It had another name but I don’t remember it.

Everyone just called it the Pusat: the Centre.

They were there because they had lived on the streets and worked in massage parlours and brothels. Because they had been the victims of incest, rape and unprotected sex.

The Pusat: a school, a jail, a home. A purgatory for the sins of others.

A collection of sorrows.

***

Outside, it was the never-ending summer of Malaysia. The sun was high, the sky relentlessly blue and the grounds

Asia-Pacific Writers supports S.E.A.Write Festival 2012

Asia-Pacific Writers (AP Writers) will hold its inaugural gathering in Bangkok, Thailand, 5-9 November 2012, to dovetail with this year’s Southeast Asian Writers’ (S.E.A.Write) Festival and Gala Awards.

AP Writers (http://www.apwriters.com) is working with the S.E.A.Write Organising Committee to bring together the 2012 S.E.A. Write award winners with translators, festival directors from around the world, publishing