Rebellion through Glitch and the Iconoclastic Malaysian Hyperpop

Our Malaysian world is a world of vertigo.  Tanah Malaysia kita pusing berputar dan muzik menghulurkan maksud kepada kehidupanmu yang terpaksa dipolitikkan.  The politicisation of hyperpop has unabashedly become a resistance towards politically-motivated crimes against humanity, acquiring the ephemeral freedom to express and utilising that as a political tool when politicians use our lives as…

Living Out of Spite: The Art of Drawing Blood

Disclaimer: the following article doesn’t reflect the author’s personal experiences.  Science teaches us that respiration is the basic process of life. A simple action, sustaining life. Inhale. Exhale. It sounds so easy, you don’t even have to think about it. If your oxygen levels are low, doctors can use an oxygen tank to help you…

I Look up at the Stars, and They’re All Studio Lights

You are walking on your empty suburban street, the streetlights casting a soft glow on your beloved neighbourhood. Everything about it is Old Americana, the perfect houses, the perfect people, but you feel ever so slightly disturbed. You have started to feel watched, like your actions somehow dictate something much bigger than you. You are…

Reality vs Books: “The Hopeless Romantic World of Literature”

Romance never dies . . . . Why read romance books? What kind of romance books do you read? And what exactly do you like about them? From Jane Austen’s ‘Pride & Prejudice’ to Tahereh Mafi’s ‘Shatter Me’, romance books have manifestly shaped the perspectives and expectations of modern audiences when it comes to intimate…

My Muse Wore Drop-Crotch Pants

The word ‘muse’ tends to conjure someone untouchable, perfect yet just close enough to keep us tethered. Glory, but never so much that we drift away. Somehow, in all its madness, my muse came wrapped in a heavy pair of drop-crotch pants, though he did not start that way.  The first time I saw him,…