Ho Lee-Ling

  It has been six years since I last wrote in this blog. Many things have happened since 2014. In addition to my three cats, there was an addition of a dog (who died!) and after that, the addition of another dog named Xena. And this year, 2020, the COVID epidemic hit the world. With more time at home, I resurrected one of my working projects, and my first book for Young Adults (aged 12-15) is now published! I started writing a story known as "Island Girl" around 2015, and submitted it for the Scholastic Asian Book Awards in 2016. It was shortlisted, the only manuscript in Singapore, and eventually it was placed 2nd runner-up. Initially there was a contract to publish the manuscript but even after many re-writes, the publisher decided to drop the contract. It was pretty discouraging but I still felt great love for this story, and the main character of the book, Habibah, so I continued working on it. Finally, this year, I reached a point where I felt the story got to the point ...

Diva likes the comic section best! Last Sunday, I was talking to a couple of girls in Primary 5 and 6 about their Social Studies textbooks. I was happy to hear that they liked it. "It was like a magazine!" one said, and she meant it in a good way. The latest textbooks are bright, cheery and full of illustrations. They even have comics, er... graphic novels in them! This is a far cry from the textbook I used when I was in school. There was no social studies in primary school so my first encounter with history was in Secondary 1. The textbook I used was "Social and Economic History of Modern Singapore" and  the thickest book in the school bag. It was perhaps more serious than the textbooks of today with a lot more words. Surprisingly, I liked the textbook. (Probably because I liked to read).  I was especially taken by the stories in the "Supplementary reading material" section. I always thought these bits were more interesting than the main text! My...

I've always been interested in art, so I was excited when I had the opportunity to research and write a book on pioneer artist Cheong Soo Pieng for the National Art Gallery, Singapore. At first I only knew Soo Pieng as the artist of the Salted Fish painting that is found on the back of our $50 bill. By the end of the project I knew much more! This book was also interesting in that it was my first attempt at a graphic novel or rather "tovel" -- a textbook cum novel. I really liked how the illustrator Ann Gee was able to translate my suggestions into lively, colourful illustrations and appreciate the efforts of the book designers in playing with the design such that every page was interesting and a delight to the eyes! If you have the chance, check out the book. It is different from my other books but it has inspired me to do more biographies of Singapore personalities in the future. Find out more about Soo Pieng at the Art Gallery website . This book is available ...

Last month, I was happy to attend a launch of new readers for the Primary 3 Social Studies programme. The main reason for my attendance was to see my books -- I wrote three of the readers -- finally in print! I enjoyed researching and writing the books but there is nothing like reading the stories fully illustrated! I hope the P3 children will enjoy reading these stories in their classes. Ah Kong's Farm is a story about Ah Kong who has a farm growing vegetables and fruits. One day, he is asked to change his farm or give it up. What will Ah Kong do? Mr HDB tells the story of Mr Lim Kim San, the first Chairman of the Housing and Development Board (HDB), and how he helped build homes for Singaporeans. Getting Around traces the changes in transportation in Singapore from the days of rickshaws and carriages to cars and trains.

I was happy that the Sunday Times finally published my story "Deanna and the Railway Cats" yesterday. Many thanks to the National Arts Council (NAC) for making it happen. Just thought I'd give a little background to the story. It was inspired the closing of the Tanjong Pagar Railway Station and the plight of the many cats whose lived in the station. I wished that I could have done something for the cats, but by the time I found out, the cats were already well taken care of by the Cat Welfare society. See http://www.catwelfare.org/node/4906 As a cat lover and proud owner of three adorable Singapore cats, I thought the least I could do was write a story inspired by these railway cats. I knew that many cat owners named their cats based on the colours of their fur, and favourite coffee shop drinks. So I named the cats Alia (ginger), Teh (brown) and Kopi-O (black) roughly based on the colouring of my own cats. Too bad ST had not picked up on this and got the illustrator to...

Last year I was happy to write 4 Social Studies Readers for use in Primary 1 and 2 classrooms. Classroom teaching is so different today compared to when I was in school. Children get to learn from big books with lively pictures and local content! For Primary 1 students, I wrote two stories: Siti's New Home and Don't Cross the Line! These two books feature a sister and brother team who have fun but sometimes get into trouble with each other. The first story Siti's New Home was inspired by Queenstown -- the neighbourhood I grew up when I was a child.  For Primary 2 students, I wrote another two stories: New Girl in Town and We are Singapore. In the latter book, we meet a pair of twins -- Emma and Ethan. These characters were inspired by my own niece, Emma and nephew, Ethan. Like the character in We are Singapore , my niece Emma asks a lot of questions. Overall I enjoyed writing these stories and I hope students and teachers will enjoy reading them!

The best party ever! was the second book for kindergarteners I did for MOE. There were two main inspirations for this story. The first were my cats. I have two (now three!) cats at home and have always wanted to write a story inspired by them. My cats are not pedigreed, they are Singapore street cats who are intelligent, playful and so much a part of the Singapore landscape. The second inspiration was my niece who, at three years old, was very bossy. She was always playing "teacher" and telling others what to do. So I decided to write a story about a bossy cat and how others reacted to him. The kitten featured in the story is inspired by my calico cat, Diva. Here is a picture of her. This book supports the learning disposition of appreciation that encourages children to respect everyone, value what others say and learn from all. This disposition is important in helping children get along with others and work well in teams. For this book, I had the privilege to work with ...