‘Elite’ isn’t the only way to go

I ONCE thought I was being subversive by choosing a polytechnic over a junior college.
After all, I had attended a so-called elite secondary school where students aim for top junior colleges, go on to ace their A levels, land prestigious scholarships, an Ivy League education and soar through corporate ranks at lightning speed.
It is a [...]

Coming home from overseas study: It’s the toughest part

By Cassandra Chew
NOBODY told me moving back home from overseas studies would be this difficult.
Unlike my summer visits, where being in Singapore was merely physical relocation, moving home meant re-integration – a process I would have preferred to keep at arm’s length.
It was not that I resisted being in Singapore. I was more than happy [...]

Face to face with human trafficking

By Cassandra Chew
THE cupcakes were the easy part.
Three months ago, I set out to raise funds for a human-trafficking study trip to Thailand by selling these cheerful confections. Sure, it was hard work slaving in three kitchens over six days to whip up more than 350 of them.
But it took just three weeks for my [...]

How cupcakes fired up my idealism

By Cassandra Chew
THERE are few things in life that transcend borders and barriers the way love and smiles do.
But I am discovering a possible third universal thing: Cupcakes!
Last month, I launched a fund-raising campaign for an educational trip to Thailand.
Having grown passionate about fighting child trafficking in my four years abroad, I almost lost my [...]

Treat domestic helpers as equals, not servants

By Cassandra Chew
THERE was one year as an undergraduate when I spent every Friday as a domestic helper to a family in New York in the United States.
I was the Mandarin-speaking babysitter who arrived at their home at 8.30am.
I ate sandwiches with the family at lunch and took a break while three-year-old Oscar napped. I [...]

The politics of involvement

By Cassandra Chew
CALL it extreme political geekery, but Superbowl Sunday, traditionally America’s biggest sporting event of the year, came and left without much fanfare among my schoolmates.
Everyone I knew had their minds tuned to Feb 5, Super Tuesday, where more than 20 American states voted for their party’s presidential candidate of choice.
This, to them, was [...]