A parent’s Penang trip shifts when she stops pushing heritage lessons and follows her father’s lead: swim, eat and live like locals.
I brought my children to Penang to immerse them in the places of their grandparents’ stories. When I stopped lecturing them about gratitude and privilege, we enjoyed our final days doing as locals do As I stepped out of Penang international airport, the humidity hit me like I was peering into a just-opened rice cooker. The air carried whiffs of exhaust fumes, fried food and something earthy. It felt thrilling and familiar because I was born in Penang and lived there for six years before I moved…
Six writers examine harms they caused, including mistreating a teacher and mistrusting a foster mother, and the apologies left unsaid.
From making life hell for a young teacher to doubting the motives of a caring foster mother, Olivia Petter, Derek Owusu, Annie Lord and other writers repent for past bad behaviour At school, I was not a good girl. Actually, that’s putting it mildly: I was an emotional terrorist hellbent on inflicting torture and humiliation on my year 6 teacher, Ms Hill, one whoopee cushion at a time. That’s how it began, anyway, but like all crimes, mine followed a strategic pattern of escalation, carefully ex…