Yusnita sat at the marble topped rosewood table with her parents while awaiting the arrival of her cousin Wanis. Her parents' favourite niece Wanis. The Wanis who she was always compared to over the past nineteen years. Wanis is so talented. Wanis is so smart. Wanis this. Wanis that. At times like those, Yusnita wished Wanis would go splat. As much as she enjoyed her cousin's company, she always felt inferior compared to her.

Yusnita sighed deeply, and inhaled the intoxicating scent of the sandalwood incense, while her parents wondered aloud about Wanis's whereabouts, constantly shifting their gaze from their watches to the entrance. Yusnita attempted to create some sort of sound while running her fingers around the damp rim of her glass. Then, like magic, the minute Yusnita looked up from her musical experiment, there she was. Wanis managed to look stunning in her tailored black pants and sheer black lace blouse. As she sashayed in, her radiant smile captured the attention of the other diners while Yusnita looked down on her favourite scarlet dress, wondering why it was her favourite to begin with.

"Mak Su ! Pak Zul!2 It's so nice to see you again!" Wanis beamed, hugging Yusnita's parents. Yusnita heaved herself out of her seat and was immediately encapsulated in a ring of warmth.

"Ita! How've you been woman? I love your dress! So cantik!3 "Wanis remarked, her eyes sparkling, the way they always do whenever they set their gaze on someone close to her heart. Yusnita muttered a quick thank you, certain that Wanis only complimented her dress out of courtesy.

"I'm so sorry I couldn't meet you earlier I was just so caught up in uni work. What time is your flight tomorrow?" Wanis inquired as an awkwardly peroxide mop handed her a menu, whilst attempting a peek down her blouse. Pak Zul stared sternly at the pallid lad, who made a hasty departure for the kitchen. Yusnita let her parents answer Wanis. Of course, her mother had to ask Wanis about her exam results, to which she replied that she was disappointed that she missed out on a distinction by a mark, otherwise it would have been four distinctions.4

"Now if only Ita was more concerned with her schoolwork," her mother remarked sternly, as Yusnita looked through the menu for the tenth time. She had always wanted to study English in university, but her father would have none of that. He wanted her to study something practical --something profitable. When Wanis told her about all the books she had to read for her unit in medieval English, Yusnita was reminded even more of the monotony of her studies. It must be so interesting to be able to immerse one's self in a world so different from our own, Yusnita pondered. Yusnita was especially interested in learning about the medieval period. When she and Wanis were little, they used to pretend to be princesses, and wore cardboard cones with scarves attached to the tip, on their heads, inspired by Miss Piggy during a particular episode of "The Muppet Show". Of course, Wanis looked more like a fairytale princess than she did; Wanis was always the prettier one.

As Wanis placed her order with the Lee Kuan Yew5-lookalike waiter, Yusnita made a mental note of all the physical features Wanis possessed that she didn't. Silky brunette mane, which came down to her size 24 waist which led to her sinuously long legs. Yusnita reckoned that if Wanis dyed her hair blonde and stood in a giant clam shell, Venus, in that renowned Michaelangelo painting, would pale in comparison.

Yusnita grimaced as Wanis daintily pierced a piece of cucumber with her satay6 stick, before cautiously dipping it in the waiting bowl of chunky peanut gravy. Wanis looked at Yusnita's tau huay7 and asked her cousin, out of concern, if that was all she was eating.

"I'm not that hungry."

"Ya, you should have seen how much we had for lunch!" her father interjected, before listing everything from the crisp goreng pisang8 to the tear-inducing neon orange tulang9 stew. Yusnita wondered how her cousin managed to eat so much yet maintain her figure. Wanis was not the type who enjoyed exercising. Yusnita couldn't remember the last time Wanis went jogging, save for the Terry Fox Run, which Wanis had told her about a year ago. Yusnita finally put it down to metabolic rate, and wondered why it didn't run in the family. She glanced at her mother, who cut a petite figure, then resigned herself to thinking that maybe it did run in the family--she must have been adopted.

"Unfortunately, no matter how little some of us eat, we still resemble a hippopotamus," Yusnita remarked, glancing at Wanis, who giggled girlishly. Though she did not show it, Yusnita felt like she was being laughed at. Throughout the rest of the evening, Yusnita could still hear the laughter. And the mocking you'll never be as good as Wanis! Never in a million years! You're nothing but a fat cow! This was accompanied by pontianak10-like cackles.

The cackling amplified when her mother asked Wanis about her boyfriend, Daniel. Yusnita could imagine a wave of disappointment sweep through the restaurant as Wanis gushed about him. She even had a photo of him in her purse. Yusnita tried to be interested but listening to Wanis hurt her more. It's not that she never had a boyfriend. In fact, Yusnita had just ended a year relationship with someone she thought cared about her. It turned out that he was using her as a springboard into the corporate world.

Before they parted ways later in the evening, Wanis and Yusnita shared a parting hug. As Yusnita managed to wrap her arms around Wanis's lithe waist, she summarised Wanis's wonderful life. Gorgeous, smart and loved. How wonderful it must be to be Wanis. A lone tear rolled down Yusnita's cheek and Wanis managed to catch it before it descended to Yusnita's neck.

"Don't cry yang11, I'm sure we'll catch up again soon. There's no way I'm gonna lose contact with my favouritest cousin in the whole wide world," Wanis said soothingly, emphasizing "favouritest". Yusnita looked at her cousin. Did she forget to mention how endearing her cousin was? Yusnita smiled as she looked Wanis in the eyes.

"You'd better not," she playfully warned before throwing in a last hug for good measure. With that, Yusnita got into the taxi with her parents, and waved her perfect cousin goodbye, the latter's figure diminishing as the taxi tore up the streets.

Wanis sat herself on her bed and started writing in her organiser. Dinner with Yusnita and her parents was alright, but she couldn't fathom why Yusnita was so silent. Yusnita was usually so confident and chatty. Despite her voluptuous frame, Yusnita could still laugh at herself, and eat whatever she wanted. She was so sure of herself, she didn't care what others thought of her. Wanis sighed, and continued planning her diet for the rest of the week. Thanks to dinner, she would have to forgo eating nasi lemak12 with Daniel on Monday. Too fattening, she thought. She would have to settle for a salad or something.

Yusnita's confidence made her the perfect law student; Wanis was envious of that. As much as she enjoyed what she was doing now, she had always wanted to study law, but she did not pass the aptitude test. Maybe if she had taken law, people would take her seriously, instead of treating her like she was a bimbotic cheerleader.

Then again, maybe it was because Yusnita's parents had her enrolled in Harvard, that she was so silent. Wanis remembered how Yusnita didn't seem all too pleased when she complimented her red dress. Perhaps, Yusnita thought she was a meena13 who only knew how to talk about clothes and who thought that intellectual property rights was something to do with buying brains for personal use. Who knows what Yusnita thought of her?

Why should Yusnita be concerned about clothes anyway? Not only did she have other more important things in life to concern herself about, she was rich, thanks to Pak Zul's ever expanding business. She could have afforded all the dresses she wanted. Gucci. Versace. Prada. What did it matter to Yusnita? One dress must seem like another to her. Wanis had to scrimp and save in order to buy her lace top.

Wanis scribbled a final note in her planner, before sinking into the depths of her luxuriously soft bed. She fell into a deep sleep, mumbling, "Lucky bitch".

Nadia Vrishiba Haniff is one of Singapore's younger women writers.

1. A term used for small shops, usually run by Indian men, which sell daily necessities. They resemble non-air-conditioned Asian food stores, only they're smaller. These shops are rare sights nowadays, and are restricted to housing areas.

2. In Singapore, Mak and Pak literally mean "mother" and "father" in Malay. However, the terms are commonly used to refer to "aunt" and "uncle" respectively.

3. Cantik is a Malay word for pretty.

4. This is a typical Singaporean response. Singaporean students are rarely satisfied with their grades.

5. Lee Kuan Yew was the first Prime Minister of Singapore. He is now a Senior Minister.

6. Satay may be likened to a Malay version of the shish kebab. It is a skewer of marinated meat, and is often accompanied with a side dish of spicy, peanut sauce and cut cucumbers, rice cakes and raw onions.

7. Tau huay is a plain bean curd, which is eaten with sugary water as a dessert. It is supposed to be good for the complexion.

8. Goreng Pisang, literally meaning fried banana, is a deep fried banana fritter, comparable to sweet version of Japanese tempura.

9. Tulang is an Indian dish that translates into "bones". It is a red stew that contains cabbage, onions, and, you guessed it, meaty bones. The bone is usually goat leg and one usually eats not only the flesh, but the marrow as well. It has origins among the poor pioneer Indian immigrant community in Singapore.

10. A pontianak is an evil female spirit. A contemporary comparison to the pontianak is the blair witch.

11. A short form for the word "sayang". Sayang, meaning love, is often used as a term of endearment.

12. Nasi lemak literally translates to "fatty rice". The main component of the meal is a serving of rice that has been cooked in coconut milk.

13. A local phrase which is used to describe a ditsy female. Bimbo would be an apt English equivalent.