(With apologies to Susan Sontag)
Thing I like: Jah. Paperback books. Umi. Taking the train. Lego. Chicken. Qur’an. Legal pads. Satay. Manchester United. Carl Rogers. Friendly cats. James Taylor. Karaoke. Corner office. Proust. Gibbon. Chapati. Chocolate in all its forms – ice-cream, cakes, biscuits, you name it. Oxford. Watching movies in the cinema. Simon & Garfunkel. James Agee. iPhone. Ebiet G Ade. Ramadan. Leather belts. Whitney Houston. Chicken rice. Star Trek. Making lists. Usman Awang. FDR. Blackstreet. Batik. The Edge newspaper. Karl Popper. Roti canai. Yura Yunita. Ayam bawang at Mahbub restaurant in Bangsar. Whitman. Cambridge. Cocoa butter. Art museums. Instagram. M Nasir. Double junior scoop of Jamoca Almond Fudge and Peanut Butter & Chocolate ice cream at Baskin-Robbins. Sourdough. Deng Xiaoping. The smell of grass after a rainy day. Bali.
Things I dislike: Cockroaches. Samsung Galaxy phones. Heights. Durians. Religious bureaucracies. Wearing a wristwatch. Liars. The smell of tobacco. Ostentation. Irresponsible fathers. Crowds. Cats that try to bite you. Deserts. Boastfulness. Arguments on Twitter. Asking questions to strangers. Traffic jams. Monopolies. Bullies. Wearing suit and tie. Racism. Duku. Cowardice. The concept of a hereditary monarchy. Tantrums. Dan Brown. Netanyahu. Insects. Sleeping alone. Shopping malls. Airport transits. Entitled brats. Hot weather. LinkedIn. The smell of beer. Inequality. iPhone keyboards. Anakin Skywalker. People playing their phones out loud, especially in public transport. Touch n Go. Performative religiosity. Suicide. Alcoholics. Tom Cruise. Blowing my nose. Najib Razak. Lizards. Golf. Sloganeering. AirAsia. Bicester. Syed Saddiq.
Things I like: Salmon. Warren Buffett. Judika. John F Kennedy. Sushi. Johnny Cash. Khairy Jamaluddin. De Maupassant. Kahlil Gibran. Harold Bloom. Hannah Yeoh. Tuna. Star Wars. Rain falling down at night. Chairil Anwar. Tulus. Barack Obama. Value investing. Watching football games. Potato in all its forms – fried, baked, mashed, you name it. Robert Caro. Dante. Apple Pay. Coke Zero. Lydia Davis. George Clooney. Arugula. Cormac McCarthy. Dinosaurs. London. The Beatles. Reliable Japanese cars. Couple friends. Forrest Gump. Five Guys burgers. The Mandalorian. Dewa 19. Chilli sauce. Post-It notes. Subway maps. Spirited Away. Olivia Newton-John. Linen. George Michael. Ovid. Venice. Boyz II Men. Hand sanitizer. Jean-Luc Picard. Studying. Public parks. Violins. Classic Transformers cartoons. Bach. Darth Vader. Singapore. Rawls.
Things I dislike: Pickles in burgers. Colonialism. Standing in trains. Servility. Jennifer Lopez. Anwar Ibrahim. Motorcyclists weaving through traffic. Fascism. Hitler. Laziness. The Monkees. Outriders and VIP convoys forcing everyone else on the road to make way. Cheesecakes. Living beyond one’s means. Military dictators. James T. Kirk. John Grisham. Expensive flashy cars. Donald Trump. Misogyny. Sewers. That sleepy feeling you get after over-eating. Muggings. Ingratiation. Public toilets. Lim Guan Eng. Plastic surgery. Narcissism. Sweat. Aubergines. Cultural appropriation. Paying taxes. Getting a parking ticket. Israel. Gambling. Discarded cigarette butts. Vanity car plate numbers. Street food in Singapore. Gyms. Inherited wealth. Mao Tse Tung. Chess. Passing the buck. George R R Martin. Content-free Friday sermons. Militancy.