My First Kiss by Lian Low

1. How does the author describe Malaysia in regards to showing affection? The author describes Malaysia as a very anti-west/not-like-in-the-movies culture; no affection can be shown publicly, no heterosexual activity, etc. 

2. What happens to the author when she hits puberty? When the author hits puberty, she becomes more 'womanly' and can no longer be a tom boy. 

3. What is the author’s experience at school when she first arrives to Melbourne? The author's experience at school when she first arrived in Melbourne was that she was put in an ESL class (English second language class), despite the fact that she spoke English fluently her whole life. 

4. What is it that made the author feel that she wasn’t Australian even though she spoke English fluently? What it was that made the author feel un-Australian despite the fact that her English was good was her accent; a mixture of American television, stereotypical Australian and Malaysian. 

5. What else was it about the author that further alienated her from her peers? What alienated the author from her peers was her sexuality and her tom-boy childhood.  

6. What does the use of description like ‘crash hot’ do to the audience’s perception of the author? The use of description like 'crash hot' changes the audience's perception of the author by it demonstrating the author's antisocial habits when she was younger by not engaging in conversations like that one.  

7. What opportunity does university give the author? What is it about university which would allow her to express herself more freely? The opportunity university gives the author is to be expressive without having to hid. She isn't the only heterosexual in her uni so she can afford to expressive herself without the embarrassment and having to lock herself in her attic. 

8. What role does creativity play for the author? Why do you think that creativity would be so important to her? The role creativity plays for the author is dramatic. Creativity would be important to her because she is heterosexual and goes for women over me, but to be able to put her passion and her experience in her work is a huge deal for her because it makes her plays more expressive.