Chun

I feel like I’m slipping back into a gluttonous lifestyle. I can easily put away 4,000 calories a day—sometimes even more, not gonna lie. Over the past month, the weight has been creeping up, and my waistline has noticeably expanded. I’ve drawn up plans before—telling myself that starting tomorrow I’ll eat only this, exercise that—but none of it has stuck. I end up losing steam and crashing. I think the main reason is the pressure from work and my language commitments. I need to finish a chapter by April and prepare for the oral exam. After that, I’ve got to send in another chapter for the GSS 2025 edited volume, though I don’t even know if it’ll get accepted. On top of that, I need to polish both my English and Malay, which I really should have spent more time on. And all the while, I don’t want to slow down with Vietnamese either. All this pressure weighs on me, and after grinding away all day and feeling like I’m going nowhere, I end up turning to food. Food is the only thing that c...

Ethnography is about sitting down with people and hearing their stories. We’re not the ones calling the shots; we’re walking alongside them. History isn’t just the grand tales of victors—it’s also the everyday lives that often go unnoticed. We ask “what” and “how” so that people can open up. Sometimes the answers are messy or incomplete, but that matters too. When we write, we carry fragments of their lives with us. Ethnography is, in the end, a map made of human stories. Dân tộc học là ngồi xuống cùng người khác và lắng nghe câu chuyện của họ. Chúng ta không phải người nắm quyền; chúng ta chỉ đi bên cạnh họ. Lịch sử không chỉ là những câu chuyện lớn của kẻ chiến thắng, mà còn là những mảnh đời bình thường ít ai để ý. Chúng ta hỏi “cái gì” và “như thế nào” để người ta mở lòng. Đôi khi câu trả lời mơ hồ, nhưng điều đó cũng quan trọng. Khi viết, ta giữ lại những mảnh vụn của đời họ. Dân tộc học, rốt cuộc, là một tấm bản đồ dệt bằng những câu chuyện con người. Etnografi ialah duduk bersam...

I want to improve my English and Malay vocabulary, but Vietnamese already takes up so much of my time—two hours a day, sometimes even more. And it’s not just the time; it’s the energy. I feel completely drained after grinding through my Vietnamese flashcards. I don’t think I have the mental capacity to tackle two more new decks. Honestly, I’m starting to wonder if Anki is really the right approach for English and Malay. For context, I keep a diary and translate it into both Vietnamese and Malay. That way, I can practice all three languages at once. Still, I’m asking myself: is there another method besides Anki that I could use to improve my English and Malay without driving myself nuts? I got an answer from Copilot. It suggested that instead of using Anki, I could highlight new vocabulary in my diary and also while reading. I’d then collect those words and copy them into a word log, which I could review once or twice a week. That sounds like a solid plan—I think I could do that.  T...

Adolescence (2025) on Netflix is heartbreaking. It tells the story of the aftermath of a 13‑year‑old boy murdering his classmate. He had fallen under the influence of the incel manosphere culture, while his parents remained largely unaware—thinking he was simply spending time on the computer like any other young boy. The series highlights two major issues: parenting and relationships. First, although the parents provided everything they could, they were blind to how harmful the internet can be for a teenager. Second, many young people—and even adults—are more isolated than ever. It’s ironic, isn’t it? We live in the age of social media, supposedly more connected than at any point in history, yet these platforms often fail to build genuine bonds. Instead, they trap us in echo chambers, exposing us only to one voice, one perspective. This is exactly how incel culture festers. Jamie was mocked as an incel, eventually embraced the label himself, and was drawn deeper into the toxic manosphe...

There’s a T‑intersection on my campus that really gets on my nerves sometimes. It’s the spot that connects the on‑campus and off‑campus areas, and I have to cross it every single day to get to the canteen, the MRT station, and my classes—basically everywhere. The problem is that the road coming into the T is on a slope. You can’t see the cars until they’re right at the mouth of the intersection, and they can’t see you either. On top of that, cars are turning in from both the left and right, so you end up checking behind, ahead, and to the side all at once. And of course, there’s no pedestrian crossing. The cars aren’t going fast, so technically they could slow down when they see me crossing. But this is Hong Kong—no line means cars have the right of way. I always feel tempted to do it the Vietnamese way: just step out when it’s safe enough, even if a car is nearby, and let them go around me, slow down, or wait a few seconds. Honestly, that way feels better. Có một ngã ba hình chữ T tro...

I set a rule for myself: no long texts after midnight. People always say nothing good happens late at night, and I’ve come to believe it. Those hours are when I feel most vulnerable. Emotions hit harder—ten times stronger than they do during the day. You could call it “deep feeling.” But honestly, sometimes it’s better not to show your full self to others. It can be overwhelming. So I hold back—whether it’s sadness, loneliness, or a long confession. I revisit those feelings the next day, and most of the time I don’t even feel like sharing them anymore. Maybe it’s a little unfortunate that I can’t always be upfront, but that’s life. Tôi đặt ra một quy tắc cho bản thân: không nhắn tin dài sau nửa đêm. Người ta thường nói chẳng có gì tốt xảy ra vào lúc khuya, và tôi đã tin điều đó. Những giờ ấy là lúc tôi dễ tổn thương nhất. Cảm xúc trở nên mạnh mẽ hơn—gấp mười lần so với ban ngày. Có thể gọi đó là “cảm xúc sâu sắc.” Nhưng thật ra, đôi khi tốt hơn là không nên bộc lộ toàn bộ con người mìn...

I just finished watching Stranger Things season 5. This is supposed to be the end of the series. Though it’s not the best TV show ever made, Stranger Things was my very first Netflix binge. Back then, I used Netflix to practice English, and I never would have thought that learning the language could be so enjoyable. These days, I don’t watch TV series as often, but every now and then, spending two straight days binging a show really brings back the good old times. Saya baru sahaja selesai menonton Stranger Things musim ke-5. Ini sepatutnya menjadi pengakhiran bagi siri tersebut. Walaupun bukanlah siri TV terbaik yang pernah dibuat, Stranger Things ialah rancangan pertama yang saya tonton secara maraton di Netflix. Ketika itu, saya menggunakan Netflix untuk berlatih bahasa Inggeris, dan saya tidak pernah terfikir bahawa belajar bahasa Inggeris boleh jadi begitu menyeronokkan. Kini, saya tidak lagi menonton siri TV sekerap dahulu, tetapi sekali-sekala, menonton sesuatu rancangan tanpa he...