Page 48 - 2023 eMag Final Draft

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“Out of touch.”

Maybe it’s the curse of youth,
邱忻懿
l Z Maybe it’s this modern dream & such, A
Or maybe it's just plain truth…

But-

Written by Khoo Xin Yi Sr2ScA

邱

I wondered if I would ever be remembered, or if I ever deserved to be remembered.

A tarnished pink bag fell beside the tug of my hip, a motion of faltering in oscillation, like
how autumn repeats itself over and over, except we don’t have autumn here. Mismatched
clothes, and a yellow string knotted around my wrist. The smell of incense and luxury
architecture burning the gaps between my lungs, cutting deep within the intricate veins

leading towards my heart.

“The Khoo Kongsi (simplified Chinese: 邱公司) is the largest Hokkien clan house in
Malaysia with elaborate and highly ornamented architecture, a mark of the dominant

presence of the Chinese in Penang, Malaysia. The famous Khoo Kongsi is the grandest
clan temple in the country…”

Another glare in my eyes, yet now I wonder if it ever amounted to something more than

just a name. A legacy, perhaps? One lost to time and to ruin, but still not quite.

The Khoo Clan had a genealogical chart, passing down a guide of each generation’s
supposed middle name, though only for men. 40 different characters, each dependent

on generation and family branch. A part of us, once discarded by my grandmother,
eventually brought back just a lifetime after.

Hopefully never to be forgotten ever again.

“23rd generation - Teng 鼎”
“Hey, that’s my brother’s middle name.”

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Illustration by Chew Ni Jie Sr1ScA