As I am sitting here, waiting for a bus to Rey's place, a man in his prayers attire cycled passed me. And so my random wishful thinking on a Friday would be how much I wish I'd stayed in the suburbs so I could cycle everywhere I go, like how people commute in Europe, in China and in all pockets of suburbs in the world. Besides I think bicycles are neat, and people can look pretty chic on them! They don't need buses unless they want to head down to the city. And they can head to the nearest bakery and have a lovely morning chat with the baker and bring home some awesome croissants!

This is difficult to write, but it's definitely an important one amidst all the conversations we've been having lately. Growing up being brown/Malay wasn't easy, especially when it became ingrained in me that having a darker skin tone by default, is less desired than fairer skin tones. In childhood, I couldn't recall having to endure comments about my skin colour. Thankfully amongst children, these values ascribed to lightness and darkness didn't yet come to the fore. This consciousness became more obvious since secondary school. And it was tough and painful. I've been in a sports CCA since secondary school and I couldn't really avoid not becoming tanned. What hurts the most was even my peers at that time would make comments about my skin colour without even realising the damage caused from these words. These comments I recall, were sometimes made under the guise of humour. I was called 'budak hitam' (literally means 'black child') and even ...
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