This polyphonic collection of twenty-five stories presents a multitude of Malaysian perspectives spanning age, gender, and class. pYow char kwai hawkers compete for customers on a busy city street. Marital dynamics unfurl at an abortion clinic. pOn an island, a man's infatuation with a veiled woman takes a supernatural turn. A woman writes to her brother about their dead cat. Characters in these stories connect through chance encounters and fateful events. Their narratives are inevitably coloured by the social tension and occasional absurdities of a multicultural society. pShortlisted for the 2009 Frank O'Connor International Short Story Prize.