impermanence

This chapter follows Hock Seng, a displaced yellow card refugee living in a slum, as he carefully retrieves hidden cash from a secret bamboo cache while reflecting on the insecurity of banks, the impermanence of wealth, and his lost past as a prosperous sea trader. The narrative explores his cautious survival tactics amid poverty and danger, his philosophical acceptance of suffering and impermanence influenced by Buddhist thought, and his nostalgic longing for a vanished life of prosperity and family. The chapter closes with a memory of escape and hope under a starry sky, contrasting the harsh present with distant dreams.

Jaidee, disgraced and banished, reflects on loss, impermanence, and the collapse of the natural world while awaiting acceptance into a monastery for penance. Despite his fall from grace and the disappearance of Chaya, he resolves to fight back against Trade, the powerful entity he holds responsible. His conversation with Kanya reveals his determination to reclaim agency and confront the forces that have destroyed his life.