You Can Take Johor, but Not Bak Kut Teh
My Malaysian friend draws the line at Singapore’s peppery soup.
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
Uncertainty Can Favor Both Centralized and Decentralized Command
Conflict can intensify the need to act together and the need to respond independently.
Thinking in Chinese Doesn’t Prove It Saves Tokens
Character density, tokenization, and the incentives behind multilingual reasoning.
Rewarding the Answer Doesn’t Specify the Reasoning Language
A correct solution and a readable explanation are different training goals.
Malaysia Has Political Frogs
My friend’s joke about constantly changing parties led me into the upheaval of 2018–2022.
It Can Be Good and Still Not Be Bak Kut Teh
My friend could concede the taste without conceding the name.
Forking Is Such an Overloaded Term
A repository, a running process, and a few other words software keeps reusing.
Controlled Aggression
Usually tame, with the ability to drive aggressively when the situation calls for it.
Another Gear
Warmth alongside conviction and competence.
State Is Things You Need to Track in Your Head
Keeping a copy of the server's data on the client adds another thing to reason about.
The Irony of Lee Kuan Yew's Mandarin Campaign
He was British-educated and began learning Mandarin seriously at thirty-two.
I Fell in Love With Cloth Tote Bags in Southeast Asia
My backpack became my luggage, and the tote became my everyday bag.
Visualizing the Cost of Choosing
The effort of comparing options can cost more than choosing the cheaper one saves.
The Word State Is Overloaded
From application data to the Department of State.
Two Clipboards, One Copy Button
A shared interface keeps the browser and desktop split underneath the UI, so every copy button can ask for the same thing.
Where the Branches Disappear
Shared interfaces let us stack software like building blocks, swapping what sits underneath without rebuilding what sits above.
Why I Refuse to Call Asian Americans Whitewashed
Cultural distance can be real without turning every difference into movement toward whiteness.
Second- and Fourth-Generation Chinese American
My mom immigrated from China. My dad’s family has been in America for over a century. Both histories meet in my family.
The Downside of Settling Into a Routine
The days become harder to remember, even as our work and relationships grow stronger.
AI Makes Me More Comfortable with Merge Conflicts
Cheap models are changing how much complexity I’m willing to carry in personal apps.
Our Shared Moral Sensibility
We don’t need to agree on every moral judgment for there to be something shared in how we arrive at one.
Law Is a Collective Negotiation of Our Moral Intuitions
The laws we make are complex because humans are complex.
Virtue Ethics and Habit Formation
What we repeatedly do becomes part of who we are.
What Separates Jealousy from Inspiration?
Jealousy and inspiration often begin with the same desire. A sense of agency can separate them.
The Best Lamb Skewers I've Ever Had
A charcoal grill and one more stop on the way home at Jalan Alor.
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.