Tag:tying

Of course I tried it. Did you really think I wouldn’t? My dear readers, Auntie has lived in Asia long enough to know that if something exists between ritual and rebellion, between art and taboo, I will eventually find myself in the room — preferably wearing lipstick and asking inconvenient questions. Kinbaku? Yes. I was tied. And yes, I learned how to tie. Before you faint into your jasmine tea, let me clarify: this was not some drunken backpacker misadventure in a neon alley. It was a quiet studio, tatami...

Every time I go to Phnom Penh, I see them. They are not hiding. They are not statistics buried in a UN report. They are right there, under the blinding noon sun and the flickering neon of evening markets. A little boy trailing behind his disheveled mother as she balances a plastic sack of recyclables. A girl, no older than eight, pushing one side of a garbage cart while her skinny father strains at the handles. Two brothers playing barefoot near a gasoline station, inventing a football out of a...

Let me confess something mildly scandalous: I have lost money at mahjong. Not dramatic, life-ruining money. Just enough to sting. Enough to feel that sharp little cocktail of shame and adrenaline that keeps people coming back to the table. So when people talk about “Chinese women gamblers” as if they are some exotic sociological curiosity, I roll my eyes. Please. Chinese women have always gambled. We just didn’t call it that. We called it tradition. We called it New Year fun. We called it “just small stakes.” We called it...

I have to confess something: I have a soft spot for the ajusshi. Yes, yes — I know. For years we rolled our eyes at them. The loud office uncles marinating in soju (소주), lecturing juniors, hogging subway seats, explaining the world to women who never asked. Patriarchy in a gray suit. I’ve written about them. I’ve complained about them. I’ve avoided sitting next to them. And yet. Put that same man behind a wooden counter, hand him a kettle and a vinyl playlist, and something shifts. In these little...

Twenty-one thousand girls. When I read that number in the parliamentary reply, I did not see a statistic. I saw classrooms with one empty chair. I saw WhatsApp messages deleted in panic. I saw a 16-year-old staring at two pink lines in a bathroom, whispering ya Allah under her breath and wondering who she can tell without bringing malu (shame) upon her keluarga (family). Malaysia is not unique. Teenage desire does not stop at national borders, nor does curiosity obey hukum syarak (Islamic law). What is unique is how fiercely...