Why this blog? Something about me...

Better late than never! Up till now, my double life has been kept very private. Footprints, I have none in cyberspace. However, the time has come for me to out myself. What better place than the virtual world to share my enduring love – the English Language, and writing – through blogging. Internet habitues are more than welcome to keep tryst with this blog if the romance is mutual.

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I spent my early working years as a school teacher in Singapore. Then, as my nascent love for the language and writing grew, I realised that there would be no opportunity in the profession to give free rein to my burgeoning passion. So I began to cast around. Journalism fluttered her eyelids and I fell head over heels for her as her coquettish allure beckoned. So I turned my back on teaching after 10 years and joined the newspaper.

 

Unsurprisingly, the romance lasted more than 30 heady years. Though we have physically parted, we are still soulmates till death do us part. Today, I keep the flames alive through teaching English to VCE English and English Language students in Melbourne. My torrid affair with English, writing and editing took me down many paths and byways:

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• Conducted writing and journalism courses for the Extra-Mural Department, National University of Singapore

• Taught students in journalism skills for the Advanced Diploma in Mass Communications, Oklahoma City University, USA.

• Conducted tutorials in Written Communication (English) under the Diploma Programme, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

• Conducted tutorials in Professional Writing as a Training Associate, Monash University, Melbourne.

 

As a journalist, I have been published in many papers: The Australian, Courier Mail (Queensland), Herald Sun & Sunday Herald Sun (Melbourne), The Nation (Thailand), The Star (Malaysia), The Straits Times, Sunday Times, Business Times (Singapore), The Singapore Monitor (defunct, Singapore), Today Magazine (defunct, Singapore). For the many senior editorial positions I held, the work entailed extensive editing responsibilities. In later years, as the language wanderlust bit deeper, I gravitated to linguistics.