Story.

I was born on a sunny Monday afternoon of March the 11th, in the year 1991. It was Penang Island I was born in then, but my family decided to move down to Singapore Island when I was 10 months old. In Singapore I grew up as a toddler, watching the morning news while waiting for my mum to return from her night shift job as a nurse. Followed my parents to Church on Sundays at the Bethesda Cathedral, played simple yet amusing platform computer games while sitting on my dad’s lap; there I also attended the PAP neighbourhood kindergarten, Tumble-Tots, swimming lessons and some Junior Music Course in the Yamaha school of music. Being the only child at home, my favorite past time was doodling with crayons, building my ideal house with lego bricks, playing simple tunes on the keyboard, riding the toy car and having tea with my favorite stuffed-toy friends with the plastic cookery set.

It was the Christmas of 1997, when my parents decided that we move out of Singapore back to our own country, Malaysia. And that I should return to my hometown and start my formal education in Penang Island. Under certain circumstances, we ended up at the southern tip of the peninsular, Johor Bahru- where we resided for over a decade. Home it was to me, as I found my circle and network of friends. I started my formal education in Foon Yew 3. It was a Chinese primary school I was enrolled into, Spartanic they say, but my dad saw the importance of me knowing my mother tongue. The most memorable days were the days the entire class played together in the school’s marching band, rehearsing new formations and blowing the same notes on the trumpet countless number of times under the hot weather on black tar road- we still love the days we went out for competitions and performances in our stunningly awesome red suits. Our family too, found a warm and inviting church to attend- and we found ourselves growing up in Calvary City Church from the days we were new to the town till today.

Having to score well in the Primary school final examinations, I got shortlisted to continue my secondary education in I.J. Convent of Johor Bahru. It was fair experience I had for 5 years pursuing my studies in an all-girls school. As a freshman I learnt how the system goes- we actually trained undeniably hard for just an inter-house sports day marching competition; while in the later years I strived in the St John Ambulance competitions days and running the division itself, accompanying that were the days when we rule the Interact club- organising major events and liaising with Rotarians from the District 3310. Royal flush it was for PMR, proceeded with science studies for SPM. I guess it was important for me to understand the basis and appreciating the beauty of Biology, Chemistry, and Physics before I enrolled into a design related course for my tertiary studies.

Besides my academic pursuits, I enjoy playing the piano for leisure. Backtracking a little, I’ve fallen into the world of pure rock’n'roll music in my early secondary school years- where I picked up the electric guitar, jammed with a band and played in school once in a while. However, I enjoy classical music most of the time today, be it a full orchestra, chamber music, solo instruments or the vocals. Since my revival of classical music, I decided to pick up the violin in 2008 and currently plays with the school’s Strings Ensemble. Playing the keys and ‘jamming’ in the children and youth worship teams has been extremely enjoyable too, simply because playing music together, what more, for His glory- is very much a pleasure. In my free time I enjoy hitting tennis balls on the court, reading articles and viewing photographs of rail transport, watching travel and culinary programmes, going through my coin album one more time, watching ballet performances, reading up on science and history articles, browsing through good blogs, reading a good book, watching a good movie or a psychological thriller, occasionally an anime/manga series, having tea catching up with an old friend, conversing with my parents and knowing my family history and roots, and yes, reading the book of Psalms, always the calming effect (:

So Singapore Polytechnic it is, an Architecture student I am today. Constantly learning and creating new ideas and expressing emotions and human thoughts through space and forms, as well as adapting to a whole new lifestyle and pace of life in quite a foreign land with a much smaller network of friends and acquaintances.

Some people, were born to sit by a river. Some get struck by lightning. Some have an ear for music. Some are artists. Some swim. Some know buttons. Some know Shakespeare. Some are mothers. And some people, dance. - Benjamin Button, from ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.’