“We need to talk. Look, it’s not you, it’s me…” 

“Maybe we should take a break.” 

“I love you… but…” 

We’ve all been there. We’ve all heard the million and one iterations of this message. No matter how nicely they put it or how much they attempt to soften the blow by “wanting to stay friends” it cannot prevent the shattering of your heart. You’re still not the one they want. And as you watch their figure retreat, taking a piece of you as they leave, the first foolish thing that comes to mind is: 

“What did I do wrong? Why wasn’t I enough?” 

You drive yourself mad, analysing every single step, combing through each millisecond, wondering about all the things you did, just so you could call them “yours’. So, when the hell did it go so wrong? Even after weeks, you come up with nothing. So, then, you lay in bed for countless days and nights, wondering what you could have done. 

But the truth is? Sometimes, no matter how much we pour ourselves into a single person, it still isn’t enough to make them stay. 

So, you curl into a ball, pillow covers damp with salty tears and whisper to yourself: 

“I loved you so much, I forgot what it was like to love myself.”

Inspired by one of the songs in Olivia Rodrigo’s hit debut album SOUR, Favorite Crime talks about the type of passionate love that is all-consuming, world-turning and which burns too bright and too fast, leaving you the shell of a person that you used to be. 

Whether it was unrequited, one-sided, or the one that got away, MONGA invites you to bare your soul and tell us the things that you have done “in the name of love”. 

How to participate? 

1. Submit your writing piece (essays under 1000 words, poetry, etc.) or visual artwork (comics, photographs, illustrations, paintings, etc.) before 28th of April 2022.
2. Stand a chance to get your creative work featured in MONGA and win a RM50 Grab Voucher. Winners will be announced on 1st of May 2022. 

Article by Ashley Lim; Header by Megan Tang