The Great North Korean Picture Show
Spent my birthday in Pyongyang. At a film studio. On the set of the next North Korean blockbuster. We’re still trying to process the experience. Everyone was warm and surprisingly open. Yet our shoot was unusually difficult – the entire experience, incredibly trying and energy-sapping. Off to Jakarta today. More on our project there in...
June Update
Hello. It’s been a while. We’re sorry we’ve been scarce. Things just got a little hectic here. We’re buried in work… slowly trying to dig our way out. And of course we’re still reeling from the outcome of Vui Kong’s case. Mad, sad May. We’re hoping June will be a little better. We also spent...
A Letter To Yong Vui Kong
Dear Vui Kong, Thanks so much for your letter. I’m sorry it’s taken me this long to reply. Your brother Yun Leong tells me you are amazingly strong. That you’re prepared to accept whatever happens next. That you want to live, want so much to live, but are ready to face death. I saw what...
The Maid’s Room
My brother and I spent a recent weekend house hunting with my parents. We had fun poking our noses into other people’s homes, making up stories about their lives, and swapping design ideas. My little nephew especially, has enjoyed the whole exercise. We’ve all loved listening to his suggestions as to where Mah-mah and Yeh-yeh...
Onwards To Rio
This might come as a surprise to some, but when we first learnt about the Homeless World Cup, we found the whole idea kinda, well, ludicrous. Why spend all that money on a bunch of losers? Why not use it so they can find… HOMES instead? But then we went to Hong Kong. And hung...
Problem-solving, MOM-style
It’s an open secret. The global trade in low-level labour is a dirty one. And Singapore is a willing participant. We import tens of thousands of migrant workers each year ostensibly because no other Singaporean will do the jobs they do, for the kind of pay they’re willing to accept. But the truth is that...
Just A Child
I have a new Facebook friend. Her name is Yong Vui Fung and she is Vui Kong’s little sister. She’s just 20 this year. Slightly older than Vui Kong when he was caught. And every time I look at her, I think about what her brother must have been like when he first ventured out...
“For Me, I’m Hoping For A Miracle”
Yun Leong looks like he’s shrunk. He’s lost maybe five pounds since December. There are bags under his eyes. He sounds tired. “It’s been tough,” he says. “Chinese New Year was not good.” “How’s your family?” “They’re coping.” “And your mother?” “She’s well.” He pauses. “She still asks about him.” Him. Vui Kong. Her youngest....
Homelessness Is Not A Dirty Word
In 2006, we moved to Hong Kong and spent the better part of our year there getting to know a group of homeless people. Their stories were complex, their personalities as diverse as their backgrounds. There were 19-year-old boys and 65-year-old grandfathers. Truck drivers, deliverymen, chefs, waiters, factory workers, failed businessmen… you name it. Some...
The Maestro’s Daughters
Our nerves were frayed by the time we got to Braman Baria. The ride had been long and somewhat bumpy, the roads overflowing with trucks and cars and one-legged beggars. We had not planned to stay with the Maestro’s family even though they’d insisted we should. We didn’t want to inconvenience them, or stretch their...
So How Much Did you Pay Your Agent?
Of late we’ve developed a strange habit. We can’t meet a Bangladeshi migrant labourer without asking him a somewhat intrusive question. How much did you pay your agent? Is it kinda rude? Maybe. Call it an occupational hazard then. We must have sprung that question on hundreds of workers when we were making “Human Trade”...
Happy Birthday, Mrs B
“I’m 47 today!” She exclaims, and her eyes tear up. “I prayed to god for a miracle, and you came along.” We all make soothing noises. It’s nothing really, Aunty. Just a few bags of biscuits. You know, to help you through the long evenings here in the park.There’s very little light where the family...
