I was sitting at my desk listening to a ministerial statement by Chan Chun Sing, as he presented how the horrific event on 19 July at River Valley High School unfolded. It is an event that has shaken the country tremendously. As Minister Chan continued on, he addressed the importance…

Hypnobirthing seems to be the answer to having pain-free births, and even allowing women to experience joy in the birthing process. — If you’ve ever sat down with a circle of women who are mothers and a new mother comes along, I can guarantee you would have heard the inevitable question — “How was your birth like?”. Following that new mother’s sharing, each mother would volunteer their own story, and the chatter…

“The premise that birthing, by nature, had to be a painful ordeal was totally unacceptable to me. I could not believe that a God who had created the body with such perfection could have designed a system of procreation that was flawed.” — Marie Mongan in “HypnoBirthing: The Mongan Method” …

“It is in those fleeting moments of rejection, that my heart mourns for what could have been a beautiful father-son relationship, if not for your dad’s vocation of being a doctor.” — Dear M, You turn two at the end of the month. My heart swells with joy marveling at your presence, your energetic spirit, and your ever-growing penchant for making your mother’s heart stop with your active antics and miraculous need for little sleep to function. Your existence has undoubtedly changed…

“It is time to put myself first, for real, this time” — Avie Mercado, co-founder of Plants Ate My Money. — Heintjie Santos and Avie Mercado, founders of Plants Ate My Money I first met Avie Mercado, a cheerful person who is well-loved, at my new workplace in July 2021. I joined her team of fresh, young and driven people who were tasked with a nebulous mission: Innovate. They gamely took…

I will love you and honour you all the days of my life. — Every year, my husband and I will re-watch our wedding video footage. And every year, I would ask him the same question — “How come we never cried when we said our vows to each other, ah?”. Thankfully, my husband is a patient man and my repeated mundane question always…

Diving into semantics and paving the way forward. — The last month has been an exhausting one for all Singaporeans. Apart from having to cope with rising cases of Covid-19 infections, there were several bizarre incidents happening on the ground that were overtly racist. A property agent, Tan Beow Hiong, was taking videos of commuters on the MRT and…

Let Weddings Be What They Really Are: A Union Between Two People, Not A DisplayTo Be Shown Off. — On 21 May 2021, I attended my cousin’s wedding. Due to the Covid-19 resurgence in Singapore, strict measures were put in place to quickly curb the spread of the virus. Only 50 guests were allowed and any wedding reception was strictly off-limits. It was a beautifully simple affair — a…

It is even more pertinent now than ever to make mental health a priority — It is my first-year anniversary of officially seeking help for my mental health. It was not until I was hospitalised for a completely different illness (I had dengue) that I realized I was mentally ill. …