The Heroine's Path Origin Story Every heroine has an origin story.
And this is the origin story of the Heroine's Path interview series.
My first heroine is my mother.
Second of eight children.
One of six daughters.
My mother was the first Singaporean-born child to a poor couple who emigrated from Fujian,
China to Singapore,
Or Nanyang as it was called in the 1950s.
Growing up,
She was,
As she says,
Never the brightest student.
After completing pre-university,
She found work as a kindergarten teacher,
Which became her first and only vocation for four decades until she retired at the age of 59.
My mother met my father,
The first man to woo her,
During a field trip overseas in Malaysia with her schoolmates.
After five years of dating,
He proposed to her and she quickly accepted.
When I asked her why,
She replied as a matter of factly,
Saying,
Everyone else was getting married,
Why wouldn't I?
And as they wed,
Her friends gushed amviously,
Congratulating her on what a good life she was going to live and how lucky she was to snag such a good catch,
Someone educated,
Smart and handsome like my father.
And as for the good life awaiting her,
For the next four years,
She juggled the duties of holding a full-time job teaching,
Having to cook almost daily while doing the household chores and bringing up three daughters.
This also included one long,
Grueling year of taking care of my one-year-old sister and my overbearing grandmother while struggling with postpartum depression while my father was away on scholarship studying in Japan.
And through the 40 years of their marriage,
My mother continued to tolerate and bear my father's dedication to his work and his resulting absence in helping out in taking care of children and the household duties,
As well as his impatience and his tendency to fly into a terrible rage at the smallest of things.
My mother embodies all the qualities I admire in a woman.
She is joyful,
Diligent,
Humble,
Generous and most of all,
Kind.
She taught me never to trouble others,
To always offer more than I take and to above all do my best.
It didn't matter to her if I was the top of the class or not,
As long as I did my best.
She never had big dreams for the three of us,
Her daughters.
Simply to be engaged in some form of work contributing to society was enough.
But she also told me that a woman should know her place and if a woman didn't get married or become a mother,
Her life was not complete.
And though my mother is the first heroine in my life,
I've come to realise that there are many ways a woman can live a complete life.
This interview series,
This podcast series,
Though dedicated to her,
Is also dedicated to all the heroines I have crossed paths with.
Female founders,
Activists,
Creators,
Intuitives,
Nomads,
Women who are brave,
Creative,
Intelligent,
Independent,
And even unconventional.
These women have inspired me and led me to believe that I can walk my own path to live a complete life.
And I hope this will inspire you too,
To write your own story so that you can become the heroine you want to be.
