Ho Lee-Ling

This is an English translation of an article that appeared in Lianhe Zaobao on 26 April 2011. The original article follows. Introducing children into the world of Singapore history Although 40-year old Ho Lee-Ling is single and does not have children, her ambition is to become a children’s historian – to write books based on local history, people and events for them. Lee-Ling discovered that most of the local history books are all written for adults; such books for children and few and far between. She hopes her books can inspire children to become interested in history. She also hopes that the children, when they know more about the people and events of the past, will learn to treasure what they have today. Interestingly, Lee-Ling did not like history as a student. She majored in English and Political Science in University, and became a teacher when she graduated. Since Political Science was not taught as a subject, she had to teach History. To attract stude...

Last year, I visited Excelsior International School for an author talk and signing. Here are some of the questions they asked, and the answers: Why did you want to be an author? Ever since I was a child I have always loved reading, writing and drawing. I used to make up my own stories, write them down in a jotter book and draw pictures to accompany them. They used to be about princesses and dragons. So I have always written stories. But it was only later as an adult that I decided to write and publish these stories. How does a person become an author?  If you want to be an author, you must love reading and writing.  My suggestion is to start by keeping a notebook or a diary and writing down things that happen in your life or things you observe. Once you get used to writing, try making up stories and writing them down. Sometimes you may have to write a story a few times before you are satisfied. When you are happy with your story, you may want to share i...