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Can you see that? Um, so leading leading on from that sort of eighties movement of black women there is There is a rebirth of women around the world. Really particularly, um, I've said finding our morning breath and waking up to the task ahead of us because the bottom line is things need to change and they need to change now. And that doesn't mean that they're going to change tomorrow. But the work, [00:00:30] the work has been happening for some time, but I feel and I don't know about anyone else. But I feel like there is some tide that has taken the world. And it is woman across the world who need to lead that and hold it sacredly. And so I'm gonna be talking about my perspective as an indigenous woman and social movements, and and I've put the photo there. Listen, up to Papa is is pretty much my foundation [00:01:00] and the platform that I speak from and I sort of am trying to myself speak more about her as not as a symbolic concept but as a real physical, spiritual concept that we are. We are living on her and we are living with her, and we need to care for her because we haven't done a good job as [00:01:30] humans so far. So and from a Maori perspective, that is absolutely how we used to hold her precious. And I think that's part of the reason why we've we've slated her, basically, because we've lost that connection, that she is us. And so we're damaging ourselves and we're damaging her in the process. So a lot of my solutions and talking about how to go forward involves [00:02:00] what's happening in my local community. So the is here are all about investing good time into forming robust relationships with the families who are really struggling and the families who will not trust agencies and the families who will not trust someone who shows up for a few weeks and then is gone. So these nannies are out there because they have the man and they have the cheek to be able to knock on the doors of the families who will not let anyone [00:02:30] else in. And they are the very families who need the most help. So with the manner of them being and them being grandmothers, they go forward into their communities. and it's hard work developing these relationships. And I don't for a second want to, uh, lie and bullshit that forming these relationships is just a real rosy romantic event, because sometimes it doesn't happen, and sometimes it goes backwards and it's really [00:03:00] difficult. But it is also a key to the success of how we go forward and uplifting, particularly those families who are struggling and uplift and support those families to a place of interdependence. And I think this whole thing of independence is where we went a bit wrong. And that is certainly not a Maori way of living. And I actually don't think it's a human way of living. And which is why we found ourselves very [00:03:30] disconnected today and very competitive and very blaming. So the idle, no more movement pulls on some of the solidarity that was happening back then, um, women across nations and so particularly indigenous women. So this particular movement originated in, uh, Great Island in Canada, where they're pretty much just standing up. They the government, are assaulting their responsibilities as caretakers [00:04:00] for their resources, a lot of stuff around water rights, and you know this is happening around the world and it's certainly happening here. So our wahine group here knew that we needed to grab hold of these messages somehow and bring them to a and it all ties in with everything that we've been doing in terms of protecting our environment and and urging for better collective care of our people. And so part of that is how we protest [00:04:30] deep sea oil drilling. And this is a couple of years ago that's me. Down the front. There was a flotilla that left Auckland and that's all about saying we are living in a planet and we are using finite, finite resources like they're gonna last forever. And that also brings us back to looking at ourselves honestly and and asking, How much can we change our own lives? How much can we start ourselves? And that is that personally [00:05:00] is the first challenge for many of us as individuals and as families, you know, it's about buying, less consuming, less driving. This is the world that we have. We are held hostage to and have been for generations. But we need change and we need to stop being bullied that the only way we can live is with oil, and the more that we continue to demand those alternatives from our leaders who are really just setting up for a global be for global [00:05:30] corporate benefit, it's going to require massive undertaking. And so, you know, we we we got out there, as with our little Tinel flags on our kayaks, and it was just a way of us being able to say We're standing with this flotilla of all those big super yachts. We don't have a yacht, but this is what we do have. And it was it was a neat way. And it's just, you know, activism can look like so many things. There's not one right way of [00:06:00] doing it. It's what you have, the passion and the heart for at that time. This is cleaning up the oil and from the Rena spillage, and I literally I. I didn't know what to expect, and this wasn't even. This was, um, several days after, so most of it had been cleaned up. But I just got on there and I just cried because I thought, What the hell are we doing? What have we done? You know, what is this world that we're living in. It's just cruel. And [00:06:30] that was that was a real indicator for me that we just we need to change. Now. Being a mother is a power base, and and I'm not just talking about being a biological mother, but being a nurturing figure on this planet is a power base. But we haven't been told that from our leaders. And we haven't been told that from our governments. And we need to reclaim it back and say, What do I need to stand? I've got what I need to stand. I am a mother. I am [00:07:00] a nurturing figure. So when you've got no when you got too many Children and not enough arms, what do you hold up? You hold up your fist because I couldn't have a banner. I couldn't. I had a pram and all these kids, three of them are mine, and two of them are stole. What? That said What that is is when I get left to do the babysitting, you can bet your life your kids are coming with me wherever I go. So those are my brothers. Um, two right down the front, the little one in the pram, [00:07:30] and then the two boys at the back and the little girl in pink are mine. And it is. It is just it just continually saying as a mother I'm standing up, get on board is about extending the paid parental leave to 26 weeks again. The fundamental there is about respecting our place as mothers and as families, Um, which is not a priority that we have seen for far too long. And so I was one of the guest speakers there. [00:08:00] And you can see Jackie Brown, Jan Logie, Sue Maroney, Jackie Clark and Professor Tim Hazel all speaking to try and make it very clear that the way that we have been well, we haven't been prioritising families occupy a square was something that I got a involved in, particularly to decolonize it and to say and remind the movement, because what was happening in the other [00:08:30] parts of the world was that the the movement tended to forget first off that they were occupying lands that had already been occupied for generations and stolen. And so we had the benefit. By the time it got here to all of us, a few of us being able to get in there and at least do what we could, um, around decolonizing the movement and making it very clear that the occupy movement can only be truly genuine or legitimate when it acknowledges the struggles of the [00:09:00] colonised indigenous peoples of those very lands that have been occupied. And I did that presentation in a lecture series and got quite a lot of flak for it. That's just something that is very uncomfortable for a lot of us at the moment. The tragedy is I don't even have words. Um, but that's again. That's muscle flexing from the powers to basically say You are not the boss and so we just we need [00:09:30] to just get out there and do what we can to push that back consistently and another way as a as a woman, You know, again there is no right way of doing activism, But sometimes it is about picking up the positive from something that is really negative and put turning it so that that was a result from last year's Maori language week, where some parents were in the news because they couldn't stand the idea that their child was being taught Maori in the school [00:10:00] and they were very, very openly racist and adamant that that was not going to happen for their child. And so I responded with these sorts of messages. You know, why can we not embrace as a all of us, our Children learning to at the least social media? This is what I call Facebook, And this was painted by my brother for my Christmas present after he quickly realised [00:10:30] what I was up to. And so Social Media has, of course, had A has a huge impact on our activism and particularly with women. Um, we're very savvy with it. We know how to use it, and we're getting better and better at it. Um, so it's It's become a very important and essential avenue for me, and we all know that social media extends the action for anything that we do. We can send it out there and pick up a whole few 100 [00:11:00] or extra 1000 people that can participate in what just happened, for example, putting up posters and memes to quickly. I mean, we, you know, as humans, we have a 0.1 of a second concentration span, so whatever we can do to quickly capture the gist of something that is being done to us that we need to oppose. Um, so this is all about the bill? Well, it went through, actually. You know, we I mean, we're being slaughtered. [00:11:30] I was very vocal in opposing Susan Devoy appointment, and I think Judith Collins should hang her head in shame. Absolutely. Hang her head in shame for what has happened and right at this very minute, we're seeing total inaction from her on hello race relations issues around the Rugby World Cup. As a woman, you know, there are so many dynamics there, patriarchal culture, and I mean, I'm I'm a rugby fan. My boys play rugby, My [00:12:00] brother, sister, father play rugby. But I also needed to be really conscious of what happens to us as a nation when we ignore the underlying fundamentals of of a particularly patriarchal culture. And so, at that time, there were all of these alignments being made. Um, and it was great for the government that we won rugby, and that was just despicable for me. Was I the only one hoping we wouldn't win, please? [00:12:30] And and now we're sort of coming back to black women's movements. I've been very clear and this is one of my native affairs debates and I was very clear that having Maori papa does not guarantee Maori advocacy and we, you know, Paula Bennett and are not. And I'll say this are not operating from a that that ensures collective well-being for, and I will say [00:13:00] that to their faces. And so you know, let's not confuse it. And and by the same token, there are more allies in this room who are not Maori, who will stand with a Maori perspective and what the hell why do we keep doing this today? I'm not poor, but I hate this war. Show Paul at the door. You know, we've just the The narrative that is out there is despicable and disgusting, and it affects our Children. And the cartoons are one [00:13:30] of the latest one of the latest assaults on our families. And so particularly as women, any anything that denigrates is will hit women you know quite severely and encouraging our young people to be active. And this is the man protest just a couple of weekends ago about the high the legal high drug stores that are opening, particularly not in. They're particularly opening in the poorer areas, [00:14:00] and our young people are saying we deserve better. We're getting a prison, we're getting prisons, particularly in We're getting shark loan shops, we're getting liquor outlets and we're getting drug stores. Where are our universities and as women, and particularly with the name that I have, we need to stay connected to the moon, and that is really important. And so I. I go up onto mountains whenever I can with people and we have wine and we have [00:14:30] fair trade chocolate and we in there at the last minute, and we and we reconnect with the spiritual element of what makes us and whatever that means and whatever that means. And we talk about that and we harness it, and that's really important. And so is poetry. And so that for me is also part of an an outlet to engage a different side of my brain. And I know we're all creative, and I just wanted to remind us that that is essential [00:15:00] and helps to keep us sane. And that was another poetry reading that I did in last year. and, you know, the poetry can engage us at a different level than the normal sort of political talk. And this particular poetry night was dusky maidens and noble savages. So absolutely pulling on that they mean, sort of, um who we are. Um, the system that values money over people is selfish and stale, A better world is pushing through. And she is gangster. [00:15:30] Let's clear our throat for a better song is not for sale. And that was the MC I. I was the MC for the, um, asset protest in Auckland recently, and it really is just about constantly inspiring others to get up and use their voices. And this is me on the river, in the river in Glen in. And so again, you know, as women, as our activism can take many different shapes and forms. And that's me standing [00:16:00] in the middle of a polluted river on a recycled waka, uh, made by the gentleman behind me who's Fijian and doing a and a poem as to basically say you haven't done very well and I'm ailing. I'm strong, but I'm ailing, and you need to come back into my bosom and care for me and care for each other. Better now. That's it. Yeah. [00:16:30] Yeah. Wow. Shit. Um, thank you so much for having me here. Um, as part of the wahine collective here on the panel, Um, to the clip fest organisers I I Firstly, I, I really, really want to say from the from the bottom of my heart that this opportunity [00:17:00] for me to even sit beside this one for here, But But this this moment is really for me and for some of my mates who know about my identity and and, uh uh, my my life story. I wanna take this moment to dedicate this moment to my so in my language, which is Malay means Grandma. My [00:17:30] grandmother was my role model growing up, um, she in in in my In retrospect, she she struggled mental health, mental illness. Um, she was homeless throughout my childhood. Um, she showed me the the beauty of witchcraft and traditional medicine. She taught me how to steal. Hm. [00:18:00] She taught me how to fight. She taught me how to say no when everyone was telling you to shut up and say yes. And until the very last day, she fought like a crazy mad woman that she is. And to me, that was my first taste of what being a woman was like, [00:18:30] So please be upon her. II. I hope she's happy wherever she is right now in the afterlife. But this is for you. The background of why I'm here is, um It's actually five years in coming. I think, Um, I moved to [00:19:00] a started out in Christchurch. I see that like that because it was the most horrible time of my life as a migrant. Um, from the moment I stepped out the plane 10 years ago, um, post September 11 and having a conventionally Muslim name, Um, and my mother wearing a hijab, um, I was already targeted as different from the moment I step [00:19:30] into the suburb where scribe grew up in, um, where where? I was based in neighbours with a bunch of racist skinheads. Um, and also, there were a couple of streets down, like off Hampshire Street, where the Black Power mo mo group were there. Yeah, that corner by the dairy. Yeah. Um, I was I was thrown into that that atmosphere of fear, and at first I thought [00:20:00] it must be because I'm Muslim, and then I thought, no, maybe because I'm a migrant. Um, but I never those days I never thought that I could actually articulate this because I'm indigenous. I have all these. Um the journey that I took coming to in my family was, uh, a really confusing, [00:20:30] um, and violent one, you know, kind of an 18 year old coming into a without knowing anyone in my family. Um, all that adversity kind of like, for better or for worse, put me on this journey to to fight against racism at all, cause I did, however, acknowledge and notice that in order to do that, I had to peel off these layers that I had in order [00:21:00] to have conversations with people that I could talk to about racism. So back then, I was involved with, um, some of the, um, anarchists in Christchurch. Um, and they invited me to this conference, and I still remember. And at that conference, they were initiating a dialogue on, um and and, um, the promise of anarchist movements to actually connect with that and actually meaningfully connect with that in solidarity. [00:21:30] It was a very interesting conference. But I think I spoke out too soon or something, because, um, I didn't get a lot of claps or hugs. Um, I spoke out about and shouldn't be about Maori and language. It shouldn't be language like that, Um, because it doesn't leave space for those of us who are to. I didn't use the because I only learned it a bit after that. But how? How? How does it leave for [00:22:00] those of us who are not Maori in the debate? How does that how do we connect? Then how do we, uh, link back out her stories and our histories into this? And then everyone was like, Oh, what is she on about? You know, So that was my first taste of, um, I guess try to challenge racism, even within activism within, within social movement discourse. Um, but fast track a bit. Um, a few years later, I moved to and I met up with, um and [00:22:30] and that, um so that was good. There was some sort of, you know, kind of like a collective sense of being, I guess, activism as an Asian migrant or a of a person of background. Um, and while while I was connecting as an Asian migrant in the process, you know, and and doing solidarity, work and thinking solidarity work. Um, with Maori, um, N for, [00:23:00] um I felt like I lost myself. Um, and that sense of indigenous knowledge and identity and and processing that I had because I had to think about it in the framing of being migrant. Right? So, um, everything I did III I felt I had to discount the fact that actually, I kind of know what some of these Maori women are talking about. Like I. I don't actually just know about it as an Asian person of colour thing. Um, but then every time I try to do that, um, even within the context [00:23:30] of being involved with Asian feminists, um, an activist, it's the dialogue. Doesn't get richer, right? It just kind of Oh, yeah. Yeah. So what I'm saying is, I crave, you know, I crave to to get connected with with I I crave to get connected with indigenous movements and and beyond solidarity work. I am indigenous. So where do I find that space to actually be there and work as that? [00:24:00] And I thought that I could try to do something today with regards to, um, talking about this journey in terms of negotiating space, Um, and how I did that. And I, I hope that you could also give me feedback on how I can do that further because I would really love to do this further in a and not just in a But wherever I go, I want to bring a I don't want to bring my sense of indigeneity with me. [00:24:30] So today I'm gonna talk a little bit more now about what indigeneity or what being indigenous actually means in the context of a in my perspective. Um, and then how I think that that can be situated in a global context, um, mentioned about, I don't know more And the promise it has to connect everyone from indigenous communities potentially, um, to to think about getting back to that nurturing, getting back to listening to the voice of our, uh, mother [00:25:00] Earth, Uh, my language. I call it, um we call, uh, Mother Earth. Uh, so, uh, means earth? Um, And, um, when it comes to land, when we talk about land, um, in Malay in Bahasa Malay which is the the native language of Singapore. Um, people, um, it's called. I so means land like soil. Earth? Yeah, and iron means water. [00:25:30] But two words is land in our in our language because you can't disconnect land and water. Um, when you say, Where are you from? Where's your in Singapore? I say it like that because it's that whole thing. And I don't just mean that little red dot on the map, the the ocean around it. The the the little the hills that cover through the the water, the little pockets, little ports, that's all. That's all me. Um, so So, yeah. So [00:26:00] Singapore is is where I grew up in where I was born, where I grew up in where my ancestors, um uh, for my ancestors settled in. And I say that with some caution because settler, um, is very strange term to associate with indigenous people of Singapore at the moment. But I wanted to tease out first and foremost before I go further. What does indigenous mean? Um, can [00:26:30] I ask you what? When When? What? What does the word indigenous mean in in your understanding? Yeah, I guess. For me, quickly. It, um it is a sense of being the first peoples of of that land, And so and that talks about the relationship and the responsibility to to care for it and to nurture it. Um, and it talks about that knowledge of that place, [00:27:00] having developed over generations as well. And so that's, you know, roughly roughly a a sort of where I operate from, um, absolutely associated with land and caring for land, Um, and having an intergenerational collection with land as part of your identity as part of what your identity and what your history is and what your future would [00:27:30] be as well, I definitely agree. I think that those traits definitely make someone, um, able to, I guess, legitimately identify as indigenous because, you know, it is it is common knowledge in terms of how we identify that. But, you know, I had this experience, like, last week where I was speaking to one of, uh, I was speaking to someone who's of, um, Indian nationality background. Um, [00:28:00] and we're talking about indigenous rights in Australia, which is like, Right, um, but we were going on and on and on, and then she said, something like, Well, I'm indigenous. I'm an indigenous person from India. And then I stopped and said, You're not an indigenous person, you can't use that word like that. And she was like, Why not? I am. I was born there. That land is my own. The water. And she used all these [00:28:30] words and, you know, and I said, because the word indigenous is so political, You know, if you're gonna use that word, you gotta be responsible. And why are you using it? Don't Don't use it just so that you can feel like you're connecting to the experiences of indigenous people globally today. Um, anyway, she disagreed. Um, and she thought I was full of crap. Um, but this is where my understanding [00:29:00] from my personal lived experiences come in because I think being indigenous, the that the identity of indigenous has to sort of, like, somehow situate in a central nation context because, you know, at the moment, if you are a person from China or India or different parts of Asia, where you still have the predominant ethnicity or predominant race group owning the land and owning the structures and controlling and having power, then indigenous doesn't [00:29:30] seem to fit in, You know, um and then I thought about the influx of a dominant settler like, why would there need to be a term like indigenous stand up if if was fully self determined, um governed and and and owned and and kept by Maori because there was an influx of a dominant centre who came in and decided. I'm just gonna take your lane and give you this, and you usually shut up about it, and that's it. And I will rule from today to forever, and you have nothing to say about [00:30:00] it. Um, so that was important for me to identify as well. I was like, Oh, yeah. Also, there's this idea of indigenous people being left behind, you know, like, you know, our conceptualization of time is different. Like, um, I can sit here and talk forever and, you know, just kind of keep talking and and telling these stories, because time time is supposed to be fluid. You know, it's not meant to be one o'clock to two o'clock and then the next workshop starts [00:30:30] from 2. 30. I was talking about, um, is there going to be this structure thing because I'm just really uncomfortable with that. No, it's all good. We're just gonna flow. So there there's this idea of time, which is which is very different from how we're supposedly growing up in. And it's like the idea of being left behind is is something that indigenous people you know seem to relate to and connection to land, sea and earth. Yeah, definitely. And the history of theft, [00:31:00] as in we have our land stolen from us. We have our land, um, taken away and and manufactured and and run by other people. Uh, our language is diminished, marginalised or even erased, which is the case right now in Singapore, where they're running all these Mandarin speaking campaigns to fit the purposes of the dominant group in Singapore, the Colonial group in Singapore. Um, And then, of course, the realities of poverty, Um, incarceration [00:31:30] rates, uh, death rates, violence in the home or in the street. Oh, it's so fucked up. But that's what makes us indigenous, isn't it? It's so fucked up. And that's why I tell my peer you cannot call yourself indigenous. Yeah, [00:32:00] the last bit about being indigenous, I think, for a, um for a self identified woman. Um, is that the idea of matriarchal power? Like indigenous? I don't OK, maybe I should do more research on this, But in in the Malay culture, before the influx of, um, British imperialism and before the influx of Chinese, um uh, imperialism and, uh, all that, um, And before [00:32:30] the influx of Islam, uh, our culture is I was very matriarchal, like the mother. The mother has the power to feed or not feed. And so, um, if you go hungry, then that's it. You know, um, so that that sort of concept was so, so good and ingrained. And even in the in the movies that, um, the traditional like the older movies about Singapore culture in the sixties or fifties and the those black and white movies. Like when I was watching that with my, [00:33:00] um, with my relatives when I visit, I don know why? Why do we make fun of that bossy? You know, big woman that, you know, takes care of everyone and make sure their husband gets like, pussy whipped, you know, um, that's so cool. It's like that's un Islamic. My relatives go. Yeah, and and then I was like, What do you mean? On Islamic like it's got nothing to do with religion. That's a cultural construct in anyway, Um, didn't end very well, that one as well. But, um, I guess [00:33:30] what I'm trying to say is all these features, um, at risk of sounding as if I'm stereotyping, which I I don't intend to. And I hope that's not taken that way. These are the features that unfortunately connect us as indigenous people. So it it brings me back to today because, um, as I've said with the the conference I went to in Christchurch and in Auckland being involved as a person of colour, an Asian migrant feminist da da da da da da. Um, [00:34:00] um, I've been quietly doing research on, um, what's happening in Singapore from a very underground perspective because you can't trust the news. Right? Um, and I've been kind of, you know, facebooking. And that's great at Facebook. Yeah, um, and and just emailing some of my counterparts there and there's a strong consensus of, um, driving nationalism. You know, that's the other thing. You know, when it's become nationalistic, [00:34:30] then all the indigenous discourse, just that just trickles down. Um, for instance, last year there was a There was a story about this white woman. Yeah, this white woman, Um, she's an expert. You see, in in Asia, like, if you are a white person, right from a European background, um, and you go to Asia. You're not a migrant, you're an expat. So this term is this sexy term. Like you're you're, like, qualified and cosmopolitan. [00:35:00] You're like, cool. And we need more of you to make us look cool and make us look more like democratic because you know better. Right? Um, so this expat woman who said she feels more Singaporean ever more than ever before because she married a Singaporean Chinese man and, like, you know, all that stuff And she wrote this letter to the the paper and she goes, and I don't understand why the national anthem of Singapore is in this language that nobody speaks anyway. And that language is Bahasa. [00:35:30] Um So firstly, I laughed and then I got angry, um, and and I had all my my activist peers kind of going Oh, my God, you don't. If you were here, you'd be, like, just tearing out your hair and shredding this paper to bits because it's frustrating, you know? And that then sudden, there was this discourse like, and then the politicians start coming. No, we have to respect our natives. The they are the first people, you know. The Constitution said so and, um, that's [00:36:00] not good. We are racially harmonious. We need to preserve that and and all that PC went on, um, and then it quiet loud a bit. But then what happened after that was a huge avalanche of like, um, what do you call that thing? Sensationalization of racist attacks on each other, like the this Chinese woman who's like a CEO of, like, some trade union or whatever, which is, like, What is that about? But, um, apparently, apparently she was like saying those bloody Malay weddings under [00:36:30] our apartment building. They're so loud. And that's what happens when you don't when you're poor and you don't have enough money to rent your own hotel and just just stuff, you know, And, um so a very exciting time in Singapore. Um, but I guess through all that knowledge and information I, I start thinking, Well, how do I How do I bring in a with the huge, immensely huge wealth of [00:37:00] knowledge and and from from from Maori, um, who who have set basically the the standards, you know, for indigenous dialogue and self determination in in process, Like, how do I How do I situate this as an activist who still wants to do work there somehow. Right. Um and so I felt that I don't know, more stuff going on, um, over the past year and I and I thought I don't know, I don't know which is great. And then I thought, [00:37:30] Hm. Should I start an I don't know, more Singur Facebook page. Um and so I did with very little research. I just did. I'm proud to say that as of last month, I have 100 followers on that page. 100? That's just crazy. Um, but, you know, the page is is it's not just a page. It's about me. Kind of like just putting a mark there. That Yeah, you know, um, [00:38:00] you gotta start somewhere and let's see what this one takes. But then I thought, Oh, maybe you might know where can I tell you why a few things, firstly, this I don't know more. Uh, Benner is in English, and and because it starts in English because it's articulated in English, a lot of the indigenous, um, I guess support or or or dialogue has been from Western Settle nation countries like, there's some in Australia. And then [00:38:30] there's some in obviously, in Canada in the States. Yeah, UK. Yeah, there's this sort of consensus, you know, but not very not very widespread in in in this area called Asia that we call it. Right. Um And then when I checked the news like I asked my mate, like you guys know what I don't know more is it's so hot, like it's so hot right now. They were like, No, what's that? And this is activist people that, like, you know, go to Al Jazeera and stuff. And I was like, You don't know what I don't know more is. And then I realised All right, [00:39:00] we're split, right? So you guys talk like this, and then we talk like this. Even though we speak English, then the media won't necessarily philtre through. So how are they gonna get excited about what I'm excited about on Facebook, Right. So um, So that's one thing. Like, we need to fix that stuff. Um, And then there's this idea of talking about land cultural environment protection, which is embedded in my Bahaa. It is embedded like I say, right? But [00:39:30] the generation that I grew up in, we don't talk like that in Singapore. We just don't talk like that. We've been so immersed in capitalism and and this this this notion of democracy is an ideal. And therefore you don't need any. Don't be so separatist. OK? No such thing as Malay. Only thing and you know it. I start getting attacked, um, as being, you know, separatist and stuff like that for wanting to even talk about indigenous knowledge and stuff. And so So how do I start If no one wants to talk like that with me, You know, [00:40:00] um, symbolism, You know, the I don't know, more symbol. The What's the word? The feather? Yeah, in the circle and the hold the feather. So cool. When I tried to research, how would I make a I was like, we don't have a thing. Like, um, we have a which is like a Jagger sword. Uh, no. Like a Jagger knife thing, which is a symbol of, um, male royalty and the symbol of power and and self determining power because it's so specific to Malay culture. But [00:40:30] then they get used in Malaysia is just like, you know, overhyped like, you know, traditional icon thing. And I don't want a to be there. It's like, What are you trying to poke? You know, like it's just terrible. Um and the last thing was about languaging. So I try my very best with my limited, um practise of of Malaya Malay here to kind of write a lot of stuff in Bahasa on that page. So I thought, maybe that way you will engage Malay people to kind of go Oh my gosh, you're speaking this [00:41:00] language and then they come in. But now only 100 people. So and I have, like, 600 friends on Facebook. What's that about? You know, like that's not the math doesn't work. Um, anyway, so So those are the things I teased out like the the the the this thing about I don't know more and how it can work in, but maybe not in other countries. And why is that. Why is that? It's because of this Eurocentric system in the colonisation and the knowledge that we have right now, you know. So we need to keep challenging that. And we need to encourage people who are not [00:41:30] in this room who may be of a background if you ever meet people like that to challenge that as well. But I wanted to wrap up by sharing a poem that I think you guys know this one. So, um, when I wanted to express my solidarity for I don't know more, I wrote this. Actually, prior to that, I wrote this poem called Being White. Um, I wrote that at a time when I had [00:42:00] good meaning people in my in my circle as well as other people telling me that race is beyond skin. You know, race is not just about skin or beyond skin. And I say yeah, and then, um um And then, of course, you have the usual racist people who call you reverse races because, you know, I was starting to do music in Melton Pot massacre. And everything we talk about is freaking political and people like tense, intense. Um, so I wrote this because I said I, I have to write this and then when I don't know, more [00:42:30] movement came about. I said, I have to conceptualise this. Um and some of you might have seen that on the spot. I don't know more page, which I submitted. So this one is called being white. Being white is not about a colour. It's about the systematic washing of our minds, our emotional and intellectual capacity into a blanket of unstained neutralised default status, too. We're all equal as humans or [00:43:00] a version of we're all equal Before the law, the man made law by the people that refuse to acknowledge that they operate and manufacture the very invisibility of being white. You see it being white is not about a colour. Because here I am staying since birth in what my mother swears was due to her mistake of drinking Milo during my time in her womb. [00:43:30] My mother, pure Japanese, Indonesian, looking like Chinese, the prized wife who's white in the world of my people, my people, the constitutional natives of Singapore who bathe me in talcum powder to hide me, to shame me to blame me to teach me how dirty my skin is, my skin, [00:44:00] the tint of my father, who creamed himself apologetically with day and night of my grandfather, who allied with British soldiers in World War Two of my grandmother, who rampaged the streets with ways of black magic, crying and trying to find a pathway out of the poverty and misery of being not white. [00:44:30] So tell me, what is it about being white that makes you feel so guilty? Surely it's not your fault that you were born in this day and age and being passed on the legacy of past murders, rape and slavery. Just as much as surely It's not my fault that I was born in this day and age still Brown still bearing the debt of surviving in a world where you must speak English to get a paycheck, to pay for power, [00:45:00] water and rent, and participate in the rationale of being a national of Asia and not yet a citizen of the AA gathering visas waived in the states the benefits of the industrialised aftermath of my people being fucked by the ruling Chinese government that made Singapore this idolised first world nation that rose out of the slums of that bloody third World. [00:45:30] I can never be white even if I stupidly wanted to. I am always visibly charred and shaded The marker of discrimination, exploitation, oppression, victimisation, pollution, disenfranchisement and this pain your invisibility cloaks you wraps you holds [00:46:00] you warms you alive, active, moving, progressing, leading, determining, freeing, saving me The white people who reject being white somehow talk about transcending all colours, seeing people as people, they say seeing cultures as cultures. They say seeing places as places they say. But can you not? The blood dripping off every person [00:46:30] you touch the tears streaming through every mountain and ocean You fly over and every step you take across the border is our ancestor spirit. You shake while we sleep awake. Mhm. Now tell me if being white is not a colour and I will rest your knowing where the lines are drawn in your supposed solidarity with me [00:47:00] and my people of colour. Thank you.
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