The digital age has made so much of our daily lives feel temporary. News scrolls past, images vanish, and even personal history gets buried beneath algorithmic feeds. This sense of ephemerality is precisely what the creators of a new British publication, Golden, hope to push back against.
Golden is not a weekly glossy or a quarterly journal. It is a not-for-profit annual magazine, hardbound and designed to be an object of permanence. It serves a singular purpose: to act as a cultural time capsule for the East and Southeast Asian (ESEA) communities in the UK.
The founders—MilkTea, Resonate, and Juniper by the Sea—are looking for financial support. They call these supporters benefactors. This is not a typical advertising drive, but a sincere appeal to people who understand that documenting cultural life has a cost.
Chi Thai, co-founder of MilkTea, believes deeply in the physical format. “In a time when so much of what we create is ephemeral or algorithm-led, the permanence of print, curated and created by a community feels precious,” she said in an earlier conversation about the magazine’s intent.
Read More: Chi Thai Discusses GOLDEN Magazine and the Urgency of Documenting the British ESEA Experience
The magazine’s core value lies in its independence and its dedication to the community it serves. It aims to capture the ESEA experience in Britain—its politics, its food, its film, and its literature—without the demands of the mainstream commercial market.
Zoe Li, the founder of Juniper by the Sea, reinforced this idea of dedication. “I’m a big fan of anything in printed work; I love the physicality of a book,” she said. Li joined the project specifically because it was the type of cultural anchor she wished she’d had when she was younger.
The funds raised from benefactors go directly toward maintaining this independence and paying the contributors who make the annual possible. The goal is simple: to offer fair recognition for the writers, photographers, and thinkers whose work will fill its pages.
The Rewards of Sustaining a Legacy
For those willing to support this endeavor, the return is not commercial, but cultural. Becoming a benefactor means funding the creation of a rare archive of ESEA expression.
Supporters receive a few immediate acknowledgments. They get a complimentary copy of the finished annual when it is released, slated for publication around Lunar New Year or ESEA Heritage Month in 2026.
More importantly, benefactors receive acknowledgment in print and online. The magazine treats this recognition not as an advertisement, but as a salute to those sustaining the cultural work itself. Supporters can also share a statement about their commitment to ESEA culture in a dedicated spotlight section.
The ambition here is not for scale. Golden is not looking to be a high-circulation periodical. It is focused on enduring value. As the founders note, this is an investment in cultural memory, solidarity, and legacy. The support ensures that ESEA voices are recorded for future generations.
In a world where history is often shaped and recorded by the dominant culture, the act of commissioning, editing, and physically preserving these community-led perspectives becomes a crucial political and artistic statement. It makes clear that these stories matter.
If you are interested in exploring how to support this project, you can email the team at hello@milkteafilms.com to begin a discussion.
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