Author Archives: wuyaning

I don’t celebrate Christmas. I got lost twice on the way to a festive lights show in Hyde Park with my college friends and whizzed through the din without stopping for a hot chocolate. I stood in a packed chapel in high school while dramatic renditions of the nativity were performed and watched as onlyContinue reading “Christmas gifts”

This year, and this day, have shown me how lucky I am. Here are 18 reasons why, excluding the ultimate gifts of sustenance, shelter, education, and good health. I am grateful for: Original Tabasco sauce. It’s a culinary staple in any household I occupy, and variations of the classic don’t come close. These tiny bottlesContinue reading “An Early Thanksgiving: 18 Pieces of Gratitude”

I have been so delayed in updating this blog that many of you are likely unaware of the significance I ascribe to March 23rd, 2020. Or maybe that date’s significance is the reason for my delay. Either way, I apologise. The very representation of a key epidemiological concept is playing out across the globe rightContinue reading “180 days.”

March 22nd, a Sunday, celebrates mothers around the world. Our lives are likely in tumult as you read this, and our fears and uncertainties cannot be minimised. But today, I’ll be honouring the women who hold the world together, in this time as in any other. In one of my heavier posts on this blog,Continue reading “I demand equity.”

*This post is unedited and akin to a stream of consciousness. I apologise about this. I had unexpected inspiration for my writing today. Ginormous story short, I am in the nearly-empty triage room of a paediatric emergency ward, waiting for my name to be called. I’m okay. Everything’s intact. It could be worse, at leastContinue reading “Advice from a tree”

Note: this post contains language that some readers may find distressing. Please take care. I’ve done it. I’ve jumped on the bandwagon. At the beginning of this decade, I was a third grader in a New York City public school. My art and PE classes were becoming sporadic due to underfunding. I exchanged germs andContinue reading “Reflecting on a decade”

Yesterday, the reality of the Christmas holidays struck me. A friend had texted the day before, asking if I was back from rehearsals. She was raring to give me something. “What is it?”, I pressed. “You really didn’t have to”, I said in Mandarin, hoping that would make an impact. It didn’t. Of course sheContinue reading “On leaving so soon: two stories”

Warning: the following article contains brief graphic descriptions of medical symptoms. What do you envision when you hear the word ‘experiment’? Bespectacled researchers with white coats and pristine microscope slides working into the wee hours of the night? Lab mice injected with this, that, and the other, scurrying around a maze? What if I toldContinue reading “Eat your oranges!”

I’ll try not to sound like a college application essay here. I come from balmy Beijing summers and evenings sketching the neighbour’s old bike, hordes of mosquitoes inching up my dress. I come from crisp Woodside* weekends and creaky-ladder-mulberry-picking with the gang who’d completed their times tables. I come from breezy Cairo mornings on theContinue reading “About your resident thought-bombarder”

Disclaimer: I write only as a passionate student observer on issues of social justice and disability. I am not widely read on this topic, nor do I have direct personal experience of the pertinent issues. This is my own opinion. Correct me in the comments! I went on a walking tour of my university campusContinue reading “How accessible is my campus?”