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!

Mothers' Day feature and special offer for new Secrets of Singapore book

Happy Mothers' Day to all readers who are mums! Whether your kids are little ones or not-so-little-ones, being a mum is a privilege — to be able to raise and nurture another human being.

The Straits Times arts beat had a feature last Tuesday on "Mothers pass their artistic passions on to their children", and Lesley-Anne and I were interviewed as one of the mother-child pairs. Click on the link above to read the article (we're the third story).

Photo: SPH

My favourite quote in the article is Lesley-Anne's description of how we envisioned Gadget Girl in our Danger Dan series:

"I was always annoyed at kids' books with stereotypical girl characters who were ditzy or boy-crazy or always shopping and painting their nails," says Tan. "I couldn't identify with them at all."

Which brings me to a Danger Dan update. Those of you whose kids follow the Danger Dan and Gadget Girl series may have been wondering why we've been so quiet ever since the release of The Gruesome Garden last October. The reason is this we've been working hard on this book: Secrets of Singapore: National Museum.

This book is very close to my heart and is possibly one of my favourites. Like the original Secrets of Singapore, this book similarly tells the story of the history of Singapore, but this time, the narrative is woven around the artefacts at the National Museum. We wrote it with the view that kids would take the book with them on their visit to the museum and use it as a guide to reference the artefacts. The artefacts described in the book are numbered and you can find the gallery where each is located in a list at the back of the book.

As with the original Secrets of Singapore, we use very simple language and we try to explain everything, even the word "artefact":

The point is to make the museum (and history) easily understandable and even interesting, by breaking down the facts and artefacts into digestible, bite-sized chunks. Then we throw in loads of humour and Danger Dan-style puns. The National Museum was very helpful in providing info, especially where we thought we would need to bring in trivia that appealed to kids. Such as this one on the very first NS uniform.

Of course, Elvin Ching's fantastic illustrations also helped bring the artefacts to life. We ♥ his drawings. Here's an early review of the book:

"What a wonderful book to teach children (and adults) about the history of Singapore!  Danger Dan and Gadget Girl deliver so much information in a fun, humorous and interesting way with lively images and information about many of the artefacts in the National Museum. Parents, teachers and students will all want to have their own copy because it brings so much life into the fascinating history of Singapore. A visit to Singapore, and the National Museum, would be incomplete without this book!" - Sarah Mounsey, teacher librarian, Dulwich College, and children's book author

I hope you're as excited as I am about this book! It will be available in bookstores by end May/early June, but you can be one of the first to get your hands on it with this special pre-order offer of $14 by Closetful of Books. (There's free delivery with a minimum order of $25, so get another for a friend!) Order now and you will receive an autographed copy of the book by 29 May 2017.

Do support our efforts to keep writing for kids - appreciate this lots!

Coming into her own at the Singapore Writers Festival

Another Singapore Writers Festival has come and gone, and this year, Lesley-Anne was the participant from this family, not me.

She was invited to speak at two panels. The first, Singapore Through Their Eyes, which focused on writing about local characters set in local contexts.

The second was targeted at teens: Write This Way,  where four teens shared their experiences and advice for writing.

After the second session, some friends and fans approached Lesley-Anne for autographs and advice.

She has received quite a lot of publicity for this year's SWF.

An SG Now Feature: "8 Singaporean writers you should know about"

As one of the writers interviewed for a Today newspaper article: "Words by Women".

And a full feature interview and writeup on youth.sg. 

Funnily enough, it's not the writing or speaking that she's most daunted by - it's the publicity. Over dinner before her first SWF session, I asked her how her week has been. She looked cross and said "bad". I thought maybe she didn't do well in some essay or was swamped by work. Turns out, someone in Yale-NUS had found out about her Today newspaper feature and spread the word, so random strangers had been stopping her and asking her about her books. What a nightmare for Ms Anti-Social.

Watching Lesley-Anne this SWF, it was evident to me how much she has developed as a writer and speaker. Her mindset on writing has definitely expanded, as demonstrated in her quote in the Today article: 

“You (as an artist) are not just there to showcase how well you can do your craft, you have to use your craft for something ... More than just providing entertainment, you are supposed to start a discussion of neglected topics in society.”

Having participated at quite a number of official events now, her confidence and eloquence have grown. Even among adults, she holds her own. In fact, some of the things she was talking about made me mutter, " Aiyoh, so cheem".

Nevertheless, it makes me proud to see her come this far. It especially warms my heart to see her talk to teens and kids about her passion. To be able to possibly make a difference in someone's life, that's something special right there and I'm glad to be part of her journey.

On the pages of Simply Her Magazine

A couple of months ago, I was interviewed by Simply Her Magazine and the story is out! It's in the October 2016 issue under the feature "Mumpreneurs We Want As Our BFFs". I noticed that I'm the only mum featured in her 40s, everyone else is in their 30s
:-O

The focus of the interview was on how I set up my writing agency and how it empowers others mums. As is usually the case in such features, there's a word count constraint, so the article is a heavily summarised version of the interview. For the benefit of readers, here's the full Q&A of my interview.

What is the main target of your company?

In essence, we want to help organisations communicate better through writing that is simple, clear and creative. It sounds straightforward but you’ll be surprised how difficult it is to achieve this. Often, when you’re in an organisation, you can’t see through the fog caused by massive information overload. Everything is important! And it’s made worse when people throw in jargon and buzzwords indiscriminately, often to mask the fact that they’re not quite sure what they really mean.

My writers aren’t just adept at writing, most of them also have extensive business and marketing experience, so we are able to capture the essence of what organisations want to communicate and wrap it in a succinct, readable package.

What made you decide to set up? What inspired you? How did you see the gap in the market?

In 2002, I’d been heading corporate communications departments in different organisations for about 10 years. My kids were only 5 and 2 then, and I didn’t want to miss their crucial, growing up years. So armed with a passion for writing, I decided to start a copywriting business, working from home. Thus, Hedgehog Communications was born.

It was a riskier decision than many people realise today. 2002 was at the height of the Asian Financial Crisis. Jobs were scarce, businesses were failing. Furthermore, back then, outsourcing writing wasn’t the norm. It was almost unheard of. Most PR departments took care of the writing internally. So it was actually a huge risk. I was giving up a great job and salary as head of communications at SMU to start this venture. With two very young kids to feed! Many friends thought I was out of my mind.

What life changes did you have to make personally to start your business up?

I didn’t have to make any drastic changes financially because writing has very low overheads and start-up costs, plus I did have clients almost from the get-go. However, once I moved from being a salaried employee to an entrepreneur, I started counting every cent. Somehow when your wages are not paid to you automatically every month, you tend to be more careful about how you spend your money. 

How easy was it to set up? Tell me about how you started, and what was easy, and was tough.

The physical aspects of starting up a writing business are almost non-existent – all I needed was a computer and I was good to go. What was harder was learning the ropes about starting a business. When you’re a one-woman show, you’re basically the manager, accountant, sales rep and worker all rolled into one!

Did you have a slow start or did the business boom immediately? How did you go about garnering interest and drumming up advertising?

In the beginning, winning the business is always the hardest part. I knew I could write, but convincing people to pay me to do so was another kettle of fish! But I gave it my best shot. I made a gazillion cold calls, knocked on doors and hawked my cv. Having said that, I must say I’ve been very fortunate. I’ve had people willing to give me a try pretty much from the time I started. From there, word of mouth helped my business grow steadily and I never looked back.

After about five years, I found myself with so much work that I had to turn jobs down. That’s when I started thinking of ways to grow the business and I looked for copywriters to join Hedgehog Communications. It was slow at first because I only wanted copywriters who could write with the level of professionalism that Hedgehog Communications had come to be known for.

One group of people I actively sought was mums like me who wanted flexi-work so they could spend more time with their kids. It’s my way of paying it forward but I have to admit, it’s not entirely altruistic. I find these mums an untapped and underappreciated resource. They’re very capable, often with years of corporate experience behind their belt; they’re reliable because they’re used to getting things done quickly and effectively; and they’re loyal because they’re grateful for the opportunity to engage in meaningful work. I’m very pleased to say that eight of my 13 writers are mums with young kids. All my writers are on flexi terms, meaning they’re free to take on as much or as little work as their schedules would allow. And we have an extremely collaborative and supportive culture in Hedgehog Communications – when a writer is suddenly unable to take on a job due to an emergency, someone else will always step in or lend a hand. That’s the “mum” culture at work right there!

How has the business developed (staff, money, popularity etc)?

Today, Hedgehog Communications is one of the most established writing agencies in Singapore, especially for the public sector. Unlike some other companies which may be fronted by senior personalities but farm out the work to junior staff, all our writers are experts in their own right. We have among us, an ex general manager of a public relations company, managing editor of a publishing firm, deputy editor of a national magazine, communications head at an MNC, etc. And these are the people who actually do the writing, hence the quality of our work.

We’ve taken on many, many projects that help both public sector agencies and private companies simplify their written communications for websites, brochures, reports and so on. I don’t advertise at all so I’m sometimes astonished (and mystified) that clients from as far as London and India have heard of and wish to engage our services. It’s something I’m incredibly proud of – to have built a setup that I didn’t know whether would last six months, to an enterprise that serves a real need in the community and provides meaningful work for many people. I find great satisfaction in that.

How has your life changed since becoming a Mumpreneur?

Where do I even begin? The bond I have with my kids is strong, I mean elephant-glue strong. Even though my kids are now teenagers, we still chat all the time and we discuss anything from our love of books to our love of food! I even write books with my daughter, Lesley-Anne. Our first series of five children’s books, titled "Danger Dan", was published by Epigram Books from January 2014 to July 2015. The series has been supported by the National Arts Council. The series was successful enough for Epigram Books to offer us another series, so we embarked on the "Danger Dan and Gadget Girl" series, the first book of which was published in April this year. As mother and daughter, we also conduct talks and workshops at various events, such as the Singapore Writers Festival, and at primary schools.

As for work-life balance, most definitely. When I work, it’s in short productive bursts, which leaves me a lot of down time to be with my kids or to do other things.

What are the downsides?

Like with all businesses, financial uncertainty is right up there. There are good months and bad months, and the current situation is not necessarily a good predictor of the future. Fortunately, Hedgehog Communications is pretty stable now, but in the early days, I would get nervous whenever I faced a lull period.

What plans and hopes do you have for the future of your business? 

I’m actually quite dismayed by the standard of English I see in official collaterals and signs. How is it that with English as the official language of business and instruction, people are increasingly unable to use the language correctly and appropriately? It’s a lofty ambition but I hope Hedgehog Communications can play a major role in raising the level of written communications in business and the corporate setting (well, in Singapore at least!)

What advice would you share with other mums who are considering setting up their own business please?

Do your homework! It can be rewarding but running your own business is challenging. Having a passion is not enough – you need to have a plan, scrutinise the business aspects and make sure that it’s financially viable in the long run.

Making the push for reading and appreciation of Singapore literature

Reading has been in the news a lot lately. In March, Straits Times reported that an NAC survey showed only 44% of Singaporeans had read a book in the past year. This statistic is even sadder when you consider that for some, this one book could be 50 Shades of Grey. The common excuse given was lack of time, which I feel is rubbish lah. I constantly see people on their phones. If they have time to Facebook for hours, they have time to read.

A reading culture is best nurtured when young. Unfortunately, I feel our school environment doesn't help. The obsession with grades, tuition and studies leaves little time for much else. Our kids are so bogged down that when they have free time, all they want to do is zone out. It's made worse by the fact that many parents prefer to have their kids read only educational books (Guide to Acing your PSLE!) and fiction is considered simply a "nice-to-do" but unessential activity. How do we groom a reading habit with such practices?

It was therefore such a refreshing change when Lesley-Anne and I spoke at the Canadian International School last week and found out from the librarian that the kids there are avid readers. Last year, each student borrowed an average of 40 books. The librarian had set out a special Danger Dan borrowing box and all the books were out!

Here are more Danger Dan updates:

First, Secrets of Singapore was one of the finalists in the recent Singapore Book Awards (Best Non-Fiction Title)!

 
Even though the book didn't win in the end, we were happy to have made the finals list. We were even more thrilled that and even happier that our publisher, Epigram Books, was the big winner at the awards. Here we are the inimitable Mr Epigram Books himself, Edmund Wee, and Lydia, the designer for Secrets of Singapore.

To celebrate the awards, Secrets of Singapore and all other winning/shortlisted titles at the Singapore Book Awards are going for 20% off on the Epigram Books website, now till end of May! Coupon code: SBASLP2016.

In other news, the first book in our new Danger Dan and Gadget Girl series, The Animal Abduction, has already created plenty of excitement in schools, especially with the introduction of the new furry character, Power Paws!

Here's a review of the book by book blogger, Priscilla. She gave the book five stars and suggested it be included as supplementary reading for schools. Quote:

"Kids shouldn’t be kept in the dark when it comes to serious issues like global warming and wildlife conservation. But that doesn’t mean you should tell them bluntly in the face. Somehow, the mother-daughter writing team managed to keep the book light-hearted, educational, and engaging."

Finally, Straits Time reported in May that Singapore's literary scene was enjoying a revival. I'm not sure I would go that far but certainly, the increased publicity and focus on reading has helped. And I'm very proud to be associated with Epigram Books, which has been at the forefront, pushing for Singapore literature to gain recognition and acceptance in its own right.

Danger Dan got a small mention in the article as one of the most borrowed children's titles from the National Library Board. It's a modest achievement but we're always happy to hear that kids enjoy reading Danger Dan. It's what keeps us going. Here's hoping the trend will continue!

Glamming it up for Women's Weekly

Lesley-Anne and I featured in November's issue of Women's Weekly! I thought it was a lovely photo shoot and interview.

Getting us both to look so "natural" is of course, a lot of work! Here are some behind-the-scenes shots. First, there's makeup:

Then hair styling. This guy Ashley is a genius. He managed to tame Lesley-Anne's unruly frizzes! Funny story: he was styling both our hair and he said in his experience, the stubbornness of a person's hair tends to correlated with the stubbornness of the person. Then he paused and said, "Both your hair very stubborn." Lol!

Then they give us outfits pre-picked for us. I have to commend the Women's Weekly team - they chose outfits that not only fitted us well but suited our personal styles. Kudos to them!

Test shoots:

With an ever-ready hair stylist! What would I give for one of those...

Here's a different pose that we were shot in but was not used in the end.

That was a fun experience and in the meantime, here are some exciting updates on Danger Dan - the first print run of Secrets of Singapore has sold out and is going for a second print run! Not bad considering the book was only released a few months ago. Woohoo!

And here are a couple of new reviews of Danger Dan and Secrets of Singapore: Our Baby of Love  and Priscilla and Her Books. So glad to hear of more kids and adults loving Danger Dan.

Finally, an event announcement: I will be a participant in this year's Singapore Writers' Festival. While Lesley-Anne is busy sitting for her 'A' levels, I will be part of a panel in the event, "Help, My Son Doesn't Read".

Date: Sun, 1 November, 4-5pm
Venue: Asian Civilisations Museum, River Room.

Admission is free so if you have nothing else on, why not come and hear what the panelists have to say about the topic?

See you there!

This is home, truly

I hope everyone had a relaxing Jubilee weekend! Well, except for the upcoming PSLE kids whose parents must have thought, "aha! Four extra days to study!" My condolences.

I thought this year's NDP was especially well done. The orchids on LKY's seat were an understated and poignant touch. I'm sure many Singaporeans wished he could have lived to see the SG50 celebration.

So many wishes have already been published for SG50, I don't want to be cheong hei about it. I just have one thought - a lot has been said about unity and how as we come of age, we need to be united as one people. I notice though that some people have a superficial definition of unity, ie we have to share the same views. To me, unity goes much deeper than that. It is knowing that even though we may look different, like different things and hold different views (even argue heatedly about them), we firmly believe that each one of us has a place in Singapore. Even as we celebrate our common love of food, bond over our use of Singlish and laugh at each other's kiasu-ism, may we also come to see our differences as something not just to tolerate but to embrace. Unity is made beautiful in diversity.

Back to the NDP, watching the show segment reminded me how many historical facts we covered in Secrets of Singapore. Am glad Lesley-Anne and I took the time to write that book. So I recently found out that there's a Danger Dan fan club in Temasek Primary school (which thrilled me to bits)! Their wonderfully supportive parents sent me photos of their kids reading Secrets of Singapore, which is such apt reading for National Day:

We received a glowing review of the book from Sassy Mama Singapore, who describes the book as: "Informative on all aspects of Singapore history and society, it has an eye for the telling anecdote, does not shy away from a pun and a chummy reading voice that never patronises."

Yay! Early responses to the book from kids are promising and we're really excited about that. Popular Bookstore has invited Lesley-Anne and me to an author meet-and-greet this coming Saturday, 15 August 2pm at their main store at Bras Basah.

If you would like to meet us and get your book autographed or have any burning questions for us about Secrets of Singapore, do come down! The wonderful Epigram Books has printed new Danger Dan stickers and all kids will get one.

See you on Saturday and Happy National Day, Singapore ♥

A new website and other Danger Dan news!

Quite a fair bit of Danger Dan excitement for us over the past few days. First, the stocks of Secrets of Singapore arrived at Epigram Books!

Ahead of schedule and looking good, I must say! So on Thursday, we dropped by to sign a few copies.

For those of you who placed orders with Closetful of Books, hang in there. I'm sure they will receive your copies real soon! Meanwhile, if you're waiting for the stocks to reach the bookstores, I expect they'll be on the shelves by early August.

Timeout Singapore wrote a tongue-in-cheek piece on Danger Dan in their July issue - a hilarious interview with the Boy Wonder himself! You can read the article here.

Finally, we decided to create a Danger Dan & Gadget Girl website. In the past, we didn't feel this was necessary as there wasn't much information to put up, so we relied solely on the Danger Dan Facebook page. However, as the books have now gained their own following (plus Facebook is becoming increasingly unpopular with kids), we decided it was time for Danger Dan to have his very own platform.

The website address is www.dangerdanbooks.blogspot.sg - do support the page and visit it for updates on the series!
 

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!

Words Go Round by NAC Singapore Writers Festival

The past few weeks have been exciting for us. We were part of the National Arts Council's Words Go Round 2015, which is an off-shoot event under the banner of the Singapore Writers Festival.

Schools can book authors for talks or workshops and we were booked for three sessions:

The first was a creative writing workshop at CHIJ Kellock (Primary). According to the teacher, the workshop was very popular and the girls had to ballot for places. Wah! We hope they had fun.

When we conduct these workshops, we often find that the kids start out hesitant at first, unable to think beyond the usual composition style and structure. But eventually, they loosen up and you can almost see the moment when the creative switch gets turned on "ding!" Once they realise they can be as wildly imaginative as possible, that's when the ideas start to flow and we get some really great stories.

The second session was a talk for p4-6s at Bukit View Primary. This talk was lots of fun. The kids were super interactive and when it came to Q&A, so many hands shot up we couldn't get to everyone in time! Love it when we meet so many students enthusiastic about reading and writing.

Finally, we conducted a school talk at for the Riverside Primary p3 kids. What a wonderfully vibrant sea of shades! Also a wonderful audience with many questions. I wish we had time to do Q&A for our other school talks. Kids often ask very intriguing questions. One boy asked why we called the character Danger Dan when he was supposed to save Singapore!

It's sometimes a scheduling nightmare to conduct these talks (in between Lesley-Anne's lessons where she has to dash out of school after class, go for a talk and return for another class). Nevertheless, we're very grateful to NAC for the warm support they've shown us. It really goes a long way when the national body for the arts sends the message to schools that they support local writers.

Meanwhile, we were also featured in NAC's Once in a Garden City brochure, which showcases new releases in local literature for children and young adults.

Also thanks to Singapore Motherhood for featuring us in this article on what local authors and celebrities read when they were young (in Lesley-Anne's case, younger).

Now that Words Go Round is over, Lesley-Anne has to study for block tests, which started the day after the Riverside Primary talk. I told her, never mind, you can rest after your A levels...maybe!