The Colour Yellow

“What is your favourite colour?” — that is one of the most commonly asked questions, be it at an orientation, getting to know a new friend, or even when filling out a fun personality quiz. It’s a simple question, yet I often found myself struggling to answer it. At times, I’d say “green”, and at others, I'd say “purple”, but the truth is, none of the colours really felt right coming out of my mouth. 

Sure, all the colours were nice — but none were really my favourite. 

That was until I found the colour yellow. 

My yellow. 

Yellow is warm and vibrant. Reminiscent of sunlight, it brings a sense of joy and positivity to any setting. In nature — the golden hues of autumn leaves and sunflowers, or in everyday life — the shades of colour hiding beneath each ray of light. Like apricity, the sunshine in people’s winters, yellow has this magnetic aura which knows to draw people in – how could anyone who has seen it not fallen at least a little in love with it? 

Yellow is my definition of beautiful. 

Yellow wrapped around me like a gentle embrace, a quiet presence that soothes the ache of loneliness. The warmth of the sun on my skin, the glow of a street lamp in the dead of night, the color that infiltrated all my grey. Its light never failed to illuminate the dark corners of my heart, being the string that ties my breaking heart together.

Yellow is my definition of solace.

Yellow never failed to give me the strength to smile after a day of hard work. I tripped on curbs, scraped my knees and bruised my arms, but through it all, yellow stayed. Yellow picked me up after every fall, it bandaged my skin after every cut and it treated my wounds after every injury. The sparks that dotted the navy blue sky, the stars never stopped shining for me. The lemon’s sourness caused me to squirm, but its sweetness made up for it, all the time. 

Yellow was my definition of life. 

A smile on my face every time I saw it, my eyes twinkling at the sight of its glow…people thought I was crazy. People thought I was obsessed, they called me insane. But the thing is, I wasn’t. 

It was neither a mania nor a single-minded desire. 

I never saw the world which it was a part of, through rose-tinted lenses. 

I just saw it yellow. 

So if one day, yellow is too tired to be the light in everyone else’s lives, then I will be the one who shines over it. 

And if only yellow had the eyes to see, the ears to listen, a thinking mind and a beating heart, I wish for it to know and understand that there will always be someone on Earth admiring its beauty, appreciating its presence and forever loving it. 

Darissa Ong 

3 Loyalty 

2025