#and if LoR is getting the same thing then... uhm well! | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

nitewrighter · 3 years

Note

for the teen Titans ficlet thing, I don’t suppose you could do “there was only one bed” for robin and starfire?

*slams fist down on table* STARFIRE IS THE BIG SPOON.

----

"I think you are overacting," Starfire said, her arms folded across her garish tye-dyed nightshirt.

"Overreacting," Robin corrected, adjusting the waistband on his sweats as he stepped out of the bathroom, "And--I'm not. I've slept in lean-tos in the Alaskan hinterland and in literal trees in the Virunga mountains. I can handle a hotel floor."

Starfire scoffed. "You are being ridiculous! It is a bed! There is room for two! Plenty of my people sleep in Tesh'li!"

"Er..." Robin gave her a blank look and Starfire seemed to realize that that word hadn't translated over.

"Uhm..." Starfire's brow furrowed for a few seconds as she struggled for the closest english equivalent, "Tesh'li are like... clusters? P-piles? It is very common for families."

"...Tamaraneans sleep in piles?" Robin's brow crinkled at the mental image.

" Tesh'li. 'Piles' implies gravity is a strong factor in the composition of bodies," said Starfire.

"...right, floating..." Robin said quietly.

"The whole team had a big Tesh'li in that cave when we had that mission in Markovia!" Starfire said, clearly frustrated, "Beast Boy turned into a grizzly bear and Cyborg turned off his cooling systems to share body heat! You and Raven even shared your capes! Why is this worse? Am I worse?"

"It's not worse--I mean obviously you're not worse-- it's just---when it's just two people--" Robin drew in a tense breath through his teeth before slumping his shoulders, defeated. "It's like... an earth... thing."

"I am aware that earth has many things," said Starfire, clearly not satisfied with this answer.

Robin sighed.

"Oh!" Starfire perked up, "It is one of your earth intimacy hangups! Because large portions of your population spent several centuries convincing yourselves that your natural instinct to be close and reproduce were affronts to your creator deities! And that still lingers in your cultural practices!"

"Uh..." Robin didn't really have a response to that.

"I have been reading the Earth histories," said Starfire, a little smugly.

"That's great," said Robin, meekly.

“Well it is not like any of ‘the funny business’ will be happening,” said Starfire, using the finger quotes around the words ‘funny business.’ Robin really regretted letting Beast Boy teach her how to make air quotes with her fingers and that she had only been getting better at figuring out when to use them. “But I will respect your cultural practice and let you sleep on the floor, even though that is dumb and a little gross and you will wake up with the aching back.”

"You sure are a diplomat, huh?" said Robin, drily.

“Mm-hmm!” Starfire nodded.

This was supposed to be a victory in the argument for Robin--since Starfire was recognizing the boundaries he was laying out, but who was he laying them out for if she didn’t care about them? Himself? Alfred had made a point of bringing him up to be ‘proper’ and ‘gentlemanly’ (perhaps to make up for some shortcomings with Bruce) but Robin’s own childhood in the Circus was closer to what Starfire was describing--the performers spent so much time traveling and setting up and breaking down the circus that they had to catch sleep when they could, sleeping in piles, often with little regard for gender or age. He remembered sleeping splayed across his parents’ laps when he was small, or with his cheek smushed against Samson the Strongman’s bicep, or even in the pile of poodles, borzois, and border collies that made up the act of ‘Rivka’s Fabulous Tumbling Dogs.’ Sometimes he would even wake up with white greasepaint smudged in his hair from sleeping on one of the clowns’ shoulders. But now here he was, feeling like a bit of an idiot as Starfire pulled some sheets off the bed and the extra pillow and handed them over to him, before plopping down cross-legged on the bed herself and turning on the hotel room TV.

“Did you want to watch something?” Starfire glanced at him.

“I’m fine with whatever you want to watch,” Robin shrugged.

Robin took the uncomfortable wooden chair next to the too-small hotel table where their mostly-eaten one-half pepperoni one half pineapple-anchovy pizza sat. Starfire quickly flicked through the channels until reaching a public access channel where a reindeer bellowed on the screen.

“The noble caribou,” the narrator spoke, “A proud fixture of the tundras of the north that have roamed these grass-covered polar deserts for thousands of years.”

Robin gave a glance over to Starfire who was lying on her stomach on the bed and kicking her feet back and forth, her chin in her hands like any preppy teenaged earth girl watching her favorite low-budget cringeworthy high school drama starring 29-year-olds.

“But this is not a story of the caribou, no we will focus on a friend who has been here even longer,” the camera panned down to a caribou gnawing some knotty, netted-looking substance from the ground, “That industrious, unsung hero: The lichen. This is... Life of Lichen.”

“What happened to ‘World of Fungus?’” Robin tilted his head.

“You remembered?” Starfire perked up.

“I mean it’s your favorite,” Robin shrugged, “Or I guess this is your new favorite?”

“Life of Lichen is the sequel!” Starfire said excitedly, “Technically it is the third sequel. The first was ‘Our Friend the Algae,’ the second was, ‘World of Fungus’ and now it is ‘Life of Lichen!’ Because you need both algae and fungus to create it,” She paused a bit, “I can... change it if you prefer something else though.”

“Nah I kind of like it. It’s calming,” said Robin, “I used to only research stuff for like... missions and investigations... it’s nice to just... be interested in things.” He craned in his seat a little to see better.

“There is room,” said Starfire, scooting herself over, “You can see better here.”

Robin paused for a few seconds, then got up and took a seat on the bed, propping some pillows up against the headboard for himself to lean against.

“While lichen bears superficial similarity to moss, there are many differences, the first starting with composition. Mosses, of course, are plants, while lichens are composite organisms, there are over 20,000 known species...” The documentary narrator continued talking as the camera panned across a rainbow of lichens on the side of a rock and Robin found his eyelids drooping,

He could have sworn he only rested his eyes for a few minutes when he suddenly startled awake. Most of the hotel room lights were off, save for the bedside lamp, the credits were running on the TV and the previews were next week’s episode were promising to delve into the exciting world of lichens growing on trees, as opposed to this episode which mainly featured lichens growing on rocks.

“Starfire?” Robin said, his voice hoarse with sleepiness.

“Mm?” Starfire was already turning around and fluffing up her pillow, the faint green glow of her eyes creating a low spooky light in the room.

“The floor’s kinda gross,” said Robin.

“The floor is indeed gross,” said Starfire.

“Is it cool if--”

“It is very cool,” said Starfire. She reached and got the pillow he had on the floor next to the bed and passed it over to him.

“Alright,” Robin got under the sheets. Maybe he would have found more energy to be flustered about the action if he hadn’t been lulled by an hour of a husky British accent talking about lichens. Starfire seemed to be respecting his ‘earth intimacy hangups’ and slept on her side with her back to him.

“G’night,” said Robin.

“Sleep well,” Starfire’s voice was half muffled into her pillow as he turned off the bedside lamp.

It didn’t take too long for Starfire’s breathing to go slow and rhythmic, but Robin was still staring at the ceiling.

God, I made that weird, he thought, Why did I have to make such a big deal about sleeping on the floor? I mean I literally was repeatedly saying it’s not a big deal and it wasn’t but now it’s a whole thing. What if she thinks I don’t like her? What if she knows I like her but she’s really pushing the alien thing so we don’t have to address it? No that’s awful, she wouldn’t do that--earth means too much to her to do that. That was shitty of me to think. ‘Earth Intimacy hangups.’ I don’t have earth intimacy hangups. I should probably let her know that it’s probably not cool to tell people they have ‘earth intimacy hangups’ right to their face. I’m cool with it though. Because I don’t make big deals of things. I mean it wouldn’t be a big deal to sleep on the floor. Oh god I’m obsessing over this.

He turned on his side so that he was facing her back in the bed. He stared at her, watching her shoulders slowly shift with her breath. He tried to match the pace of his breath to hers.

Tesh’li, huh? he thought, and he felt his eyelids get heavy. He imagined a distant world with high-ceilinged palaces, and a family sleeping in a pile on a heap of luxurious cushions and circular futons, one of their two daughters hovering upside-down just above them. His eyelids slowly slid shut, Doesn’t sound so bad...

He woke up at 2 in the morning drowning in hair.

Starfire was hovering about a half foot off the bed, half the blankets hanging off of her, still in that same ‘lying on her side’ position, though now angled so that the majority of her hair was piled directly on Robin’s face. Robin sputtered quietly, pushing hair out of his eyes and mouth and flinching hard as he realized Starfire was floating.

“Star-pft-fire?” he whispered hoarsely, still pushing hair from his face.

“Robinnn... Kan’ah peq lor-faon eshdarm...” Starfire murmured in Tamaranean.

“...What?” Robin said blankly before she dropped back down onto the bed with a bounce and a loud creak of mattress springs, still dead asleep. A cat-like snore escaped her as she readjusted herself in the blankets. Robin breathed in a steadying breath, coming to terms with what he had just seen and how it was all perfectly normal what with Starfire being an alien. Then he repeated that last mental sentence back to himself and wondered how long ago this work had claimed his sanity like it had claimed Bruce’s. He didn’t have long to dwell on that thought, however, as Starfire turned over in her sleep, wrapped her arms around him, and pulled him close, her alien strength moving him with the same ease as she might grab a stuffed animal.

“Star?” Robin whispered again as her arm snaked over his chest. He felt her body pressing into him from behind. His face was burning.

“Hmm... Wurul tai horqarr, Silkie...” she mumbled, squeezing Robin close.

“Er.. Star--I’m not--Ggk!” Robin winced a little at the tight squeeze, wondering for a few seconds if he was going to get a broken rib, but then Starfire seemed to nuzzle her cheek against his hair and her grip relaxed with a slight sigh.

Her hair was still enveloping him in a river of orange. She was warm--warmer than any human he could remember, and being in her arms felt like that almost- too-warm that’s perfect for dozing off while reading on summer afternoons. She smelled like ozone, and Lapsang-Souchong tea, and fresh-cut citrus. He wondered how he smelled to her. If he smelled like a memory of another planet. He listened to her breathing for a few minutes longer, as the warmth of her sank into him. He felt the exhaustion he always felt like he was barely outrunning catch up to him again, but here he was willing to let it overtake him.

Maybe I should wake her up? I mean... alien strength... don’t want to get crushed if she has a weird dream or something. Probably the smart thing to do, he thought.

“Zontar-ha peq lor-yuur’vyn...” Starfire murmured in her sleep and readjusted herself against him again, her body curving around him.

Eh. There are worse ways to go, he thought as he closed his eyes.

#dickkory #dc #teen titans #I loved hearing Kory speak Tamaranean in the show--it sounded almost klingon? In a good way #...ironically I'm talking about the live-action trainwreck and not the 03 show there #anyway cuddling: we should all do more of it #robstar

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drowning-moonlight · 2 years

Video

youtube

My review for Rocket’s arc in Young Justice Phantoms

Transcript under the cut

Hello!

This video will be a review of season 4, episodes 18-21 of Young Justice so there will be spoilers.

Okay so I liked the arc decently well enough. There were parts that I really enjoyed and parts that I found lacking. Which is how I feel about all of the other arcs. Each one had things that I liked and didn’t like. Now with this one, it’s Rocket’s arc and my main issue with it is that it just didn’t focus that much on Rocket. I feel like we didn’t learn that much about her as a character. I mean we kind of did with her interactions with her son and such but we didn’t get anything at all about her backstory.

Now in the comics, that being Milestone Comics, Rocket - real name Raquel Ervin - actually becomes a hero by talking a guy named Augustus Freeman into becoming a hero - this being Icon. They actually met when Raquel broke into his house and tried to rob him. Then she saw that he had superpowers and thought he would make a great hero. She demanded to be his sidekick and she designed their costumes! But none of this is mentioned in Young Justice so there is the possibility that this isn’t her backstory on the show. Still, I would have liked to have seen some backstory for her, whether it’s the same as in the comics or not.

In the other arcs, we did get to learn new things about the focus characters, or at least saw some of their backstory. With the first arc, we got to learn more about M’gann’s relationship with her family and that really added to her character. Way back in season one she mentions that she always wanted an Earth sister and implies that she didn’t get along with her sisters on Mars. And in her arc we got to meet one of those sisters and their interactions with each other really added a layer to M’gann’s character. In Artemis’s arc we see great interactions with her sister Jade and even flashbacks that add some context to some of their interactions in season 1. In Kaldur’s arc, there was an episode where he talks to his parents about the past and we learn more about his backstory which explains his personality pretty well. Zatanna’s arc is a little lacking in this area, the same with Rocket’s. We did get some flashbacks of her childhood but that was from her father’s perspective, not her own but it did still give us insight into her character a little bit. Now I do think Zatanna’s arc suffers from not focusing on her so much as it focuses on Klarion and Vandal Savage. I feel like Rocket’s arc suffers similarly by focusing a little too much on the Zod family.

I did like the parts in episode 19 when Lor-Zod was explaining his backstory and it was inter-cut with Saturn Girl and Chameleon Boy telling the same story but from their perspectives. Like from Lor’s point of view, he is in the right for wanting to rescue his parents while the Legion thought he was evil for that because his parents are criminals. It was really cool to see differing viewpoints of the same events. I thought it was an interesting way of handling a lot of exposition.

Now I did actually like Lor-Zod to be honest. Didn’t really care for General Zod but I never really like him in any adaptation. He’s just not a character that I enjoy. Lor-Zod’s determination to get his parents out of the Phantom Zone was kind of sweet though. Like yeah I know they’re villains and have done awful things but still it was sweet. Even if it is kind of far removed from the comics. Lor in the comics actually fights against his parents and gets raised by Superman and Lois as a Kent. Maybe that could still happen in Young Justice? Time travel is possible so maybe Superman could travel in time and then take baby Lor away... uhm although that would be kidnapping... hmm so maybe not... Anyway. I found the song they sang in the Phantom Zone kind of cringy. I know that’s a small thing but when they started singing I was like, “Really? Y’all are doing this?” I get that it was supposed to be brainwashing Conner into being loyal to Zod but still. I felt like it lasted too long. I know it wasn’t very long but I feel like a couple of verses could have been cut and that little extra time could have been given to, I don’t know, Rocket.

I just feel like she didn’t get enough screen time for it being her arc.

A big point of contention in the show’s fandom is how she handled her son Amistad’s Autism and then how her feelings about that were mirrored to her feelings about Orion. Now I don’t have Autism or claustrophobia so I can’t really speak on how accurately either of those were portrayed. I’ve seen people saying that Amistad was written relatively accurately as an Autistic characters and I’ve seen people say that it wasn’t actually great representation. I think it’s important to note that people with Autism aren’t a monolith and each person is different. I saw a lot of people saying that him eating the cookie in a specific way and being sensitive to strong smells and not liking disruptions to his routine were things that many Autistic people can relate to. Some were more upset about how Raquel handled Amistad than how Amistad was portrayed. I saw people say that it was accurate that parents of Autistic children would be frustrated and I saw people say that Raquel shouldn’t have been so dismissive of Amistad’s needs. I personally didn’t like that scene at the beginning of episode 18 where she’s pretending to look for his wool hat. Like she looks under the couch and stuff and keeps saying “no hat” over and over which felt condescending. I get it was to show her frustration and stress but still I kind of wish that part was left out. Even Amistad’s facial expression during that scene showed that it was upsetting him. But you can argue that this is just a character flaw for Raquel and that all good characters should have some type of flaw, which is fair; characters should have flaws, even heroes. But still I can understand why many fans didn’t like this aspect of her character or how the show handled it.

This sort of plays into her judgement of Orion as well. So I understand her calling him a monster after he becomes unstable and hits those two larvae children. I get that and I don’t blame her for having apprehensions about negotiating peace with him. The problem that I have with her judgement of Orion is how she felt about him after learning his biological father is Darkseid. I mean, she has several teammates who have evil relatives. She’s friends with Artemis, isn’t she? And Artemis’s dad is a villain and Raquel never seemed to judge her for that. Granted, Sportsmaster isn’t quite on the level of evil as Darkseid but you get my point. It just felt kind of out of character for her to judge someone for having an evil family member.

Though I will say, it was good that she acknowledged that they got off on the wrong foot and apologized. It was at the beginning of episode 20 and while it wasn’t actually Orion but Ma’alefa’ak, it was good that she realized they needed to make amends. She didn’t know it wasn’t actually Orion of course but it was still a nice gesture that showed Rocket’s maturity.

Okay, yeah Orion could be a jerk and stand-offish but really the only bad thing he did was hit the two larvae. And, yeah that was bad; he shouldn’t have done that but still. I feel like Rocket was a little too judgemental of him. Like when she got mad at him during the meeting for saying their off-topic conversation was of little importance. He was definitely a jerk in the way that he worded it but he was right. Them sidetracking the peace negotiation with talks of romance and birthdays was kind of... unprofessional. I think Orion was right to call them out for that. I get Bear wanting to extend his condolences about Superboy’s death but the conversation should have ended there.

The only really important thing we got from that off-topic conversation was that Forager was thinking of staying on New Genesis. But to be honest, I don’t really care much about that. Okay, a little bit of a tangent: I had some issues with season three and one of those issues was that I just didn’t care that much about the new characters. I didn’t care at all about Brion, or Helga, or Forager. I just didn’t care about them! The only new character that I even kind of cared about was Halo. And speaking of them, I don’t like that the writers had Rocket use the wrong pronouns for Halo. Okay, I know Violet said that they didn’t mind she/her pronouns but they did very clearly state that they preferred they/them pronouns. Now they only said this to Harper Row but I would have assumed that they could tell the whole team. I can understand the New Genesis gods not knowing and calling Halo “she” by mistake but I feel like Rocket should have referred to them with ya’know “them.” But I’m going to blame the writers for this.

Going back to Forager though, since I didn’t care that much about him in season three, I didn’t really care about the romance either. It was kind of cute. Them reading Shakespeare made me think of Jason Spisak’s YouTube videos of Wally Reading the Classics, which did warm my heart a little bit. (I’ll link on of them down below.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ftf-sMzRuBY For context, Jason Spisak is the voice actor for Forager and Wally West so I liked the little reference to him as Wally quoting Shakespeare. He voices another character doesn’t he?....

OH! Razer! He also voices Razer. That’s something else that happens. Boy do I have some feelings about Razer. I LOVED seeing him again. Was not expecting it in the slightest. So Razer is a character who had only ever appeared in Green Lantern: the Animated Series. This was a show that aired when Young Justice seasons one and two were airing on Cartoon Network and were both canceled at the same time. Which is a real shame because Green Lantern: the Animated Series was actually a really good show. I’m not even a big fan of the Green Lanterns but I did still really enjoy that show. And now one of its main characters has appeared in Young Justice. Could this mean a revival for Green Lantern? Maybe? I could only hope. It deserves a season two.

Speaking of Green Lanterns, it was sad that Tomar Re died. And it was extra sad that he was killed by a Kryptonian considering he tried to save Krypton. I do love some irony. But he shouldn’t feel guilty about not saving Krypton because really what could he have done to stop a sun from dying? Oh and it was interesting to learn that he knew Superman’s biological father and uncle. So we have confirmation that Zor-El existed on Earth-16 so maybe his daughter Kara does too. It would be cool to see Supergirl show up at some point.

My only issue with that would be that there are already soooo, so many characters in Young Justice. It felt crowded back in season two and it’s only gotten worse. I think that’s one of the reasons why some of the arcs and story lines don’t follow their focus character all that much: because there are too many characters vying for lines and screen time.

Maybe if there were less characters, we could have gotten to see more of Rocket.

I hope she’s featured strongly in the next arc, which I know will be Nightwing’s, but that’s set up as being about finding Conner and Rocket can definitely help with that since she now has some key knowledge about the Phantom Zone projector getting destroyed and all. She did see Bioship’s lasers destroy the projector, even if she doesn’t know what it was. So maybe we’ll see a lot of her in the last arc. I’m looking forward to it!

Let me know what your thoughts were! Did you love this arc? Hate it? Feel indifferent to it? Should there have been more of Rocket? Do you think they handled Amistad’s Autism well? Or not? Let me know! I’m always interested in what other people thought.

Bye!

#young justice #young justice phantoms #young justice animated #young justice cartoon #raquel ervin #lor-zod #general zod #dc comics #youtube

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nlc-nessa · 3 years

Text

Can I Go Swimming?

About one in five Singaporean households employ a foreign domestic worker. Coming mainly from countries like Myanmar, Indonesia, and the Philippines, they live with their employers and assist with daily chores such as cleaning, cooking, and looking after the elderly, young children, or family members with disabilities. As of June 2020, there are about 250,000 foreign domestic workers in Singapore. Lines start to blur when they are integrated within the household. Are they considered part of the family? Or do they merely serve the family who provides them with a roof over their head?

In February 2021, a picture of a private condominium’s circular was uploaded online, stating that “Domestic helpers are not allowed to use the recreational facilities.” This sparked an online debate between Singaporeans who were content with this regulation and those who, in contrast, criticized the condominium’s management for discriminating against foreign domestic workers. A forum was posted on hardwarezone.com to discuss this issue, and many Singaporeans used this platform to contribute their own opinions about migrant workers living in Singapore.

This play was pieced together using their words. It attempts to give a human voice to the otherwise anonymous entities posting their unfiltered views online. At the time of writing, the forum remains published on hardwarezone.com, with its latest entry dated 10 February 2021.

The following is a 10-minute scene written as a stand-alone class assignment.

Characters

Hwee Lin, 60, Resident

Mr. Tan, 30, Condominium management staff

Linda, 45, Resident

Daniel, 27, Resident

Jie Lin, 28, Resident, Hwee Lin’s son

Centre stage, a large conference table and six chairs spaced around it. Mr Tan, dressed in office attire, is seated on one end going through a pile of paperwork. Hwee Lin enters with a folded letter in her hand.

Hwee Lin Mr. Tan?

Mr. Tan Ah, yes! Hello! (He stands up and gestures to the seat opposite him) You’re the first to arrive. Come, have a seat. You are?

Hwee Lin (sitting down) Hwee Lin. Lim Hwee Lin.

Mr. Tan (typing on his laptop) Hi Mdm Lim, can I have your block and unit number?

Hwee Lin Block 89. Unit 03-25.

Mr. Tan Okay, right, Mdm Lim! What can I help you with today?

Hwee Lin Oh, are we not waiting for others to come?

Mr. Tan Aiyah, these feedback sessions always go on for hours. It’s good that you came earlier. Anything I can help you with first?

Hwee Lin Yah, (she reveals the letter to Mr. Tan) did you give this to my helper?

Mr. Tan What is that?

Hwee Lin (Reading from the letter) The recreational facilities are for the exclusive use of residents and their guests. Domestic helpers are not allowed to use the recreational facilities. Any domestic helper, found in the recreational facilities in the absence of their resident employer, will be evicted immediately.

Mr. Tan Oh, it was probably our security officer who gave that to your maid.

Hwee Lin My helper said she got chased out of the pool. She was only there for what, five minutes? What did she do?

Mr. Tan I hope you understand, Mdm Lim. (He pulls out his own copy of the letter and places it on the table, facing Hwee Lin) We’ve recently updated our rules and regulations regarding the use of facilities. Your helper shouldn’t be using the pool.

Hwee Lin Why not?

Mr. Tan As a foreign domestic worker, she’s not considered a resident of the condo.

Hwee Lin Well that's discrimination isn't it?

Mr. Tan What do you mean?

Hwee Lin They are occupants of the condo so technically they are residents. Why can't they use it?

Mr. Tan You see Mdm Lim, residents typically means owners and families, or tenants. Not maids, grass cutters, or condo security guards. You don’t see them using the facilities, do you?

Hwee Lin (chuckling) That’s a dumb comparison. Domestic helpers stay at the condo. Grass cutters and security guards don't.

Mr. Tan But you see, the maids are workers, not rightful condo owners or renters. They do not pay condo management fees.

Hwee Lin We residents pay the fees, don’t we get to choose who can or cannot use the pool?

Mr. Tan Mdm Lim, this rule was decided by the residents. Not by condo management. We are just enforcing the rule decided by the owners.

Hwee Lin I don’t remember giving my input about this matter.

Mr. Tan We’ve received enough complaints to enforce this rule, Mdm Lim.

Hwee Lin Complaints? From who?

Linda enters, taking a seat next Hwee Lin.

Linda Hi Mr Tan, how are you?

Mr. Tan Hi Linda, I’m good. Great to see you join us again today.

Linda My pleasure. (She notices the letter in Hwee Lin’s hand) Oh, are we discussing the maid thing?

Mr. Tan Yes, (to Hwee Lin) Mdm Lim, this is Mrs Teo.

Linda Call me Linda.

Mr. Tan Linda is one of the residents who uh…raised her concerns about domestic workers at the pool.

Linda (to Hwee Lin) Yah, maids should be working, use the facilities for what?

Hwee Lin (scoffing) Which era is Singapore in?

Linda Sorry?

Hwee Lin They are not slaves and we don't live on plantations. Just let them swim. What’s the problem?

Linda The condo facilities are for residents. A maid is not a resident in the same definition.

Mr. Tan (to Hwee Lin) Yes, this rule applies to most condos in Singapore. I’m not sure why you are kicking up a fuss.

Hwee Lin Are maids not humans?

Mr. Tan This is not a case about being human or not. They are not residents of the condo. Period.

Linda Yah, do they need to have free use of the swimming pool in order to feel human? For the eighty percent of the population living in HDB who also don't have such privileges, do they also not feel human?

Actually, a maid is what I would classify as a sub-human. They are here to work, not to enjoy. On their off days, they can go to places with public amenities.

Mr. Tan Mdm Lim, the helpers are here to work. The employer’s residence is the helper’s workplace.

Linda Yah, the rules are set by the management and it’s their right. The employers are also good with these rules. The maids are not complaining. Why are you making noise on their behalf?

Hwee Lin My helper did complain, and we are not happy about this.

Linda So?

Hwee Lin So? She’s part of my family and if I want to let her use the pool, who are you to stop me, or stop her?

Daniel enters.

Daniel Hi, is this the feedback session?

Mr. Tan Yes! Hello! Come, sit down, sit down. (turning to his laptop) Can I have your name and unit number please?

Hwee Lin (points to Linda) Why didn’t you take down her details?

Linda I’ve lived here since the condo was built. They know who I am.

Daniel (sitting next to Hwee Lin) Uh, Daniel Wong. Block 87, unit 18-20.

Hwee Lin Daniel, do you have a helper at home?

Daniel No, why?

Mr. Tan How do you feel about the pool’s new restrictions?

Daniel Uhm, I just came to feedback about the bicycle parking –

Hwee Lin We can discuss that later. (She shows Daniel the letter) How do you feel about this?

Daniel Oh. I mean… chin chai la, want use, use. Don’t want use, don’t use lor.

Hwee Lin But they’re banning the maids who do want to use the pool. Are you okay with this?

Daniel Uhm, if it doesn’t affect their work or anything let them use lor. Why bother so much?

Linda Because they are lacking in hygiene. No rinsing before they get into the pool. And they go into the pool in their batik print house dress!

Hwee Lin That’s stereotyping, they’re not all like that.

Linda Yes, you say not all are like that and I shouldn’t stereotype, but Singapore is my home and I see these FTs bring their trash culture here and dirty my home... I say we should ban them in all places!

Mr. Tan Mdm Lim, you know how it is…Some of them are a bit yaya papaya. If they know how to behave and appreciate the place, there will be no issues. But recently, someone brought in a big group of friends to party using their employers’ consent as justification.

Hwee Lin You should just let the owner decide on how they want to restrict their helper then, no need for this blanket ban!

Daniel Actually, I hardly see maids use the facilities leh. At most they just go swimming with the kids because need to look after the kids mah. Other than that, I’ve never seen a maid swim on their own. Maybe y’all mistook the expats as maids?

Hwee Lin Yah, how does the condo ID the foreigners living here as maids or expats?

Daniel It will be darn funny if someone uses the pool and is mistaken as a helper. How do you even know the difference?

Mr. Tan Actually, it’s really easy to differentiate whether a group of Filipinos are maids or tenants. If the group is all ladies, it's Filipino maids. If the group is mixed gender, then its Filipino tenants. And actually, there are behavioural gestures that will easily reveal whether one is an occupant or a maid in the condo.

Linda Usually they bring in the hoard and make a lot of noise. Our condo become lower SES than HDB.

Hwee Lin (shaking her head) This is Singapore's version of a caste system, Low SES, High SES, scholars, elites...

Linda Caste? Is the maid born to be a maid? Forced to be a maid?

Hwee Lin No, but –

Linda We need to maintain the high SES image. It will affect the value! (to Daniel) Imagine you’re selling your condo and your potential buyer sees the maids bring their helper friends to congregate at the pool. You think won't affect?

Daniel Yah hor, maybe…

Hwee Lin Daniel!

Mr. Tan Different people look at this differently, Mdm Lim. At Orchard Road on Sunday, people already complain about them picnicking along five-foot ways and making noise. Most locals avoid that place, what would happen if they are right beneath your homes?

Hwee Lin You can also look at it this way, Mr. Tan. When we finish work, some of us like to go to the gym, go jogging, or go swimming to relief some stress and clear our minds. What avenue do our helpers have?

Linda What’s stopping you from letting her jog outside the condo? Or swim in a public swimming complex? Want to swim here then be resident lah, why be a maid?

Hwee Lin Wow, next thing you know, helpers can't use the same lift as residents. Year 2021 and we are regressing to this apartheid system.

Mr. Tan Huh? Apartheid?

Hwee Lin You know, when African Americans were only allowed to sit at the back row of public buses, and if its already full, they weren’t allowed to board the bus?

Linda Hello, this is not Africa or USA. This is SG, so save your history lessons for now.

Mr. Tan Anyway, Mdm Lim, this sort of rule was agreed upon by a majority vote from residents themselves.

Hwee Lin I didn’t vote!

Linda Maybe someone from your household did?

Jie Lin enters.

Jie Lin Hello, am I too late?

Mr. Tan No, not at all! Please come in.

Jie Lin saunters over to the table and sits next to Linda. He notices Hwee Lin.

Jie Lin Eh, Ma! How come you’re here?

Mr. Tan Oh, you’re her son? (he turns to his laptop) What’s your name?

Hwee Lin (to Jie Lin) Did you vote for some stupid rule about banning maids from the pool?

Jie Lin (to Mr. Tan) Lim Jie Lin. Block 89 Unit 03-25. (to Hwee Lin) Yah, why?

Hwee Lin How can you do that! Do you know how upset Tursini is?

Jie Lin She’s here to look after you, Ma. Not to spend time in the pool!

Linda Yah!

Hwee Lin You condo people have a different kind of superiority complex.

Daniel Aiyah, Mr. Tan, why not just let them use the facilities but tell them cannot bring friends lor. Easy-peasy, dont know what the hoo ha is about.

Mr. Tan (Shaking his head) Every few years will surely have this debate.

Jie Lin Ma, none of these maids even expected, when they first came to Singapore, that they would be able to use condo facilities on their days off. Just because some employers choose to treat their maids like family rather than workers, the expectations have suddenly changed across the board for all?

Hwee Lin Is Tursini not family to you?

Jie Lin No.

Linda Mdm Lim, most of the residents paid for their family to use the facilities, not for their FDWs. If the maids wanna use then they should go back to their country and buy their own castle or palace bah.

Hwee Lin This kind of rule is so embarrassing. The enforcement itself, the consequences stated, all so embarrassing! Like some primary school or some factory in China where rules must be stated so clearly.

Mr. Tan Mdm Lim, I hope you can understand. Most condo owners feel that they worked so hard to own a condo, and can't accept that the maids get to enjoy the same facilities without working as hard as them to own the condo. So, this happens lor. This sort of thinking happens everywhere.

Hwee Lin But you don’t have to give in to them! What happened to putting personal prejudices aside in a professional setting? Your condo management is very unprofessional in their chosen solution.

Jie Lin Tsk. Ma, if the management say cannot then cannot lor. Stir and kaypoh for what. It is their rights to do what rules they want to apply.

Linda Yah, if the maids think it is wrong and they are so aggrieved, they can feel free to resign and go home.

Hwee Lin Un-frikking-believable we have people like you living amongst us.

Linda Then don’t stay here lor.

Hwee Lin slams the letter onto the table and stands up.

Hwee Lin (to Jie Lin) You cook your own dinner tonight. I’m bringing Tursini out to eat.

Hwee Lin exits. There is a brief moment of silence.

Daniel Can I ask about the bicycle parking now?

-End of Scene -

#playwriting

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