TW: discusses suicide, mental illness, substance abuse “It’s better to burn out than to fade away.” —Neil Young On April 8, 1994, 27-year-old Kurt Cobain committed suicide. As frontman of the acclaimed rock band Nirvana, his death shook the music world. Cobain’s genius songwriting and progressive views of society cemented him as a voice for…
“It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept and celebrate those differences.” -Audre Lorde For the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) community in Malaysia, this statement rings true. Despite the growing pride movement and the legalization of same-sex relationships in countries such as Argentina, Australia, Germany,…
“Nothing’s as good as you recall” –William Finn, Falsettos ‘Jason’s Therapy’ (2016) Youth, in its crux, is defined fundamentally by ignorance. The state of not knowing, that blissful unawareness, to lead life with rose-tinted glasses and exist in a made-believe vacuum devoid of those that are ugly and monstrous. In fiction, the concept of youth…
To Live On the Internet Olivia Rodrigo kicks off her debut album SOUR with the opening number ‘brutal’, an angsty teenage anthem fueled by disdain for unrealistic societal expectations and constructs to which Rodrigo replies: “God! It’s brutal out here.” Hidden within the pleats of the pandemic was the rise of social media as a…
Youth-led activism is not, by any means, a new thing. When turning points in the history of oppressed communities such as the Stonewall riots or the downfall of the Nazi regime are brought up, we often redirect our attention from the underbelly of youth in these revolutions to focus on a select few figures instrumental…
If the whole point of activism is to get our voices out in hopes of sparking change, then we all start from articulating words by default. For every word we make, we are its first authors and first readers. What happens when no one hears it? Or what happens if our doubts take off right…
sometimes i forget how to be happy. how to live in the moment. because i know it will never last—i know one day it’s going to end. whenever i go to some sort of party, i think to myself, ‘wow, this is going to be over in a few hours. what i’ve been anticipating for…
“Don’t give money to the homeless, they’re just lazy.” “Why should I give money to charities claiming to help the poor? It won’t make a difference!” “Why don’t they just get proper jobs?” Chances are you’ve probably heard similar phrases at some point in your life. Perhaps you’ve even thought them yourself. It is often…
The word ‘secularism’ conjures up images of smoggy, gray urban landscapes. It connotes atmosphere-less cityscapes with high-rises and suffocating pollution; a cold world without a spiritual connection. But the modern conception of secularism, which can be traced back to the Enlightenment thinkers of Kant and Locke, is far more dynamic than that. The word ‘secular’…
If you were born and raised in Malaysia (or, to generalize, any Southeast Asian country), the title of this article comes as no stranger to you. You’ve either uttered the phrase to a younger person, overheard a conversation that applied the phrase, or you’ve simply been at the receiving end of the four seemingly harmless…
“It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed. With the brass nozzle in his fists, with this great python spitting its venomous kerosene upon the world, the blood pounded in his head, and his hands were the hands of some amazing conductor playing all the symphonies of blazing…
“Words were different when they lived inside of you.”― Benjamin Alire Sáenz, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe To me, there is no feeling quite like reaching the last page of a book that has left you enthralled and at its mercy. Or rather, there is no feeling quite like finishing its…