And the fluorescent glow
of neon lights hummed to
say that we are here.

We are open.






Lotus Flowers

2022, Film, duration 08:45 min
In this short film, I ask my mother to teach me how to fold the lotus flower napkins that we used to have on our restaurant table setting. During the folding tutorial, we talk about different connotations surrounding the lotus flower and memories of our restaurant Choong Kee (撂记).

In the film I ask her whether she has ever seen a  lotus flower in real life. She answers that she has seen them in Malaysia, in the wild. She followed that wild lotus flowers should never be picked, as those who try get caught in the surrounding quicksand and drown. In this I heard a metaphor for the diasporic experience– many Asian families venture to the West in search of a better life, only to get stuck with no way back.
Conversation:
Yin Yin Wong, Jenny Tong

Sound editing:
Aleksander Johan Andreassen

Translation:
Dorothy Cheung


© Yin Yin Wong 2022
Student debt status
3 3 . 5 7 9 , 4 2