Author: t
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “History and Anachronism in Christopher Smithβs Samurai with Telephones” by Raymond K. Nakamura Christopher Smith, Samurai with Telephones: Anachronism in Japanese Literature, University of Michigan Press, 2024. 242 pgs.…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “History and Anachronism in Christopher Smithβs ππππ’πππ π€ππ‘β πππππβππππ ” by Raymond K. Nakamura](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/christopher-smiths-samurai-with-telephones.jpg)
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[CONVERSATION] βFlights of Memory and Meaning: On Paper Planeβ by Sadie Kaye and Nifraz Rifaz Nifraz Rifaz, Paper Plane, The Jam Fruit Tree Publications, 2026. 368 pgs. In my review of Paper Plane, first published in The Hooghly Review, on…
![[CONVERSATION] “Flights of Memory and Meaning: On πππππ πππππ” by Sadie Kaye and Nifraz Rifaz](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/nifraz-rifaz-paper-plane-cha.jpg)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Influence, Fandom, and Platform Power: On Asian Celebrity Cultures in the Digital Age” by Jennifer Junwa Lau Jian Xu, Glen Donnar, and Divya Garg (editors). Asian Celebrity Cultures in the…
![[REVIEW] “Influence, Fandom, and Platform Power: On π΄π πππ πΆπππππππ‘π¦ πΆπ’ππ‘π’πππ ππ π‘βπ π·ππππ‘ππ π΄ππ” by Jennifer Junwa Lau](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/jennifer-lau-influence-fandom-and-platform-power-asian-celebrity-cultures.png)
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[REVIEW] “A City in Panorama: Hong Kong Through Keith Macgregorβs Lens” by Simon Patton Keith Macgregor. An Eye on Hong Kong, Odyssey Publications, 1999. 196 pgs. It was Martin Booth who once observed that the view of Victoria Harbour regularly…
![[REVIEW] “A City in Panorama: Hong Kong Through Keith Macgregorβs Lens” by Simon Patton](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/an-eye-on-hong-kong-keith-macgregor.jpeg)
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[Incidental] “The Foodie Poo Review: Under the Table with Mojo Kaye”, translated by his human Sadie Kaye As soon as you approach the restaurant premises, your senses will explode at the welcoming sweet-and-sour aroma of charred meat and sweaty feet.…
![[INCIDENTAL] “The Foodie Poo Review: Under the Table with Mojo Kaye” by Sadie Kaye](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/mojo.jpeg)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Pains, Survival, and Self-Publishing: Gurpreet Kaur Khosaβs Pain & Other Inheritances” by Michael Tsang Gurpreet Kaur Khosa. Pain & Other Inheritances, BookLeaf Publishing, 2025. 50 pgs. This collection stands…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Pains, Survival, and Self-Publishing: Gurpreet Kaur Khosaβs ππππ & ππ‘βππ πΌπβππππ‘πππππ ” by Michael Tsang](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/pain-other-inheritances.jpg)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] βFood as Violence, Food as Salvation: Ramya Chamalie Jirasingheβs Father Cabraalβs Recipe for Love Cakeβ by Rituparna Mukherjee Ramya Chamalie Jirasinghe. Father Cabraalβs Recipe for Love Cake, Penguin Random House…
![[REVIEW] βFood as Violence, Food as Salvation: Ramya Chamalie Jirasingheβs πΉππ‘βππ πΆππππππβπ π
πππππ πππ πΏππ£π πΆπππβ by Rituparna Mukherjee](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/ramya-chamalie-jarasinghe.-father-cabraals-recipe-for-love-cake.jpg)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Terao Tetsuya’s Spent Bullets: Alienation and Intimacy in Silicon Valleyβs Taiwanese Diaspora” by Jennifer Eagleton Terao Tetsuya (author), Kevin Wang (translator). Spent Bullets, HarperCollins, 2025. 208 pgs. Set in…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Terao Tetsuya’s πππππ‘ π΅π’ππππ‘π : Alienation and Intimacy in Silicon Valleyβs Taiwanese Diaspora” by Jennifer Eagleton](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/spent-bullets-hardcover-e28093-october-14-2025-by-terao-tetsuya-author-kevin-wang.jpg)
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Editor’s note: In this feature, we present an interview with Jennifer Wong on her new collection Light Year, conducted by Chaβs staff reviewer Michael Tsang. Wongβs work is widely recognised for its attentiveness to memory, language, and the complexities of…
![[CONVERSATION] “Writing Through Loss, Language, and Home: On πΏππβπ‘ ππππ” by Michael Tsang and Jennifer Wong](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/light-year-paperback-e28093-19-feb.-2026-english-edition-by-jennifer-wong-author.jpg)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [FIRST IMPRESSIONS] βFor Novice and Expert: Jeffrey Wasserstromβs Everything You Wanted to Know About China (But Were Afraid to Ask)β by Susan Blumberg-Kason Click HERE to read ALL entries in Chaon…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] βFor Novice and Expert: Jeffrey Wasserstromβs πΈπ£πππ¦π‘βπππ πππ’ ππππ‘ππ π‘π πΎπππ€ π΄πππ’π‘ πΆβπππ (π΅π’π‘ ππππ π΄πππππ π‘π π΄π π)β by Susan Blumberg-Kason](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/everything-you-wanted-to-know-about-china-.jpg)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Understanding China Beyond the Headlines: Jeffrey Wasserstrom’s Everything You Wanted to Know About China” by Jennifer Eagleton Click HERE to read ALL entries in Chaon Everything You Wanted to…
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “A Librarianβs Take on Zheng Liuβs Cultural Mavericks: The Business and Politics of Independent Bookselling in China” by Raymond Pun Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Cultural Mavericks. Zheng Liu, Cultural…
![[REVIEW] “A Librarianβs Take on Zheng Liuβs πΆπ’ππ‘π’πππ πππ£ππππππ : πβπ π΅π’π ππππ π πππ πππππ‘πππ ππ πΌππππππππππ‘ π΅ππππ ππππππ ππ πΆβπππ” by Raymond Pun](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/cultural-mavericks-the-business-and-politics-of-independent-bookselling-in-china.jpg)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Jack Ngβs Night King: Elegy for a Vanishing East Tsim Sha Tsui” by Jonathan Han Jack Ng (director). Night King, 2026. 132 min. Growing up, East Tsim Sha Tsui…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Jack Ngβs πππβπ‘ πΎπππ: Elegy for a Vanishing East Tsim Sha Tsui” by Jonathan Han](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/3333.webp)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] βMoshin Hamidβs Moth Smoke: What Binds and What Breaks Usβ by Abhinav Tulachan Moshin Hamid, Moth Smoke, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2000. 256 pgs. I was, much to my own…
![[REVIEW] βMoshin Hamidβs πππ‘β πππππ: What Binds and What Breaks Usβ by Abhinav Tulachan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/moth-smoke-moshin-hamid.jpg)
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[REVIEW] “Collecting the Dead, Preserving the Lives: On Vinu P and Niyas Kareem’s The Corpse Collector” by Kabir Deb Vinu P and Niyas Kareem (authors), Ministhy S. (translator). The Corpse Collector: A True Story. Juggernaut Books, 2023. 237 pgs. Death,…
![[REVIEW] “Collecting the Dead, Preserving the Lives: On Vinu P and Niyas Kareem’s πβπ πΆππππ π πΆππππππ‘ππ” by Kabir Deb](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/the-corpse-collector-a-true-story-niyas-kareem-author-vinu-p-author-ministhy-s.-translator.jpg)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] βA Messy Magnum Opus: Mai Jiaβs The Colonel and the Eunuchβ by Kevin McGeary Mai Jia (author), Dylan Levi King (translator). The Colonel and the Eunuch, Apollo, 2024. 400 pgs.…
![[REVIEW] βA Messy Magnum Opus: Mai Jiaβs πβπ πΆππππππ πππ π‘βπ πΈπ’ππ’πββ by Kevin McGeary](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/mai-jia-author-dylan-levi-king-translator.-the-colonel-and-the-eunuch.jpg)
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Editor’s note: Through a sequence of transient homes across Singapore and Malaysia, Sia Ling Ee’s essay βTo All the Homes Iβd Known Beforeβ traces a childhood shaped by precarity, familial strain, and longing for stability. Contrasted with her husbandβs rooted…
![[ESSAY] βTo All the Homes Iβd Known Beforeβ by Sia Ling Ee](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/pic-1-amk-rental-flat.jpeg)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [FIRST IMPRESSIONS] βHope and Despair in Post War Japan: Akira Kurosawaβs One Wonderful Sundayβ by Jeremiah Dutch Akira Kurosawa (director). One Wonderful Sunday, 1947. 108 min. It cannot be said often…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] βHope and Despair in Post War Japan: Akira Kurosawaβs πππ ππππππππ’π ππ’ππππ¦β by Jeremiah Dutch](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/https-mubi.comenbefilmsone-wonderful-sunday.jpeg)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS Editor’s note: Qinxian Bonnie Ran’s essay examines Amitav Ghosh’s incorporation of Cantonese into English in River of Smoke. She argues that the novel’s multilingual Fanqui City creates a space where economic…
![[ESSAY] “Canton and Cantonese in Amitav Ghoshβs π
ππ£ππ ππ πππππ” by Qinxian Bonnie Ran](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/river-of-smoke_cha.jpg)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Fragmentation and Repair in Leslie Shimotakaharaβs The Breakwater” by Jonathan Han All things Leslie Shimotakahara in Cha. Leslie Shimotakahara, The Breakwater, Cormorant Books, 2026. 350 pgs. Since committing his…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Fragmentation and Repair in Leslie Shimotakaharaβs πβπ π΅πππππ€ππ‘ππ” by Jonathan Han](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/the-breakwater.jpg)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [FIRST IMPRESSIONS] βBearing Witness in Gigi L. Leungβs Everyday Movementβ by Rebekah Chan ClickΒ HERE to readΒ all entries inΒ ChaΒ onΒ Everyday Movement. Gigi L. Leung (author), Jennifer Feeley (translator), Everyday Movement, Riverhead Books. 2026.…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Bearing Witness in Gigi L. Leungβs πΈπ£πππ¦πππ¦ πππ£πππππ‘” by Rebekah Chan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/everyday-movement-by-gigi-l.-leung-translated-by-jennifer-feeley-.jpg)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] βSleep, Baby, Oh Donβt You Sleep: Thailandβs Northeast in Apichatpong Weerasethakulβs Cemetery of Splendour and Thunska Pansittivorakulβs Isan Odysseyβ by Peixuan Xie β Apichatpong Weerasethakul (director), Cemetery of Splendour, 2015.…
![[ESSAY] βSleep, Baby, Oh Donβt You Sleep: Thailandβs Northeast in Apichatpong Weerasethakulβs πΆππππ‘πππ¦ ππ ππππππππ’π and Thunska Pansittivorakulβs πΌπ ππ πππ¦π π ππ¦β by Peixuan Xie](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/apichatpong-weerasethakuls-cemetery-of-splendour-and-thunska-pansittivorakuls-isan-odyssey.png)
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Editor’s note: Leslie Shimotakahara reflects on how a childhood encounter with an institutionalised great-uncle, silenced by internment-era injustice, became her latest novel The Breakwater. She recounts research, family reticence, editorial reshaping, and the imaginative recovery of erased places, presenting writing…
![[ESSAY] βFrom Scrapbooking to Novel Writing: Giving Voice to an Unsettling Family Secret in πβπ π΅πππππ€ππ‘ππβ by Leslie Shimotakahara](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/leslieshimotakahara_photo.jpg)
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All things Leslie Shimotakahara in Cha. [EXCERPT] βFrom The Breakwaterβ by Leslie Shimotakahara Leslie Shimotakahara, The Breakwater, Cormorant Books, 2026. 350 pgs. I wasnβt a week past my seventeenth birthday. Freshly kicked out of the house. All hell had broken…
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] βWe Are What We Read: Reading Zheng Liuβs Cultural Mavericksβ by X. H. Collins Click HERE to readΒ all entries inΒ ChaΒ onΒ Cultural Mavericks. Zheng Liu, Cultural Mavericks: The Business and Politics of…
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[ESSAY] βLost and Found in Languagesβ by Qinxian Bonnie Ran Photo by Peicen Yan The Failure of Poetry Ma, I read a poem today: βthe walls have been mortared with grief, dark enoughTo make blindness as a giftβwe donβt have…
![[ESSAY] βLost and Found in Languagesβ by Qinxian Bonnie Ran](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/yan7.jpg)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] “Poetry as Archive: Creativity, Political Commitment, and the Everyday in Tammy Lai-Ming Ho’s If I Do Not Reply” by Hannah Steurer Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on If I Do Not Reply.…
![[ESSAY] “Poetry as Archive: Creativity, Political Commitment, and the Everyday in Tammy Lai-Ming Ho’s πΌπ πΌ π·π πππ‘ π
πππ𦔠by Hannah Steurer](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/if-i-do-not-reply_tammy-ho.jpg)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] “Ghostly Formations and Queer Futures: On Queer Southeast Asia” by Charlotte Marie Chadwick Shawna Tang and Hendri Yulius Wijaya (editors). Queer Southeast Asia, Routledge. 2022. 296 pgs. Queer Southeast Asia,…
![[ESSAY] “Ghostly Formations and Queer Futures: On ππ’πππ πππ’π‘βπππ π‘ π΄π ππ” by Charlotte Marie Chadwick](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/queer-southeast-asia-edited-by-shawna-tang-hendri-yulius-wijaya-copyright-2023.jpg)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Between Golf and Karaoke: Locating Filipino Identity in Rafael Manuelβs FilipiΓ±ana” By Ciro Quiapos Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on FilipiΓ±ana. Rafael Manuel (director), FilipiΓ±ana, 2020. 24 min. Before Rafael Manuelβs directorial…
![[REVIEW] “Between Golf and Karaoke: Locating Filipino Identity in Rafael Manuelβs FilipiΓ±ana” By Ciro Quiapos](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/filipinana-trailer-diretto-da-rafael-manuel-filippine-regno-unito-2020.png)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS Editor’s note: Jason S Polley opens his review essay by recounting his fond and fervent championing of Kit Fanβs first novel, Diamond Hill (2021), whose Cantonese-inflected language enabled rare intergenerational and…
![[ESSAY] βπππ πΊππ Canton: Reading Kit Fanβs πΊπππππ¦π πΆβππππ‘ππ€πβ by Jason S Polley](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/goodbye-chinatown-kit-fan-cha.jpg)