Ahmah

This is my grandmother.

This is my grandmother admiring a photograph of her wedding portrait on my iPhone. “Hey! How do you have this? There’s only one copy! It’s hanging in Uncle James’ house […]

Everyday ethnographies

Grandmotherly Folklore

My grandmother is a woman of many stories. If you spend an afternoon with her negotiating Mandarin, Cantonese, Hokkien, Teochew, or Hakka, she might even go into what she was wearing […]

Everyday ethnographies

Lessons from my grandmother.

1) Stop calling me ahmah. You should be calling me popo. 2) Don’t cut your hair. Your body took a lot of effort to grow it this long. 3) You […]