Kampung Diary

Deep in an old alley in Jalan Besar, the Lin sisters, Yixin, Yueting, and Zihui, rely on one another after their parents divorce. After their father dies, their half-sister Zihan, a fourteen-year-old girl from Johor, Malaysia, enters their lives with a troubled family history. Out of compassion, the eldest sister, Yixin, takes her in, giving her a temporary home in their old house, steeped in the atmosphere of an “old kampong.”

From their initial awkwardness to a fierce argument on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the four sisters gradually adjust to one another amid everyday troubles and cultural clashes. Auntie Ali’s care, the encouragement of the handball team, and a reconciliation beneath fireworks on the rooftop help them let down their guard. When the second sister faces a career crisis, the third feels lost about the future, and the eldest considers changing jobs, Zihan’s arrival brings a fresh breeze that disrupts the family’s familiar rhythms and pushes them to reexamine family ties and their own identities.

In the end, they choose to renovate the old house together. With greetings and blessings in four languages and the lively, homey bustle of their kitchen, the house comes alive again. In the old days of Jalan Besar, this “imperfect” family moves from the cracks in their blood ties toward emotional healing and mutual support, becoming one another’s truest home.