The school day was per usual: filled with sparks of bliss and a crushing mentality of gloom. As you type away at home, hair fresh with newly-bought shampoo and fitted in a pair of clothes much more pleasant than what is permitted at school, fatigue hits you. A rush of productivity grants you the ability…
If you asked me to introduce myself to a stranger, it is very likely that I would fumble in my head before saying that I like to read and watch anime. Firstly, those two things because they wouldn’t require much elaboration— What genre do you read, what’s your favorite book? Mostly fantasy; it’s so fun…
The moment I step out of the car, the guilt starts tickling my ear. It’s a small nibble at first, but as I drag my luggage into the airport, it becomes an aggressive tugging. When I see the flight number printed on my boarding pass, that excitement is brought to a boil. There is no…
The internal locus of control. It’s something that every psychology student has heard. Coined by psychologist Julian Rotter in the 1960s, the locus of control refers to the extent that one feels control over their lives and the events that influence them. Having an internal locus means one believes they have control over their lives…
In 2016, commissioned for the Guggenheim Museum, artists Sun Yuan and Peng Yu worked with robotic engineers to set up an exhibition titled ‘Can’t Help Myself’. This display featured an industrial robot crafted from stainless steel and rubber, programmed with thirty-two movements to perform, and at first glance, seems more ordinary than anything. Caged within…
I never realized I hated the way my voice lilted. My accent is a mark of my origins; the cadence of my hometown. Yet, I’ve put conscious effort into erasing it, to conform to some indiscernible Western ideal. I remember every flush of embarrassment that came when my words would spill out in jumbled enunciations….
I am distraught by the Malaysian youth’s lack of interest in personal writing, and even more so their sheer disservice of it. A few months back, I helped transcribe an interview conducted with a youth trailblazer who was very well a part of the advocacy scene we have from #lawan and #kitajagakita. It still does…
The camera pans slowly, tracing the outline of the woman’s body, pausing intentionally to accentuate her curves, taut stomach, and of course, her questionably cropped shirt and tight shorts. Then finally do they show her face. It’s this repeated act and inaccurate representation of women that has stayed prevalent throughout the decades of film, and…
As an avid anime fan myself, I can’t help but notice the hypersexualization and child-like manners of female characters in a substantial number of anime. The culture of anime creates an outlet for pedophiles and rape culture, not only because of the existence of these traits, but because of the normalization of unrealistic attractions. Of…
It is the 1920s. Electrification takes the United States of America by storm. Suddenly, mankind has unlocked a new way of life, a new means of leisure, a new frontier! It’s the twenties! It’s roaring! Drugs, cigarettes, alcohol! Pictures, parties, pressure! What a time to be alive, what a time to be alive! It is…
Warning: this article contains spoilers for Attack On Titan. When glanced upon, Attack On Titan is an entertaining anime series that has a plethora of engaging, lovable characters – it’s no surprise that the show is loved by everyone. But when you read between the lines, there are fascist subtexts including references to Nazis, the…
Slice of life has always been a misunderstood genre. At its most textbook definition, a slice of life story depicts a character or group of characters’ quotidian lives. The plot does not lie in journeys to save the world, murder mysteries that need to be solved or love interests to be won; rather, its aim…