Unspoken burdens: reflections on ‘Kavadi’
The People’s Voice: Mohamed Latiff Mohamed
Resolution by Mohamed Latiff Mohamed
Melissa De Silva’s The Gift: Continuing the Thread
Nightswimming in Arthur Yap’s ‘nightjar’
The Art of Detachment
Prophetic Vision of Next Week’s Grain Consumption Patterns, by Samuel Lee
Nightjar by Arthur Yap
The Gift by Melissa De Silva
The Ant and His Ocean by Yeng Pway Ngon
little red comma
Kavadi by Latha
little red comma
The Gift by Melissa De Silva
A nonfiction work about learning Kristang to bring comfort to an ailing grandmother, and how it led to an exploration of Eurasian culture.
An unexpected journey, through Kristang.
When Melissa’s grandmother is unable to speak due to illness, she discovers that speaking the few Kristang words she knows seems to revive her. In order to bring her comfort and a few laughs, Melissa sets out to learn more Kristang. This takes her on an unexpected journey to discover aspects of her Eurasian culture like food, festivals, music and song.
Contributed by:
Melissa De Silva
Melissa De Silva is the author of ‘Others’ is Not a Race, winner of the Singapore Literature Prize 2018 (Creative Nonfiction), about Eurasians in Singapore. Her fiction has been published in Best New Singaporean Short Stories Vol. 3, Singapore Quarterly Literary Review and LONTAR: The Journal of Southeast Asian Speculative Fiction. Melissa has worked as a journalist and book editor and is Singapore’s Education Ambassador for online global creative writing platform for teens, Write the World.
Acknowledgement:
Presented by Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay, produced by Tusitala and commissioned by National Arts Council.
Originally published by Math Paper Press
Kristang readings by Patricia
Audio production by Artwave Studio
Illustrations by katblah
