S1E5: Don't go so busy | Written and narrated by Jasmine H. Low

Listen by Heart | Stories from Women of the South China Sea | Peacebuilding for Mental Health

Spoken word performance written and narrated by Jasmine H. Low

At the doorstep of BIMP-EAGA nations, China, US & Australian ships have been ‘patrolling’ the South China Sea since Easter. “The South China Sea holds an estimated 190 trillion 👀 cubic feet of natural gas and 11 billion barrels of oil in proved and probable reserves, with much more potentially undiscovered — source AMTI”. I’ve often wondered about the Nanyang women who had to brave the seas, in search for a better land, a husband, a new life. I often wondered how they must have felt, their mothers, thinking they may never see their daughters again. My focus is on the women, because many of them never had their name documented. This Mother’s Day, I’d like to remember them.

— don't go so busy —

don't go so busy with your phones looking to the West when Western ideals are already insipidly you, I mean what are YOUR values today huh? Hah? Or does BTS speak to you more than your Tea’s gone Cold?

don't go so busy with your serial whatsapp groups posting what you ate yesterday in the Western suburbs when so many troops are already in our open waters, and 53 died when their old sub broke under 500-metres, don't go so busy choosing your cereal, your toothpaste while listening to that joe rogan on your airpods, washing your brains with #hashtags not even relevant to you, oh, wait, it’s now #stopasianhate

don't go so busy run run running a million miles, yes miles we once were before the metre, cos you're just feeding the big brother watching your every movement, even your fittest of bits, don't go so clever posting pics of your every meal, your lunch, your dinner, your piece of keto liver, your every calorie saved, your fitness pal my fitness pal who cares

don't go so crazy do research, research here, research there, wondering which vaccine won't give you clots, when your blood is already thickened by sucralose, sorbitol and every sweetener the world has ever seen, see, those dots? Ya it’s keratosis pilaris as that tiktok md says, but why is it a new normal, doc?!

haiya, don't go la, just sit back, relax, drink your teh tarik and make it kurang manis, eat your Roti dipped in dahl and sambal, but so much carbs liao ditch the koay teow, turn on the news at the mamak but WAIT cannot be...

Is that Ann Lee* on TV?! Are we back in 1993?!

— BACKGROUND —

a woke prose as there are those who are wagging dog's tails, donno what it means ah? google la, wag the dog's tail is mean make you so busy you look look look your teevee until you don't see where you walk then BOOM fall into longkang lah!

thank you ah!

— LISTEN ACROSS ALL PLATFORMS —

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/listenbyheart/message

Apple podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/dont-go-so-busy-by-jasmine-h-low/id1561979585?i=1000520814627

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2KtGiS7UbiwX8GdiJWk6ip?si=qNuyiJQiSbO-bb3y9cKhYw&dl_branch=1

Website: https://listenbyheartpodcast.Wordpress.com

YouTube: https://youtu.be/JJDXPMqjykQ

America's CNN article in reference: https://edition.cnn.com/2021/04/12/china/south-china-sea-taiwan-military-tensions-intl-hnk/index.html?fbclid=IwAR2nf9qelH01w54oJuPvN4xF3F4vn_cGKgCoLNGz3cOVbvYFlexOVv8cAxs

China's CGTN article for comparison: https://news.cgtn.com/news/2021-04-09/China-urges-U-S-to-stop-provocative-acts-in-South-China-Sea-ZjXidJrpOE/index.html

VICE article about sub that broke: https://www.vice.com/en/article/bvzx84/chilling-photos-indonesian-submarine-military

*Dr Ann Lee was a former newscaster on RTM2, Malaysia and is an award-winning playwright, presenter and researcher.

^Longkang = drain