Let's talk books - from fun ones to assessment books

The school hols are upon us again!

If you missed Lesley-Anne and me at our book launch at the Botanic Gardens, here's another chance to catch us:

Date: Saturday, 9 June 2018, 2.30-3pm 
Venue: Neo Kinokuniya Singapore Main Branch (Ngee Ann City)

We will be sharing stories behind our latest book, Secrets of Singapore: Botanic Gardens, answering any questions you might have, and of course, signing books. Meanwhile, I share some secrets of the book with Epigram Books!

And if it's the PSLE that's bugging you, here's a second date to jot down on your calendar: Thursday 7 June 9.30pm. Tune in to Channel NewsAsia's Talking Point, where they will be discussing the hot topic of assessment books. I spoke to the host Steven Chia about my views (and no, I won't be telling you which ones to buy!)

I was interviewed in my capacity as a mum, education blogger and author of The Good, the Bad and the PSLE, which Steven is reading here.

Remember to tune in!

Celebrating local writers

This past week, the civic district was all abuzz with writers, writing and writers talking about writing. Yes, it's the annual Singapore Writers Festival!

I was part of a panel last Sunday, for the session "Help, My Son Doesn't Read", together with Sherlock Sam authors Adan Jiminez and Felicia Low, as well as Paro Anand from India. The session was moderated by Adeline Foo.

We shared tips on how to get reluctant readers hitting the books and also our recommendations on books for boys. The venue was great - some attendees were right at home in the bean bags.

Looks like this boy's parents don't need the session! Good choice of book :D 

Taking questions from the audience.

A surprise attendee - Lesley-Anne's previous ballet teacher, Ms Chew! One of her sons is a reluctant reader and she wanted to see if she could garner some tips on how to motivate him. What a wonderfully supportive mum. 

I hope some of you managed to bring your kids down - the SWF For Families portion features so many fun activities for children. If you haven't, try to make it this weekend (the Festival ends this Sunday, 8 November).

Kids and mums share their thoughts on my books!

Haven't had much time to blog lately, partly because my helper is on home leave and that's when we realise just how much we've come to depend on her. There are dirty clothes to wash, uniforms to iron, meals to prepare, dishes to wash, floors to mop and vacuum, yadda yadda. On top of that, Lesley-Anne has fallen ill, which means I not only have one fewer minion to help out around the house, I've got to take care of said minion. Bah!

Anyway, over the past few weeks, I've received some really nice reviews of my books, which I'm sharing here. First up, The Good, the Bad and the PSLE: I accidentally chanced upon this lovely review by an NLB librarian. She says, "If you’re interested to read about the experience of a parent with school-going children in Singapore, do pick this up. It is a light read with not-so-light underlying issues."

And all the way in Hong Kong, a reader Alice Chan, shared on Instagram that she enjoyed the book. So happy to hear that the issues raised resonate with parents even outside of Singapore!

Next, Danger Dan. Some kiddos have been enjoying the books and their mummies have made the effort to share both theirs and their kids' views in this very informative and lively blog post.

Our favourite part was when one of the mums said her daughter was so engrossed she wouldn't put the books down even at mealtimes or bedtime. Wah, you made our day! Thank you, Mummy Angie! You can also check out the mums' Instagram posts here and here.

Finally, Lesley-Anne and I were interviewed for a Singapore Motherhood article on 15 Singapore Authors (and Celebs) and their Favourite Childhood Books.

To find out what we read as kids, click on the link. (I know, I know, technically Lesley-Anne is still a kid...doesn't feel like it though!)

Speaking of books, for those who are curious as to what Lesley-Anne is reading now, her reading list is influenced by the topic she has chosen for her H3 Literature (a research paper for 'A' levels equivalent to the S paper in our time.) Over the past few months, she has read Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (which I'm reading now, based on her recommendation), Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey and Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess.

If you're into dystopian novels, some of these titles are worth checking out (although be warned, they could get you pretty depressed). In the meantime, keep reading!

A gift of a book - Christmas sale!

A Christmas sale on 3 November? In my defence, I did see Raffles City erect a frame for a giant Christmas tree yesterday so I'm not the only one thinking way ahead!

Some people have said to me that autographed books make some of the best presents. So as the Christmas season looms, I thought it would be nice to offer my readers an opportunity to buy my books as a festive gift. I've worked out an arrangement with Closetful of Books, who has agreed to hold a very special Christmas sale exclusively for Of Kids and Education blog readers - 20% discount on all online orders for my books, up to Wed, 19 November! How cool is that? I will autographed all books and address them to whomever you wish (for Danger Dan books, Lesley-Anne will sign them as well).   

These are the books:

The Good, the Bad and the PSLE: Trials of an Almost Kiasu Mother 

Great for parents of school-going kids. I've also been told that students themselves love reading about the hapless exploits of the mum and her kids!

You can read a blurb and sample here. Check out online reviews here.



The Danger Dan series. There are currently four Danger Dan books released. Perfect for kids aged 8-12. You may click on the links below to read a blurb and sample.

#1 Danger Dan Confronts the Merlion Mastermind
#2 Danger Dan Tackles the Majulah Mayhem
#3 Danger Dan Spooks the Peculiar Peranakan Pirate
#4 Danger Dan Traces the Perilous Poison

Special Danger Dan goodies:

All Danger Dan purchases come with a Danger Dan sticker. If you buy two or more books in the series (can be multiple copies of the same issue), you'll get a special Danger Dan badge. If you buy three or more Danger Dan books, you'll even get a notebook (ie you will get the sticker, badge and notebook)!

To enjoy the special discount, go to the Closetful of Books online order form here and when you place your order, enter the coupon code: HEDGEHOGSRULE. (Haha!) A 20% discount will be applied on all my books. If you would like me to address the books to a particular person, just fill out the "Is there anything about your order that we must note?" field before you check out.

Discount coupon expires 19 November 2014 midnight.  All books will be mailed out after this date by 30 November. This way, you're guaranteed to receive the books by Christmas. There's no better gift than the gift of a book!

Meanwhile, Lesley-Anne and I had a fun time at the National Museum yesterday, as part of the Singapore Writers Festival 2014, where we launched Danger Dan #4 together with three other children's books. Enough words for now - here are the pictures!

Public speaking baptism by fire in Hong Kong

So, as you all probably know by now, Lesley-Anne and I were in Hong Kong for a few days as part of the Hong Kong International Young Readers Festival. It was a whirlwind speaking tour - four talks and one workshop within two days! Part of the reason why it was such a rush was because over-achiever Lesley-Anne has a ballet exam this week and she insisted on flying home in time for the last lesson before the exam.

I decided to write about Hong Kong in two posts - this one is on the talks we did and the next one will be about... the food! (Cos we all know that's a very important aspect of travel and deserves it own post).

We flew into Hong Kong late on Thursday night. By the time we reached the hotel, it was almost midnight so all we did was take a shower and hopped into bed.The next morning, we were up bright and early for breakfast as I had to be at Radio Television HK for a 9am interview. This was followed by an interview with Sing Tao, one of HK's main Chinese newspapers.

Then we were chaperoned to our very first talk. This was a lunch talk sponsored by Mayer Brown JSM, a posh law firm at Central, HK. Mayer Brown JSM had invited their clients to hear me talk about my book The Good, the Bad and the PSLE and writing with Lesley-Anne. Together with some of their staff, the attendees numbered 40 or so.

Can I confess how intimidated I was? There they were - all these high-powered corporate folks in their suits and heels, many of them expats. They were coming to hear me speak? Gosh. As you can imagine, I didn't eat much at the luncheon (also because it was a stand-up buffet and I was afraid I would do something stupid like drop my fork or my food. My kids will tell you this is a common occurrence with me.)

The host, Gabriela was very sweet and reassuring but I was a nervous wreck. Lesley-Anne was seated at the head table with me and she saw my hand shake as I was holding the microphone. Glory of glories, I got through the presentation and no one fell asleep. In fact, they all seemed rather interested and laughed at my jokes. Many of the audience members were parents and they started asking questions about the difficulties of navigating the education system (HK's system is remarkably similar to Singapore's) and parenting in general.

And then... something miraculous happened. For some reason, I wasn't nervous when answering questions. I shared my views and philosophy, and how we often have to hold on to our beliefs even when society tells us otherwise. I shared my own experiences with Lesley-Anne and Andre. The audience listened. And when the session ended, Lesley-Anne whispered to me excitedly, "You made them cry! I saw three people cry!"

Whaaatt??

A man stood up and asked, "Is there a recording of this session? I ask this because my wife is a Tiger Mum and she needs to hear this."

Another lady to whom I'd earlier confessed that I hated public speaking told me, "If you're a bad speaker, then your book must be really incredible cos that was a wonderful talk!"

Oh wow. Cannot believe it. The reason I write this is to share with you (and remind myself) something a friend said to me before I'd left for Hong Kong - "God equips the called." Indeed. I think it's extremely comforting to know that if God has a reason for wanting you to do something, He will enable you to do it. It's truly a lesson in faith.

Mayer Brown JSM had generously bought The Good, the Bad and the PSLE for all the attendees. Here I am, autographing the books. (I deliberately chose a photo where you can't see faces, for privacy reasons).

The outcome of that talk did wonders for my self-belief and that much needed cos the very next talk was at a local school - Po Leung Kuk Ho Yuk Ching (1984) College, where we spoke to 270 13-15 year-olds.

We were warned that local students in Hong Kong are very reserved but we were not prepared for just HOW reserved they are. I mean, I was so thankful that we had just done a similar talk at St Hilda's Primary the day before and we got lots of laughter and applause so we knew the content of the talk was just fine. Cos what we got at the HK school was... silence. It's a little unnerving to not receive a response to any joke. Possibly it was due to their command of the language (English is their second language). Maybe they didn't really understand us even though we spoke slowly and didn't use complex words. Or maybe they're just very shy.

Anyway, the eagerness of the teacher made up for it - she was very welcoming and even bought a copy of Danger Dan for us to autograph.

That ended the first day of talks and the next day, we gave a few more, which I'll just list:

We conducted a creative writing workshop for kids and it's a world of difference when you deal with international school kids. These kids were vocal, participative and extremely imaginative. We were astonished at how imaginative they were and how much they could write within a short period of time! We had so much fun conducting that workshop. A parent later told us it sounded like the kids really enjoyed themselves cos she heard a lot of laughter from the room.

Lesley-Anne was a panelist in a public session called Becoming A Writer which featured young writers. The moderator was Jennifer Wong, a poet and on the left is Anna Ginsburg.  

I was part of a panel discussing parent-child relationships called Growing With Your Children, with Reenita Malhotra and Theadora Whittington, moderated by Crystal Kwok of Radio 3.  

Reenita Malhotra and Theadora Whittington

Finally, we were also interviewed by Daily 7/Daily 10 which is a kids' newspaper. The Hong Kong press has really been very supportive of us and our books, especially The Good, the Bad and the PSLE. South China Morning Post did an extensive interview with me that was published on 11 March 2014. You can read the article here.

Perhaps in time, our books can be distributed beyond Singapore's shores. A dream to hold on to!

Mums@Work weigh in on The Good, the Bad and the PSLE

Mums@Work is an online career portal for working mothers and mumpreneurs, set up by dynamic mumpreneur Sher-Li Liew, who wanted to empower mothers to find flexi work, work from home or set up their own businesses.

I take my hat off to Sher-Li - she gives seminars and workshops, negotiates with the authorities for support for working mums, counsels women while at the same time raising two young kids. Truly a living example of the empowered mother!

Mums@Work wrote a review of The Good, The Bad and the PSLE in their recent e-newsletter:

Our Review:
 

Enough has been said about the ill-effects of our stressful education system on our children in Singapore, therefore it was truly enjoyable to read a book that accurately depicted the trials & tribulations that a Singaporean mum might face. Parts of it made me laugh out loud, while other chapters were thought-provoking. Ling (the lead character) is both charming and engaging. Reading her adventures of adapting parenting styles to suit her 2 children's different personalities was entertaining and heartwarming. A must-read for parents of school-going children in Singapore. It certainly helps to know you are not alone!

Epigram Books told me that the book is the most borrowed book in the library among their catalogue of books. I had mixed feelings when I heard the news. On one hand, it means people want to read my book (yay!) but on the other hand, it means they're not buying it (nooo!)

If you've yet to read the book, I hope you will take the time to do so. It's now available on Book Depository at a pretty attractive price. And free shipping to anywhere in the world! You can't get a better deal than that :)  

Online reviews for The Good, the Bad and the PSLE

Happy 2014, everyone! How's the New Year treating you?

I'm getting really excited cos Danger Dan will be out very, very soon. But in the meantime, I've been getting quite positive responses to my other book (remember? The one about the stressful school system?)

Yes, The Good, the Bad and the PSLE has been getting noticed! What I found interesting was that some of the reviewers are not Singaporeans but identify with the Asian academic rat race nonetheless. Like this review by a blogger.

Here's another and in French, no less! (I ran it through Google Translate to get the gist of what it said).

And here's a review by a local blogging mum. Be warned though, if you haven't read the book, it contains spoilers!

It's even on Goodreads! If you've read the book and like it, I hope you will share your views on that site. Support me lah :) The book is S$17.90 (before GST) and available at all good bookstores. The bookstores don't always shelve it in a prominent or even correct location though, so if you can't find it, ask the sales folks for it!

Very grateful to all those who have taken the time to write reviews, especially since I don't know most of you personally. If you happen to read this, thank you for the support!

Pop Club review

Review of The Good, the Bad and the PSLE in this month's issue of Pop Club magazine! You can get a copy from all Popular bookstores with your Popular card.

Pre-orders for my book!

Here it is: pre-orders for my book, The Good, the Bad and the PSLE! I'm offering this as a service to my readers because some of you have indicated to me that you would like my autograph. I really appreciate the support very, very much.

The pre-orders start now up to Thur, 19 September only. Sorry if this sounds restrictive but I need to consolidate the numbers so that my publisher knows how many to cater for.

The deadline applies to payment as well. Only payment received by 19 Sep will be treated as confirmed orders and payment is via POSB transfer, no exceptions. I know this is starting to sound pretty regimental - I apologise for that but I really (x 1,000) dislike dealing with administrative matters and if I don't make things very clear, I'm almost certain I will muck all the orders up!

So here's how it works:

1) if you're keen on pre-ordering the book, send me a private message on the Of Kids and Education Facebook page (again, no exceptions, sorry! Hard for me to track if you start emailing me at different addresses. Please don't email me at my personal address or send your particulars over at this blog's comments page).

2) I will let you know what account to transfer the money to. Each book is $18. This includes registered mail.  If you would like to buy more than one (sent to the same local address), deduct $2.50 from each subsequent book. Eg. if you're buying 2 books, that's $18 + $15.50 = $33.50.

3) Once you have transferred the money, email me again with the following info:

• Name under which you transferred the money (it's an optional fill-in box for online transfers) or the transaction reference no. (for ATM transfers). I can't stress the importance of this enough. Without this, I'll have no idea who sent me the money!
• Your mailing address
• Whether you would like me to sign your copy of the book and if so, who I should make it out to.

4) I will confirm receipt and send out the books as soon as I receive them, which will likely be in early/mid-October. I will update this post again when I've sent out the books.


Just as a reference, the book will be sold at bookstores from mid-October at $19.15 (incl. GST) each. In other words, you're not getting a significant discount buying from me due to registered mail (and probably not significantly earlier either). If you don't want my autograph and are not in a hurry, you can probably get it cheaper from the bookstores during the end of the year when some of them *ahempopular* tend to have 20% storewide discounts. Just sayin' :)

Cover update on The Good, the Bad and the PSLE!

A couple of weekends ago, I was invited to the Epigram Books Pop Up Store sale as one of their would-be authors. The picture on the left shows their range of one of my favourite notebooks ever, the Notbooks.

It was also pretty exciting for me because my book cover was on the wall of Epigram Books' soon-to-be-released titles.

And yes, I'm sharing with you, dear readers, the confirmed cover of my book "The Good, the Bad and the PSLE"!  Can you spot it on the wall?

Here's a closeup:

Isn't it hair-raising? I absolutely love it! I know some people may think it's too off-the-wall but I think Epigram Books did a fantastic job of conveying what the book will be about. It's funny and eye-catching but yet charming in its own way.

Signing the poster:

 

And here I am with Ruth, the Managing Editor of Epigram Books who's also the editor of my book.

I can't wait till the book is launched! The planned launch date is mid-October. I'll be opening up for pre-orders sometime next week.

A book to call my own

I'm having a book published!

There, I've said it.  I've been working on it for a few months now and been wondering when I should mention it on my blog.  Finally, I decided it's time.  After all, you guys are my most loyal readers so it's only right that I give you a sneak peak.

How did this project come about? Well, as you know, I've been writing for clients for more than 10 years now and recently, the thought struck me that it would be nice to have something published that was mine, instead of belonging to someone else. I was reading my old blog posts one day and chuckling over some Andre stories when I thought, maybe some of these could be possible fodder for a book.  So I compiled a few and emailed them to Edmund, the boss of Epigram Books, whom I know from previous work collaborations.

Quite to my surprise, he instantly replied and said, "Yes. Let's talk."  So talk we did and to cut a long story short, I signed a contract with Epigram Books for a fiction title. I must say, I feel very blessed. What? No need to cry over tons of rejection slips? No passing on a manuscript from publisher to publisher begging them to take a look at my work?  Maybe God figures I'm too tired to take that sort of rejection and gave me a free pass, haha.

Anyway, here are the details:

Title (tentative): The Good, the Bad and the PSLE
Genre: Literary fiction (humour)
No. of pages: 160 (approximate)
Format: paperback
Release date: September 2013
RRP: $17.90 (before GST)/$19.15 (after GST) 

The book is essentially about a typical Singaporean mother who navigates the local education system by helping her two children do well in school. Her older daughter is an ace student while her younger son is the total opposite who cares more about soccer and canteen food than getting full marks for spelling. The book culminates in the daughter' PSLE.

At this point, you're probably thinking, hmm... this family sounds familiar and of course, you're right! Many of the stories were taken from my old blog posts and woven into a narrative.  The son is very much based on Andre and the daughter in the book is a more intense version of Lesley-Anne.  I state this upfront so that if you're a long-time reader of my blog and decide to buy my book, you won't be surprised if you come across previously used material. 

I deliberately wrote this book as a fun and light-hearted read, it's definitely NOT a how-to-survive-PSLE guide (although as I told the publisher, the latter might actually sell more copies!)  I've always been big on humour so I hope to give readers a few laughs, especially on this subject that has come to stress out many Singaporeans.

The book is going through edits now and the picture on the right is a proposed book cover that has since been rejected and being reworked.  But here, you guys get a little behind-the-scenes glimpse at the work-in-progress.

It's a fascinating process and I love being part of it.  Epigram Books is great - they consult authors over things like covers, illustrations and really put in a great deal of thought into them.

I'll be giving regular updates on this blog. It's still two months before the book is published but when the time comes, I hope I can count on all your support!