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My Life in a Nutshell
My first book, In the Company of Women: Selected Plays, published by SNP Editions, was launched in Jul 2004. My play, The Car, won ACTION Theatre’s Theatre Idols 2005 by being awarded both the Jury Prize and the Audience Choice Award for ‘Best New Play’; The Car was fully staged at The Esplanade Theatre Studio by ACTION Theatre in late July 2006. In 2008, my 10-minute play, Imperfect Family Recipes, reached the finals of the Short+Sweet Singapore 2008 festival, and my short play, The Lunar Interviews, was featured in Magdalena (Singapore)’s production of Blood Binds, that was part of W!ld Rice’s OCBC Singapore Theatre Festival 2008.As an Honorary Fellow at the renowned International Writing Program, University of Iowa (Aug-Nov 2007), I gained much insight on the craft of writing from my peers around the world. In addition, I use all of my theatrical background to bring stories vocally and physically alive in a unique fashion. Since 2003, I have been telling stories at The Substation and within the community, delighting both adults and children. I am also a founding member of the Storytelling Association (Singapore). For three consecutive years since 2008, I have successfully conducted Beyond Storytelling 101, an intermediate level storytelling workshop to hone the storytelling skills of Associate Members of the SAS as well as members of the public. I have been associated with the Magdalena Project (an international network of women in contemporary theatre) since 1999. As the President of Magdalena (Singapore), a society that sought to promote networking and sharing amongst women arts practitioners (2005-2009), I led the organisation of Crossroads 2006, an international women’s theatre festival (9-15 Jul 2006). Outside of theatre and storytelling, I gained an MA in English Literature (National University of Singapore, 1993) and pursued a career in public affairs, marketing, editing and teaching. From 1998 to 2003, I worked as a Publications Officer at the Centre for Development of Teaching and Learning, National University of Singapore, where I edited newsletters and books on teaching and learning issues in higher education. With the moral support of The Substation, I pursued a second masters degree, an MA in Voice Studies (2005) at the Central School of Speech and Drama, London, during 2003-04. I now earn part of my living teaching voice, speech and/or presentation skills at the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University and other local institutions.
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I have been acting, directing and writing for English-language theatre in Singapore since 1986, working at various times with The Necessary Stage, ACTION Theatre, TheatreWorks and Practice Theatre. Between 2002 and 2009, I was an Associate Artist with The Substation, Singapore's first multi-disciplinary arts centre. Since 1997, I have been concentrating on solo performances, most of which have been featured at The Substation with its support. My latest performance was a collaboration with Noor Effendy Ibrahim, Sharil Wahid and Rizman Putra, entitled Bumiputra Cina that was self-written and staged at The Substation Theatre (14