my name

A photobooth at the local exhibition “The Lost Cities Series: Kampong Port Cities of the Pre-colonial era”.

Photo taken by me on September 27, 2023

my name is terese teoh and i am twenty-two

born into a position of privilege

a country of peace precious and riches extreme,

educated, well-fed, and a roof over my head.

my tanned skin and dark hair reveal i am Asian.

my accent tells you i am chinese singaporean.

my blood tells me i am hokkien peranakan,

a descendant of the migrant settlers from the Straits in the 14th century.

i am the daughter of a software engineer.

a pragmatic person who is a product of the 1960s economy

a stubborn pessimist who argues that dreams go so far as

the outline defined by employers and the economy,

not creativity, self-alignment and freedom.

i grew up being taught to cherish

peace, equality and justice

while living in systems that

benefit tremendously from

inequality, oppression and extractivism,

that wants new, and more, and new, and more...

you granddaughter of a refugee,

do you know what dislocation means?

why do you now walk on sand that was never yours?

why do you now lay claim to islands that were never yours?

why do you now drop waste on the people who are yours?

i am terese teoh and i am twenty-two

figuring out my history in this disappearing city.

hoping that one day i'll come home -

that we'll all come home -

to taste the sweetness of the fish and crabs in mee

to see the line where the sky meets the sea.