Lifestyle Correspondent.
The Straits Times, 2010 - 2017.

Fresh out of university, I found myself as a rookie reporter at the lifestyle section of Singapore’s best-known broadsheet - the part that I had read religiously since I was a tween. I started writing features for the Sunday spread. I covered the softer side of life in Singapore, from stories about farmers in urban Singapore to young couples picking baby planners.

About a year later, I moved on to helm the Home & Garden section. I wrote about architecture, interior design, new hotel openings and the top gardening trends to dig into. As the sole reporter on the beat, I was pitching my own stories and staying on top of what was hot in the market. Over the next six years, I built a strong network and personal branding in the industry and become the go-to insider who championed Singapore design.

As I grew my repertoire of design stories, I still wrote about everything I love: food, music and people. Cheap & Good was a food column I contributed to regularly, and I reviewed albums and concerts, particularly of the hip hop/R&B genre. With the series of Life Interviews, I got to sit down with the movers and shakers of the design scene, as well as, people who were behind some of Singapore’s best-known brands. Some of my favourite interviews include Mr Ang Chin Koon, the founder of myCK chain mom-and-pop stores and billionaire hotelier Mr Kwek Leng Beng.