Author: Syakir Ryli

My first introduction to the motorcycle life felt like a ripoff of a bad adventure movie, set against the backdrop of a sleeping Toh Payoh food court instead of the heavy streets of Manhattan, New York. It was almost 11 years ago, and I was meeting a newfound friend for the first time. He insisted on joining a bike gang roam across the streets of Singapore looking for supper. “Do you know these people?,” I asked, oblivious to the fact that I was about to trust my life to this stranger. “No, not really. I just joined this biking group…

I have never understood Halloween. The appeal of taking the effort to dress up in layers of clothing in the sweltering heat to be someone else for a night is lost on me. I could imagine sweat piling underneath latex, or face paint melting in the crowded heat of people staring at you wondering what you are. What you are is a careful representation of your creative thought process, a daring exploit of stepping out of your comfort zone and presenting the concept of a costume to the world. Will the world accept this part of you? Or worse: will…

10 October is World Mental Health Day. For some, this is a day dedicated to creating awareness of mental health and advocate against the social stigma of mental illness. To others, it is commemorative of personal self-care and actively choosing mental wellness. Personally, mental health carries particular importance. It was a tough few years for me to come to terms with the notion that mental illness does not discriminate or choose its victims—that one day, you too can suffer from it. I was unaware of the state of my mental health or the extent of its severity. Lulled into a…