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

The University of South Pacific is hosting a conference on creativity and climate change. Suva, Fiji. 13 - 17 September 2010.

“The conference will bring together writers, artists and environmental activists in providing an alternative culture of determination of responses to issues like climate change.”

They invite academics, writers and artists to attend.

For more information: http://www.usp.ac.fj/index.php?id=9020