9th August is of significance to me every year as it is the birthday of the two I hold dear.

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One is someone whom I have spent my life with for 18 years and blissfully still counting -my husband and partner. Another is the place I was born and grew up in- Singapore.

 

Penang was where my mother came from and there existed a leisurely world before mobile devices where my parents would bring me and my sister every holidays to spend time with my grandparents and cousins. Despite years have gone by, but those holidays formed my sweetest childhood memories. To Penang, I always wonder what can I do more for my creative counterparts eg a platform to an international audience? 

 

Singapore is the place whom had nurtured me and I am always grateful for the gift of education and opportunities to become who I am. As a recipient of ASEAN scholarship for 6 years - the  tertiary education shaped my
thinking and bilingual skills profoundly. I am also thankful to be enjoying Singapore's world class public housing infrastructure.  To Singapore, I always hope what I can still do more to show my gratitude. To ask me to choose who is more important is like asking if you prefer your dad or mum more. 

 

I remember as a kid, my dad would drive all of us up from Singapore to Penang, stopping by at Kluang sometimes where my dad came from and not far from Malacca, and then to Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh, Butterworth and then the final leg would be completed by taking the ferry to Penang. During those humble times, before there is highway infrastructure, our family of four would sit in a tiny car enduring 12 hours of bumps and pain in the butt. But it was also fun stopping by to visit Kampongs, which have almost now disappeared from Singapore, durian stalls, sample delicious comfort food and see the way of life beyond the causeway.

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I believe there are many like me. After all, I heard the ASEAN Scholarship is still in force and Singapore, Malacca and Penang have always been inextricably linked since centuries ago as the key port cities of the British Crown Colony where Peranakan culture flourished. 

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I am now proud to call myself a Nanyang citizen. The changes in the history of Singapore Chinese are taken together with the evolution of a growing sense of regional identity in Southeast Asia, the future may rest with how we can balance local and regional interactions with its widely admired global city position. 

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Success lies in collaboration and not isolation. Let's work together to develop a greater positive influence and riches ( not only economically but culturally) in South East Asia ASEAN :)