of the month issue 1 – BEYOND TRADITION

of the month zine issue 1: beyond tradition

in progress...

EDITOR’S NOTE

Dear reader, I present to you: ‘of the month’, a zine that recommends a book, a film/tv show and an album that surrounds a theme, hopefully published monthly.

This first issue’s theme – “beyond tradition” – focuses on Asian identity portrayed and represented in the media. Asian identity, personally, is very important to me, as well as to those writing these recommendations. Even though I have never lived outside of Asia, I still feel the consequences of being Chinese-Indonesian, both good and bad: I still feel the repercussions of the 1998 riots, still have identity crises from time to time, and still feel patriotic for a country that has excluded people like me in the past, but also have a community of people who have similar lived experiences. The recommendations in this zine resonate with me on a multitude of levels, whether that is criticising how Asians are presented in the media, assimilating into a society that doesn’t entirely accept you, recognising the lack of government actions towards equality in the past – even questioning our existence. For the cover of this zine, I chose to highlight the breastplate from the album cover of ‘Skin’ by Joy Crookes (which is also recommended in the zine),

made by Pakistani visual artist and designer Misha Japanwala. Japanwala’s body castings celebrate women’s bodies whilst also raising awareness on domestic violence and killings in Pakistan. Our identity could either be celebrated or be used against us, and this issue’s recommendations all resonate with and are reminiscent of Japanwala’s aim to reclaim and accentuate our identity.

Because the recommendations surround both the experiences of Asian-Americans and British Asians, it serves as a reminder that there is no singular Asian-American or British Asian experience, and that it is possible to experience similar events and relate to these experiences without generalising and stereotyping an entire minority’s spectrum of experiences. With that in mind, even if you are not Asian-American or British Asian, there will still be something in this zine that could resonate with you and/or be something that you enjoy nonetheless.

Ultimately, I hope that the recommendations in this zine could both be enjoyable for your entertainment and resonate with you, as well as introduce you to the different perspectives of Asian-Americans and British Asians to amplify their experiences and for you to recognise and appreciate it. Most importantly, I hope this zine persuades you to look into these recommendations and enjoy them as I and those contributing to these recommendations have.

– Karina Gunawan

EVERYTHING Everywhere ALL AT ONCE

THE CHAOS THAT IS ‘EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE’

The hyper-modern, maximalist Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022) by director duo Daniels, explores the story of Evelyn Huang (Michelle Yeoh) as she goes on an adventure across the multiverse where she must connect different versions of herself in these different universes to stop someone who intends to harm it. Evelyn retaliates against the death of new stories being told about the lives of Asian-Americans. She is repeatedly cast as a variety of personalities within the multiverse: The kung-fu master, the worn-out wife, the actress, the tiger mom, the unsuccessful daughter, the talented mind-traveler, and more. As a result, the movie takes advantage of its multiversal reality to create alternate lifestyles and versions of the characters, rather than presenting them as stereotypes. It seems like the thrill ride is intended to shake us out of our habits and encourage us to imagine otherwise.

The multiverse symbolizes the nuances of what it means to be Asian-American, and also confronts the theme of Asian-pessimism. Throughout the film, Evelyn was not only under stress due to social pressures (taxes, marriage, parents) but also Asian-pessimism itself. Evelyn’s angry teenage daughter, Joy (Stephanie Hsu), ultimately possesses and is possessed by a soul named Jobu Tupaki — the figure which embodies this persistent pessimism. Jobu Tupaki then creates the “Everything Bagel”, a consuming black ring with a white core that symbolizes destruction, threatening to suck up all life and things into its void. It is a loop, similar to the way life circles without a destination – it’s made up of everything, yet it is hollow. The “Everything Bagel” symbolizes the nihilistic and Asian-pessimistic belief that “nothing matters” in the face of exclusion and isolation, especially from parental figures.

Joy is a lesbian and forced to keep her sexual identity and relationship away from her conservative grandfather. Throughout the film, it is clear that Joy’s life is not hers but rather her mother’s, and is forced to live her life for others as her own feelings are often ignored. This loss of control is prevalent in the Alphaverse, where Evelyn is a successful scientist and Joy one of her experiment subjects. She forces Joy to Versejump (jump between universes) repeatedly, and ultimately

Reviewed by Sharon Angriawan, Qeyla Luna Amabelle, Yusef Abdul Rahman Faudy and edited by Karina Gunawan

pushes Joy beyond her limit until her mind fractures. This mindset that is seen in Alpha-Evelyn alludes to the generational trauma and values passed down and taught. The “sacrifices” Evelyn makes for Joy in order to have a perfect life ends with her regrets and failures being inherited, pressuring Joy to match Evelyn’s almost impossible standards. Therefore, Joy comes to the conclusion that “nothing matters”, possessing Jobu Tupaki and thus creates the “Everything Bagel”. The “Everything Bagel” stands in opposition with the googly eye — a white disc with a back core, giving life to everything it touches. It can be placed on anything and it will make it look alive, thus giving it meaning. Evelyn is a busy woman; Whenever there is time for her to think, her attention is demanded by another thing. She rejects the googly eye, thus rejecting the experience of life as she is too preoccupied in the work of staying alive, represented in the form of taxes. With the help of Waymond’s (Evelyn’s husband portrayed by Ke Huy Quan) googly eyes, she persists through the obstacles and eventually realizes the solution to Asian-pessimisim is not violence nor hope, but something in between. Evelyn is able to pull Joy back, not by killing all who stood in her way but by learning what it means to stand up for yourself without reciprocal violence. She chooses to be with Joy despite the heartbreaks and pain. Evelyn learns that Jobu Tupaki was driven not only by murderous rage but also a desperate desire for reconnection – the want to have the guidance and care of a mother. The contrast between the “Everything Bagel” and the googly eyes replace yin and yang: the “Everything Bagel” symbolizes yin (representing darkness and absorption) and the googly eye yang (representing light and heaven). The harmonious balance of the “Everything Bagel” and googly eyes is what eventually helped Evelyn see beyond her original values and come to the conclusion that saved her daughter and their relationship.

All families, including mine, go through the process of generational trauma being passed down, which is a significant theme throughout the film portrayed by Evelyn and Joy’s relationship. Through the course of the movie, it becomes clear that Evelyn’s parents did not desire the pathway she chose with Waymond and anticipated that she would succeed if she followed the path that best suited her nature. She controls her daughter’s life and keeps Joy’s sexuality a secret from her father, further distancing their relationship. Since she didn’t want to disprove her father, Evelyn tried her hardest to seem as if everything was okay at the beginning of the film which made it difficult for her to communicate with Joy when trying to come out to her grandfather. This is something that I and many more children genuinely respect because I am going through something similar, and I adore being able to see a film that, in a really original way, depicts a very emotional scene between a mother and daughter and to which I can deeply connect with.

Although some viewers potentially find the movie to be generic and are unable to process the meaning behind the movie right away, Everything Everywhere All At Once still has the ability to represent Asian audiences with its portrayal of LGBTQ+, exploration of generational trauma, Asian-pessimistic and nihilistic values. Ultimately, with the help of analyzing and processing the movie to its desired extent, it could easily resonate with viewers of different identities at a multitude of levels. The sentimental, reflective and visceral experience that comes with watching Everything Everywhere All At Once makes it all worthwhile to watch.

SKIN CROOKES

(2021)

T R A C K L I S T !

I Don’t Mind – 2:55

19th Floor – 3:10

Poison – 3:32

Trouble – 3:05

When You Were Mine – 3:24

To Lose Someone – 4:11

Unlearn You – 2:43

Kingdom – 3:09

Feet Don’t Fail Me Now – 3:19

Wild Jasmine – 3:36

Skin – 2:59

Power – 4:43

Theek Ache – 2:11

Reviewed by Karina Gunawan

I don’t exactly recall the first time I encountered this album, but I do remember being absolutely mesmerised and in awe of the cover. With an all white background, the artist pictured torso up with a breastplate that is moulded to fit her outline, she is pictured in such a vulnerable and raw yet thought provoking state. The breastplate essentially being her second “skin” is a nod to the album itself. Released on October 15, 2021 amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, singer-songwriter

Joy Crookes explores the nuances that come with identity, and the 21st century in her debut album Skin. As a Bangladeshi-Irish raised in South London, she aimed to create “honest music for this generation” that guides listeners through different personal experiences of Crookes’, as well as her thoughts on current events. Spanning from love, sexual abuse, multicultural identity, social media activism and government criticism, the themes entwined in Skin are especially diverse in it of itself, but the blend of pop, soul, R&B and jazz make the album even more personal and let listeners feel at home. If you listen to any of these genres above, there’s a large chance you’ll like this album too.

I find it best to listen to albums as a whole — to listen to it from beginning to end. With that being said, there are a few songs off Skin that stand out, whether that’s sonically, lyrically or meaningfully.

The second song from Skin, ‘19th Floor’ is an homage to Crookes’ hometown of South London. The song named after her grandmother’s apartment and the music video that accompanies it pays tribute to the immigrants (including her grandmother) who made sacrifices to provide for future generations. The voice recording in the beginning of the song, as well as different voice recordings sprinkled throughout the album creates an atmosphere of distinct, core memories that no one other than Crookes herself has experienced. Crookes explains the meaning behind the song best:

Truly one of my favourite songs, ‘Kingdom’ criticises the victory of the Conservative Tories during the 2019 elections and the repercussions of that victory — how it will affect younger generations to come. Crookes is comfortable with being politically vocal through her music and her platforms, and is apparent in other songs such as ‘Feet Don’t Fail Me Now’. The line “Think I got a neighbour that’s been feeling blue / But maybe that’s a symptom / F—ing with a kingdom that never fought for you” indescribably resonates with me as someone who has always felt out of place when it comes to identity and assimilating and how that being a universal experience for minorities speaks volumes of the social and even political state of the world we live in.

“IT’S A SONG ABOUT BELONGING — BUT IT TOUCHES ON SO MANY SUBJECTS. IT’S A COMMENT ON IMMIGRANTS, A COMMENT ON GENTRIFICATION, AND IT’S A METAPHOR FOR ALL THE THINGS MY GRANDMA AND MY MUM HAD TO GO THROUGH TO GIVE ME THE LIFE THAT I HAVE GETTING THIS OPPORTUNITY TO BE A MUSICIAN. AND I THINK THAT IS A UNIVERSAL STORY FOR A LOT OF IMMIGRANTS IN THIS COUNTRY.”

“THERE WAS JUST A FEELING ON THE STREETS. THAT’S SOMETHING THAT I TALK ABOUT THROUGHOUT THE ALBUM, GENERATIONAL TRAUMA. STUFF BEING PASSED DOWN. THE DECISIONS THAT AN OLDER MAJORITY MAKE IN THIS COUNTRY WILL INEVITABLY AFFECT THE YOUNGER GENERATIONS.”

The title track Skin comes from Crookes’ own experience of being in a position where a friend contemplated on whether their life was worth living. The reassurance and hope comforts listeners and reminds them the “skin that you’re given was made to be lived in”. Personally, having a song that exists in a perspective that comes from someone who could potentially face the consequences of the loss of a loved one and the reassuring lyrics remind me that loved ones around us are affected by our actions, whether we acknowledge it or not (“What if you decide that you don’t wanna wake up, too? / I don’t know what I’d do / ‘Cause I’ve built my life around you”).

JUXTAPOSITION IS RIDING THROUGHOUT THE ALBUM, LYRICALLY, SONICALLY, IN EVERY WAY.”

‘Power’ is undoubtedly a powerful track. The second last song on the album criticises the “abuse of power”; Crookes provided examples: Boris Johnson, Donald Trump, Nigel Farage, Priti Patel. The song is also an ode to the women in her life, as well as the important presence of women in the world as she reminds listeners and those who are abusing their power: “You’re a man on a mission / But you seem to forget / You came here through a woman / Show some f—ing respect”. What I find so compelling about ‘Power’ is the lyrics that hold anyone abusing their power accountable and is also able to provide a voice to those who often don’t have one in society. “We’re your b—es, we’re your h—s / We the people and we know / All we want is to be accepted / But you don’t” expresses the frustration of not being accepted into society because a person in power doesn’t want them to, whilst “Melanin is not your enemy” tells people in power that people of colour should not be villainised because of their skin colour. Crookes’ brutally honest lyrics in ‘Power’ serve as both a message to those who abuse their power selfishly and as a voice for the youth who want to hold these people accountable.

The sense of familiarity, hope, recognition, accountability and comfort are all prevalent in each song on the album. Crookes’ ability to speak out on global issues but also explore and process her own personal experiences are all paramount to the importance of this album, especially in today’s unprecedented times. Because of this, Skin is able to represent/relate to everyone on a personal and universal level. The jazz, R&B, Nina Simone and Amy Winehouse influences are all recognisable within the album, but the concepts explored and voice are uniquely Crookes’ own. I hope you give Skin a listen; it truly is a timeless 21st century album — and experience.

“SKIN IS ONE OF THE STRONGEST PARTS OF OUR BODIES, BUT OUR IDENTITIES ARE ONE OF THE WEAKEST THINGS ABOUT US, IN THE SENSE OF PEOPLE USING OUR IDENTITY AND WHO WE ARE A MEANS OF WEAKNESS…THAT

EAST SIDE voices (2020)

EDITED BY HELENA LEE

EAST SIDE VOICES

Reviewed by Jules Lek and edited by Karina Gunawan

My Asian British identity has always felt like not only a complicated but also a confrontational idea for me to conceive. Yet, when I started reading ‘East Side Voices’ — a collection of essays on East and Southeast Asian identity in Britain — I felt deeply comforted by its warm resonance with my own experiences and emotions. Helena Lee, in the foreword, says “I want these stories to challenge your expectations, be troubling, be illuminating, resonate. I want them to sit with you for a long time, be recurrently thought about, and shift world-views”; this has stayed with me and I think of the quote again when reflecting on what ‘East Side Voices’ meant for me personally (and, in fact, what it probably meant for a lot of other young readers). It is one of those works that a person can only read and appreciate by reckoning with oneself that its concept — in this case, heritage — is raw, pervasive, and has consciousness.

East Side Voices started as a campaign to host British East and Southeast Asian media personalities and cultural entrepreneurs and to entertain stimulating discussion of shared experiences of ‘BBC’ (British-Born Chinese) upbringings.

By the first few meetings, East Side Voices had also become an opportunity to raise awareness against Asian hate which had burgeoned as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic; the initiative — previously intended to be relatively intimate — has since evolved into an inspirational platform for young people across the country and, equally, internationally.

I feel it is hard to pinpoint which exact element of East Side Voices’ composition makes it so magical and unique, other than to highlight the passionate authenticity of the shared stories and the commonality that I’m sure many people, myself included, find within its pages. Initially, I felt wary to tread on the toes of its authors when I wrote about ‘East Side Voices’ for my personal project, but I realised that I had as much a claim to British Asian heritage as they — that I related to their childhood anecdotes, I had a story to tell, and that I was entitled to share my own experience in parallel to their work — and in discussing ‘East Side Voices’, a new lens could be placed on the collection as a whole. Needless to say, as an exploration of identity, an homage to ancestral pursuits and immigration, and a dedication to changing the perception of British Asians in literature and the media — ’East Side Voices’ demands the prioritisation of sensitivity, acceptance, and conscious progressivity; in this sense, I hope I can meet every exigency that this endeavour presents.

The main themes of the various essays include:

1. internal and familial conflict;

2. the importance of media and authentic/accurate cultural representation;

3. diaspora and synthesising a community;

4. the universality and intersectionality of suffering; and

5. social exclusion and the amplification of differences.

Frankly speaking, these are concepts inherent in all experiences of migration and being raised as a second or even first generation immigrant as most of the authors of ‘East Side Voices’ were; however, what is beautiful in each is the storytelling deeply interwoven so that they are told to be not only powerful but also poignant.

I found certain quotes to be very provocative as I read them. They resonated with a truth that was almost painful to be

exposed to. Helena Lee writes, “WHY WAS I DOING SOMETHING THAT SO FORCIBLY DIFFERENTIATED MYSELF FROM EVERYBODY ELSE, LEARNING A LANGUAGE THAT HINDERED RATHER THAN HELPED MY COMMUNICATION WITH THOSE I WANTED TO BE WITH? WHY WAS I IMMERSING MYSELF IN A CULTURE THAT SEPARATED ME FROM MY FRIENDS?”.

Lee poses a lot of questions and hypotheticals as she writes — questions which fundamentally concern her own identity, the suppression of one’s ‘primary culture’ for an adopted one, the doubt of self and self-worth.

“I LOOK BACK AT THE DECISIONS I MADE. I THOUGHT IT WAS ABOUT MY OWN HAPPINESS, BUT IT WAS MY WAY OF SURVIVING IN MY IMMEDIATE ENVIRONMENT”.

The idea of having to evolve, to adapt, to change in order to keep afloat is present throughout ‘East Side Stories’ — both explicitly and in the finer subtleties.

...complete!

“MY MOTHER HAD SO ADOPTED WHAT SHE SAW AS THE BRITISH ATTRIBUTE OF MODESTY THAT SHE REFUSED TO SAY THESE [RUDE] WORDS IN ENGLISH. FROM THEN ON, I BEGAN TO SEE WHAT ELSE I’D NOT BEEN TOLD. THE MORE ENID BLYTON STORIES I READ, THE MORE FRIENDS’ HOUSES I WENT ROUND TO...”.

Enid Blyton stories acting as a source of cultural education might well be an ironic and sweetly innocent notion for the oblivious reader — nostalgic but easily, and simply, disposable childhood series such as Malory Towers rather than jewels of insight into ‘normal’ British upbringings and the secrets of infantine delight in vulgar expressions. Unidimensional and monolithic media and culture can so warp a child’s perception of that which is ‘right’, or that which is ‘normal’ that they should be embarrassed by that which is their own. This is a pertinent reminder that more authentic and diverse representation should be prioritised at every echelon of society — but particularly for those who are young and impressionable — whose confidence in their own culture is fragile and subject to forced assimilation.

Ultimately, ‘East Side Voices’ is so much more than a collection of essays. It is a celebration of heritage, an ode to the commonalities of childhood, and a rung in the ladder to fairer cultural representation.

expectations, be troubling be illuminating, resonate. [...] my hope is that this book is the beginning of a conversation that will only grow bigger, and will enrich your lives as much as it has so far mine.”

- Helena Lee

“I want these stories to challenge your

Gemma Chan

...complete!