Author Archives: migrantzinecollective

By Abhi Chinniah Light skin, dark skin. The song of my childhood. Skin lightening soaps, creams, scrubs that would bleach and scrape my skin. You name it, I was given it. Scraping the dark off was a common conception of beauty when I was growing up. Fair was seen to be more beautiful, superior andContinue reading “My Story”

By Ivanova Anjani from Unwritten Stories, 2019. It was the early 70’s in Indonesia. In a military man’s humble home in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, a little girl had just made a wallet out of fabric scraps from her mother’s sewing projects. A large grin formed as she held her first ever labour of love, whichContinue reading “A Seamstress and a Green Dress”

By Aiwa Pooamorn from Have You Ever Been With An Asian Woman Before?, 2019. Full title: Beware of the old white grandpa at point chev beach, he walks there every afternoon. If you go to point chev beach the one with the glory hole toilet an old white grandpa in a faded polo t-shirt greyContinue reading “Beware of the old white grandpa at point chev beach”

By Roxanne Richards from GEN M #1 “Generation Migrant”, 2017. One of the first things my dad sought out when he arrived in New Zealand were fellow Filipinos like him. When our family followed him a few months after, another thing he sought out were fellow Filipino families like us. It wasn’t until I wasContinue reading “Grains of Truth”

By Divya Gurung from Musubi “An Exploration of Gender in Hong Kong”, 2017. As a child, she often outran the boys, my mother. Fearless, she was swift to protect herself, or to defend her elder brother from the tussles of tormenting neighbourhood tyrants. The first to swing from tree to tree, as she took onContinue reading “How Much Longer?”

By Linda Lew from GEN M #2 “移民一族”, 2017. I had thought I lost my name. The one I was given at birth. The one written in Chinese. 刘凌达 or in Chinese pinyin, Liu Lingda. It’s always been there, used by my parents and extended family who speaks Chinese. But after we moved to NewContinue reading “How I Found My Name”

By Jasmin Singh from GEN M #1 “Generation Migrant”, 2017. As a migrant and member of the Indian diaspora, I find the notion of home to be confusing and loaded. Disjuncture’s of identity are common to migrants and those from diasporic cultures. Where are you from? Is often tied to difficulties in explaining my identity,Continue reading “Home.”