Biographical
sketch
(written in third person narrative to make it even more
annoying to readers) |
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Photo of our House Dragon, Shu. |
Born and
bred in Singapore. Singapore = hot, hot and more hot. And yes, the government banned chewing gum in this little island
nation - get over it. Most vivid childhood memory: falling on her butt
upon a fish tank while trying to climb the pipes ledged onto the ceiling
and needing four stitches as a result. Tank and fishes never recovered.
Other notable childhood event was the separation and subsequent divorce of
parents whereupon everyone involved breathed a sigh of relief including
the children (big sister and her) who thought their parents stood a better
chance as normal individuals without each other.
Started formal education in Bedok Girls' Primary. Six years in sheer hell
then ensued as she had to contend with a monster who named herself Mrs Lee
- form teacher in disguise but really was a witch with warts and all
underneath. Secondary school was bearable, almost interesting, and college
was one long blur where she learnt inexplicable stuff such as Mathematics
(x times y NEVER equalled xy for her), Biology (the birds and the bees)
and Economics (the GDP output of a country is...duh??) along with the more
palatable subjects of History, Literature and Chinese. Upon graduation,
she promptly forgot everything she was taught. After which she decides, on
a foolish whim, to go work in a library to absorb 'real-life' experiences
for a few months and ended up shackled to the bookshelves for a few years.
At present attending first year in the Open University of Singapore,
trying to get a BA in English Language and Literature, while still
shackled to the library where the dusty book parasites draw at least one
pint of blood from her per day. Spending her days studying her healed butt
off but, much to her horror, she's actually kinda enjoying being back in
school again.
Thinks nephews are the sweetest things on earth, love them, love them!
Apparently has an attitude problem (said boss). Will revert to a mishmash
of gibberish spoken English and Mandarin when hysterically happy. Mood
swings unfortunately, sometimes bad-tempered, but generally cheerful. Have
a total of three best friends from way beyond who tolerates these mood
swings thankfully. Would like to travel the world and not work for the
rest of her life and occasionally invests in a lottery ticket in hopes of
realizing this futile dream.
Future aims include finishing Katya Dragonseeker's story within this
century! Learning how to untangle her two left feet to swing and lindy-hop
beautifully. Get that blasted BA and earn oodles of money.
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How Shu
thinks to look inside... Picture drawn by Enayla.
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Odds n Ends : For some reason, when people ask me what kind of books I
like to read (perils of working in a public library) and I'd answer
blithely, 'Oh, fantasy mostly'. Usually the response I get would be
'Fantasy? Really? You like these kind of books?' in disbelieving tones.
And pray tell what's wrong with liking those kind of books? I truly
believe that fantastic fiction transcends literary barriers and isn't just
limited to the stereotypical idea of knights/heros/wizards rescuing
big-chested maidens in distress from dragons/warlords/trolls etc.
Fantastic fiction can encompass authors ranging from the classics of Ray
Bradbury, the surrealistic magical atmosphere of Isobelle Allende, the
delightful and whimsical Victorian fables of E. Nesbitt and George
MacDonald, the gothic genre aka Bram Stoker aka Mr Dracula, the haunting
world of Neil Gaiman's Sandman, and finally mainstream fantasy greats such
as David Eddings, Raymond E. Feist, Peter S. Beagle and of course Tolkien
himself. And why not? Fantasy is merely imagination, hope, dreams and the
willingness to believe even if for a space of a few hours and what are
books, whether literary prize-winners or pulp fictions, if not those
things?
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Dalá'Valannía 
Singapore
(the famous land of no chewing gum)
