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yapxinyi's review
3.0
I borrowed the ebook after a friend highly recommended this to me, and I think the ebook doesn't have the same experience as the physical book because the layout does get a little messed up, unfortunately!
I did want to like the book, but I think such an experimentation with language (English, Singlish, dialect, Malay, everything local) makes for an interesting, but not immersive, read for me. That being said, I can acknowledge that there are some really smart turn of phrases. For me, the "forest" segment was perhaps the most cheeky(?) one, for lack of a better word, where the poet let his own voice through.
Perhaps I'm still more of a traditional kind of lyric poet ahahahaha.
I did want to like the book, but I think such an experimentation with language (English, Singlish, dialect, Malay, everything local) makes for an interesting, but not immersive, read for me. That being said, I can acknowledge that there are some really smart turn of phrases. For me, the "forest" segment was perhaps the most cheeky(?) one, for lack of a better word, where the poet let his own voice through.
Perhaps I'm still more of a traditional kind of lyric poet ahahahaha.
rebeccazh's review
It was really interesting reading poetry in Singlish. Not quite sure what to make of this but I appreciated how experimental this is.
rachmloh's review
5.0
Fucking good luh. The use of Singlish was very smart and made me realise just how witty, intelligent and direct the language can be. In comparison with English, the book made me laugh but there was always a sense of sadness and helplessness...because what can a small island of people who speak Singlish do against English, our colonisers? The world? Definitely a book I will be revisiting.
theecatreaders's review
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
"Preposition was helpless: gravity is absolute, after all-though it is possible to be in several places at once even if no one is capable of describing the pain-that is the work of clauses, who in search of lost pronoun."
jeeleongkoh's review
3.0
Prodigiously intelligent in the procedures of poetry, it has not enough lived experience in it, for me. Still, this interesting debut makes me look forward to what this author will write next.
rabbit_heart's review
While I might be ambivalent about parts of the other sections, "forest" deserved a standing ovation.
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