When I was 12, I remember thinking I’d grow up to be a corporate hotshot.I’ve done a whole range of things. I worked for TV stations in Hong Kong, at Channel V, at MTV, at Mediacorp, and as a presenter for Star Sports. I worked as a consultant for a radio station in Malaysia. And I’ve run a chocolate boutique.I don’t have any sports channels. I killed them all. I’m hardly ever home.There’s no such thing as a stupid person or a useless person, you’ve just got to find the right job scope for them.My promotions executive told me I remind her of a picture she’d seen of a little kitten looking at a mirror and seeing a huge lion.If you’re not expressing your talents or don’t have the opportunity to stretch them, then you’re not going to be a happy person.I don’t like reading columns about people’s personal lives. I write stuff which anybody could pick up and go “I know somebody like that.”I want people to feel that they’re not alone.I can’t sit down and write everything in one go. I have to write in several stages.I always thought that I should leave Singapore. But it’s changed so much and is so liveable now.I love New York, but living there was tough. Why fight so hard just to get a cup of coffee?I don’t want to struggle. I don’t want my day to day life to be a challenge. I want it to be nice and simple so I can expend my energies doing creative things. Singapore is a breeze.Exposure to expats has changed us. Now when we meet friends, we kiss each other on the cheek. Ten years ago we’d never have done that.To impress a girl with chocolate, you’ve got to know what she likes. Just ask her casually if she’s a dark or milk, and then remember. They don’t have to be the world’s most expensive, but buy good quality chocolate. And then tell her “I got these because they’re your favorite.”My name means “She who works with her hands in the soil”. When I first learnt that, I was appalled. Now I like feeling like Mother Earth.All I want now, is a huge garden where I can plant my own vegetables. I just want to plant things. Right now I have a patio to channel my green energy.There’s no greater joy than snipping and eating tomatoes that have grown in your own garden.I don’t want to be a lonely old lady pottering with my herbs and my cats.Follow your own heart. Not a guy or a girl.A lot of what I’ve done has been because of serendipity; blessings and opportunities. Being in the right place at the right time.Throughout my life, I’ve gone with the flow. I’m surprised I’ve got to where I am. I think I could have been more successful if I’d planned it. But I don’t like to regret things.I try to do as many things as I can. I never say no to anything.
