This was a pretty tough poetry collection for me, mainly due to my lack of familiarity with Singaporean history. Using the orchid and its tending as a metaphor for Singapore’s development and hybrid identity, I got the impression that Mok was considering the orchid’s entanglement with the country’s history, particularly its relationship with colonialism. What I also got from this collection was an implied critique of Singapore’s meticulous cultivation of their historical narrative and identity to appear a certain way, but I could have misunderstood, again, given my limited knowledge—

I really enjoyed how playful and experimental this collection was, with Mok pushing the boundaries of form and style. However, I did expect more poems, but ended up with what to me read more like an archive of sorts. It also seemed as though she was in conversation with other Singaporeans and/or scholars who know the country’s history, especially considering the endnotes (which I quite liked that they were cleverly titled “Trimmed Affixes & Discarded Roots”), but these were conversations I was not entirely privy to.

Overall, I do think this collection is an incredibly unique approach to history, though I imagine Singaporeans in particular will get far more out of it than I did.