Friendship

The girl who just wanted to fit in

I came to Singapore way back when I was just 11 or 12 years old. I stepped into this country as a shy, timid and fearful girl. I was terrified to speak to anyone because of the fear that I would be...

Post-secondary

Pregnant at 18, I had an abortion before my A-levels

I was from an all-girls school. And like any teenage girl undergoing puberty, I was desperate for love and attention from boys. There was a boys’ school just across the road from mine, and many...

National Service

Struggling to get used to NS life?

Under the Enlistment Act, I was due to enlist on July, 5 2019. Unlike my peers, I was actually looking forward to enlisting as I wanted a career in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF). I had heard...

Secondary

A letter to my fellow O-Level peers

It never made sense to me why many stories in the Bible always revolved around battles. Surely, God wasn’t advocating war? Furthermore, how would stories of combat, rocks and slings find its...

National Service

I faced down five weeks of depression in NS

In 2018, I struggled with depression for five weeks. As a National Serviceman, I was transitioning from an old camp to a new camp. Things were run differently, and having to adapt to the new...

Secondary

Struggling with my mental health through my O-Levels, I expected the worst

As I prepared for my O-Levels last year, I went through an extremely difficult time. There were many problems and misunderstandings that arose within my friendships due to the state of my mental...

Post-secondary

Living with migraines during my A-Level year

Ever since I was in Primary 6, I’ve been getting headaches at quite a high frequency. Having no idea what was causing it at that time, my parents were extremely worried. The headaches got so bad...

Secondary

What is God doing in our schools? Building a house of prayer with See You at the Pole

I don’t remember what I was doing at the age of 18, but I was definitely not praying for my school. Not that I didn’t want to – it just never even crossed my mind to do so.  That’s why, as I...

Finding Purpose

To all young teachers: Remember why we do this

“We do not remember days, we remember moments.” – Cesare Pavese I remember this boy in one of the classes I was teaching, I read suspicion and uneasiness in his eyes. I was giving a...