My parents grew up in a Singapore before land reclamation. Back then, Beach Road was by the beach and the East Coast Parkway was not yet built over the thriving reefs that lined our southern coast. The local landscape resembled its neighbors’, its seamless flow across borders a testament to geologic history. Naturally, my parents’ experiences of such terrains became the stories I grew up with.

Di Mana Pulau Kamu? is an illustrated poem that draws from the dissonance between past and present experiences of our island state. It explores the notion of natural heritage as a lived relationship with nature over generations, considers the implications of severing this inheritance, and asks what we can offer our children in its place.