My Writings - Part 2 (Lifestyle, Beauty, Parenting, Health, Personality Profiles, Property)

Lifestyle
“Rising Above All”, Singapore Women’s Weekly, July 2008
“Pure Pleasure” (holiday story – Pangkor Laut), Singapore Women’s Weekly, July 2007
“A Balancing Act”, Healthy Times, April/May 2007
“Navigate the Dating Minefield”, Healthy Times, April/May 2007
“Your Home, Your Well-Being”, Healthy Times, February/March 2007


Health
“When the Cradle is Empty”, Healthy Times, Aug/Sep 2007
“When Cancer Strikes Young”, Healthy Times, June/July 2007
“Out, Festive Bulge!” Healthy Times, December/January 2007


Beauty
“Hair Rehab”, Healthy Times, Aug/Sep 2007
“Quick Fixes”, (express beauty services), Healthy Times, June/July 2007

Parenting
“Choosing a Secondary School for your Child - A Mom Shares What Matters”, Schoolbag, Nov 2009
“Parents, "Don”t Stress" the First Day of School!”, Schoolbag, Dec 2008
“What can enrichment classes do for your child?” Singapore Women”s Weekly, Jul 2008
“Making a Successful Transition to Primary 1 (Part 1)”, Schoolbag, Feb 2008
“Making a Successful Transition to Primary 1 (Part 2)”, Schoolbag, Feb 2008
“Preparing and Supporting Your Child in Primary School”, Schoolbag, Oct 2007
“Choosing the Right Primary School”, Schoolbag,Oct 2007
“Choosing the Right Secondary School”, Schoolbag, Oct 2007


Personality profiles
“Passing the Passion On” (interview with Ms Lida Pet-Soede, Leader of WWF Coral Triangle Network Initiative), Nautique 2009
“The “Kee” to Success”, AlumNUS, Jan 2008 (interview with Jocelyn Kee, managing director of company Sin Hwa Dee Foodstuff)
“Dr Jeffrey Wang Soars on High Standards of NUS”, AlumNUS, Jan 2008
“Advocating the Practice of Giving Freely”, AlumNUS, Jan 2008
“Serving Alma Mater through Boston Connection”, AlumNUS, Jan 2008
“In Her Own League” (interview with celebrity Jamie Yeo), Healthy Times, April/May 2007


Property (below articles are written for singaporeproperty.myoochi.com)
“Guide to Owning Your First Home”
“Home Hot Spots”
“HDB upgraders – a crash course in getting the best deal”
“The Grand Dames of Singapore Condominiums”
“New En Bloc Ruling – What It Means for the Property Market”

My Writings - Part 1 (Career and Scholarship)

Being a freelance writer is one of the best things that has happened in my life.

I enjoy expressing myself and sharing my thoughts through the written word (and more than with the spoken). Also, writing puts me in touch with an array of topics which I would otherwise remain ignorant of. Writing also allows me to meet many interesting people, some of whom have become my friends, while others have inspired me and made a significant impact in my life. And of course, I get a high from seeing my byline.

Wonder what I’ve written so far? I've compiled a list of published works and they are grouped into the following categories:

Career and Scholarship
Education
Lifestyle
Beauty
Health
Parenting
Property
Personality Profile
Eco Lifestyle

As there are too many articles, so I've put them into several postings, beginning with the 'Career and Scholarship' pieces below. Feel free to look around and hope you enjoy reading them.

Career and Scholarships
"Set Sail for the Career of a Lifetime", Diploma Edition 2010
"MAP Your Career as a Leader", Degree Edition 2010
"A Vital Career Move", Degree Edition 2010
"At the Forefront of Water Technologies", Degree Edition 2010
“Grooming Leaders for National Defence”, BrightSparks, Feb 2010
“Mission MHA: Keeping Singapore Safe and Secure”, Career Central Degree Edition 2009
“Soar to Greater Heights with RSAF”, BrightSparks, Jul 2009
“DSTA: Growing a Glowing Career in Defence Technology”, BrightSparks, Jul 2009
“HDB: In the Business of Building Our Heartlands”, BrightSparks, Jul 2009
“Tackling that Scholarship Interview”, BrightSparks 2008
“Strategic Partners in Healthcare”, BrightSparks, 2008
“APMI Kaplan - Taking the Next Step”, Career Central ITE Edition 2008
“RP - Developing Staff Potential and Promoting Work-life Balance”, Career Central Degree Edition 2008
“GSK Biologicals: Upbeat about Vaccines”, Career Central Diploma Edition 2008
“NTUC - For a Rewarding Career”, Career Central Diploma Edition 2008
"At Technology's Frontier", Jobs Central Career Fair Event Guide, published by Jobsfactory October 2007
“If at first you don”t succeed, try again”, Career Central, 2007
“Designing a Bright Future”, CareerCentral, 2007
“At Technology”s Frontier”, Career Central, Jobs Central Career Fair Event Guide 2007
“How to Prepare for a Job Interview”, Career Central, Vol 5, 2007
“The Lady Boss”, Career Central, Vol. 3, 2007
“It”s a Big World Out There”, Career Central, Vol. 2, 2007
“Tapping the Hidden Job Market”, Career Central, Vol. 1, 2007
“Boost your Employablility”, Career Central, Nov 2006
“Job Search Strategies”, Career Central, October 2006
“If You Could Start Over Your Career, What Would You Do?”, Career Central, October 2006
“Starting Your Own Business: Do You Have What It Takes?”, Career Central, September 2006
“Hottest Asian Cities to Work In”, Career Central, September 2006
"How to Write a Good Resume and Ace that Interview”, Career Central, August 2006

A Mom's Guilt

I was in the living room working on my laptop when I heard Kenan making some noises in the room. He was supposed to be sleeping. I didn’t respond immediately, thinking I’ll let him cry for a while. A few minutes went by before I went in to check on him.

I saw that his eyes were closed, could he be having a nightmare? I patted him lightly on his chest and whispered “It’s ok, mommy’s here” and he IMMEDIATELY quiet down.

At that very moment, guilt overwhelmed me and for the second time in a span of three days, I cried again. I didn’t know that I could have such an impact on my son, I didn’t know that my presence could give him such a sense of security that he could immediately calm down. If I had known, I would have gone into the room earlier. Sorry Kenan, it’s mommy’s fault. Mommy loves you, always.

Mommy's Reflections

Last Saturday, Kenan turned three months old. After taking some pictures of him to mark the occasion, I sat alone on the sofa and began looking through every one of his photos in the camera. A sense of amazement filled my heart as I realised how much my little boy has grown. From a tiny, helpless being, he has grown to be a rather chubby boy with a double chin; from only knowing how to cry, he is now able to coo and smile. For the first time since he was born, I would feel such an incredible sense of love for my son that I began to cry.

In the beginning

Unlike what I’ve often seen in movies and on TV, I didn’t cry when I first held Kenan in my arms. In fact, I remember feeling a tad disappointed – why does he not have bigger eyes like mommy?

Then when we finally brought him home and the endless rounds of breastfeeding and changing diapers began, there were days when I wanted to scream at him. Exhaustion, helplessness and loneliness replaced whatever feelings of excitement I had felt. There were many days when I would either hold Kenan in my arms and cry, or lose my temper at the slightest thing. Why did I ever agree to have a baby?!

Yet strangely, when I look back now, all that felt as if they had happened a long time ago and it didn’t seem so bad after all.

More importantly, I finally knew what it is like to feel so much love for my baby. And how could I not?

The little baby who was so eager to share the same birthday as mommy that he was born three weeks early; the little boy who would smile brightly at mommy every morning – how can I not love him?

‘National service’

But the truth is, there was a time in my life when I really didn’t want to have a kid. It was really ironic because when I first decided to quit my job to become a freelance writer, one of the reasons was that I was planning for motherhood. I told myself that I want to be there to watch my children grow up. I was even ambitious enough to say I want to try home-schooling.

Yet as time went by, I grew to love my work so much that the thought of having a baby and end up losing my freedom and the time for work actually became offputish.

Eventually, I did get pregnant. Yet it wasn’t because I had become all maternal. It was more like I wanted to fulfill my duty as a wife and, as I often tell people, to do my ‘national service’.

Motherhood

These days, I’m starting to enjoy mommyhood - after getting the hang of the caregiving tasks and as Kenan becomes more responsive. I love seeing my son’s bright smile every morning and at the end of his feeds, watching him learn to do things like lift his neck and roll his tongue to make the Grrrr sound, and seeing him grows bigger and chubbier each day brings me a sense of joy and satisfaction I’ve never experienced.

They say that being a mommy changes a person. It’s true. Being a mom has added new dimensions and meanings to womanhood; the experience has also made me a more motivated person. I’m thankful that I’ve made the choice to become a mommy – and to such a sweet boy for that matter.

That said, I still miss my personal time terribly and always look forward to working!

Welcome to My Blog

Hi! I'm Ruth, a freelance writer, translator and first-time mom living in Singapore.

I love hanging out at cafes. It’s where I have heart-to-heart talks with friends, chill out with my hubby, spend solitary moments with a book in hand, do my work, plan my future and very often, to people-watch.

I hope to create a similarly cosy virtual space (through this blog) to I share about my life after becoming a WAHM - the mundane and the not so mundane and lessons I am learning along the journey.

More importantly, I want to be able to remember the details of my son’s growing up. He turned three months old yesterday. As I looked through his photos, I realised just how much and how fast he has grown! I began to worry that I will soon forget all the precious details of his growing up. So yes, he’s the motivation behind my starting this blog.

But my life is not just limited to being a mom (even though I believe mommyhood's going to be one exhilarating ride). So you'll get to read about my work, my passions and my interests too. I hope that somewhere along the way, you will find something useful or get inspired by what I've shared.

And do feel free to leave your comments or share your thoughts and experiences, I’d love to hear from you!