This pair of works are based on a common piece of stationery: multicolour highlighter pens in the shape of flowers. These pens are customizable, and often handed out as souvenirs and included in National Day gift bags. Phua has emblazoned her ceramic versions with variations on the phrase, “No one owes us a living”, which she observes is a piece of supposed wisdom bandied about by the country’s politicians to inculcate a sense of self-reliance in the citizenry. The words, “inferiority” and “dignity”, are carved into each of the petals; if one were to play the petal-plucking game of “he loves me, he loves me not”, the result will always be “inferiority”. The artist points to the underside of Singapore’s much vaunted meritocracy, which has produced a class of disadvantaged citizens and blue-collar migrants. She notes that meritocratic values should offer a sense of dignity to all, not merely the economically and educationally privileged. The pens are all inscribed with the label, “Made in neocolonial Singapore”, a reference to the influx of wealthy foreigners attracted by Singapore’s global reputation as something of a tax haven. The inspiration for the label is a vintage jewellery box – owned by the artist – that was made in Japan during the postwar American occupation, and stamped with the words, “Made in occupied Japan.” (Refer to the text for You BTO already?)