Soon after I graduated from university, I joined the team of a small but incredibly busy cafe called Kilau. I worked there for a little over four years; starting a couple of months before the first lockdown, throughout the pandemic, and I got to see the cafe flourish once more after things got back to normal. Throughout the four years, I grew attached to not only the place but the people I met there. I don’t work there anymore, and most of my friends have left to pursue bigger things. Today when I go in, I’m met with a warm feeling of familiarity. The smells, the noises, and the objects remind me of a time when I was surrounded daily by people I cared deeply for. But I’m also met with eyes that don’t recognise me anymore. People no longer shout after me, waving frantically, as I walk past.

During a time when the government started to ease lockdown restrictions, I spent some extra time at the cafe to document the work that we did every day.