provide temporary...
Hosting New Migrants: on the capacity to welcome
When we first arrived in Adelaide, we stayed in a two-bedroom unit off Goodwood Road. My sister’s old school friend had arranged for us to live there while the...