02
FROM THE CHIEF EDITOR
LEE PEI YI
There’s always something that we don’t tell anyone; not family, not friends,
no one. It might be something viewed as sinful and corrupt by society, or
even something as innocent as a guilty pleasure. We are all vain beings, afraid
to be judged and to be discriminated by others, so we tuck the secrets in the
darkest recesses of our mind, and hope that they don’t come out in verbal
forms. Dirty Little Secrets, they call them; some literally dirty, some not so
much. Some little, some big, some neither nor in between.
It is hard to provide a summary of all the pieces in this issue. They are all so
different in terms of subject matter and attitude; yet, they are raw under all the
grotesque or innocent imagery. There is a need, a want, to let the cat out of
the bag, bursting under the seams of secrecy that strain to contain it. When
you read these pieces, you will think about your own secrets, big or small,
dirty or not so dirty. You will think about the sacrifices you make for love, for
yourself, for others; the ones that leave metaphorical imaginary stains on your
hands that won’t come off no matter how much you scrub at your skin.
So, read these secrets, if you would consider them as such now that they are
out for your perusal. If anything, it has only reminded me that we all have
something to hide, and we are all haunted by the ghosts of our actions in
which we call “secrets” in our head.