In this episode, Sofie talks about the word celup, as she grapples with her own celup-ness and what it means to not fit neatly into the Malay box of the CMIO.

Listen to hear about:

• what celup means, and Sofie’s journey towards understanding her own celup-ness
• her complex heritage — Javanese, Boyanese and Indian — and why her name leaves her with many unanswered questions
• a grandmother who was given a Malay identity card despite being of Chinese and Indian heritage
• becoming super duper halal as a form of teenage rebellion
• finding belonging in a P. Ramlee film
• music in her family, a grandfather with a music room, and a household where everyone had to learn an instrument
• her admiration for her mother’s fierceness, and her belief in the power of her own softness
• the pain of having to put her Malayness in her back pocket
• the lack of roles — and nuance — for brown actors in Singapore
• her advice for others struggling with their own celup-ness

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