The Best Lamb Skewers I've Ever Had
A charcoal grill and one more stop on the way home at Jalan Alor.
All writing
Everything I've published, in one place. Enter anywhere, and feel free to get lost in the links.
Newest public releases first.
2026
I Rewrite Beside the Old Article
I keep the old article on the left while the new one finds its shape on the right.
Rewrite Beside the Original
Why the best rewrites begin beside the original.
100 Plus Is Syok
A Malaysian sports drink comes with a word that sounds a little like shock.
Mandarin Is Public in Singapore and Private Among Chinese Americans
Singapore maintains Mandarin through public institutions; Chinese American families carry it through inheritance.
Make Dense Interfaces Easier to Scan
Why alignment, grouping, and recognizable visuals make dense interfaces faster to scan without removing information.
Results All the Way Up
Let errors travel through the application until the event handler turns them into something the user can see.
Trees Grow Roots Through the Air
In humid parts of Asia, banyan trees can send roots down from their branches and grow new trunks from them.
Why Do We Fall in Love?
In a society that values individual choice, the thing we romanticize about love is not choosing at all.
Epicenter Is for Software Built for One
Epicenter lets you build small, private AI apps on your own data, device, and models.
The Death of Deep Work
Coding agents increased my output while turning work into a state of constant availability.
I Had No Idea the Rhodes Scholarship Existed Until I Came to Yale
Yale introduced me to a world where ambition has no final rung.
Transcript for My 9/11 All-School Assembly Speech
My heartfelt thanks to all who have been here for me all these years.
The Yale I Remember
The things I miss, the things I learned, and what I wish someone had told me while I was there.
You Usually Don’t Need to Pre-Rinse Your Dishes
Before loading the dishwasher, scrape off the large pieces of food and leave the rest.
Efficient Learning Cannot Take You All the Way to Mastery
Mastery means choosing a craft you love enough to keep pursuing even after the easy gains run out.
The Right Level of Abstraction
The best abstractions preserve human intention while hiding the machinery underneath.
How Is “Enemies to Lovers” Possible?
It is easier to turn one strong feeling into another than it is to stop caring at all.
I'm Process-Oriented in Coding, but Results-Oriented in Writing
Code rewards me while I am making it. Writing rewards me once it exists.
Hello, World
A little about how I got here, why I care about open source, and what I’m building with Epicenter.
A Good Abstraction Imports the Right Intuitions
The name should teach you how to think before you hear the definition.
Read Your Writing Out Loud
Your eyes read what you meant. Your ears hear what you wrote.
The False Binary: Silicon Valley's Obsession With Being Technical
Technical ability is a spectrum, but Silicon Valley turns it into a status marker—and mistakes the label for mastery.