Channelling my inner doctor
We launched the fourth book in the 'I am Unique' series at the Asian Festival of Children's Content (AFCC) on 29 May 2022 and at the official launch on 4 June 2022 organised by Diabetes Singapore.
'I am Unique' is a book series that celebrates the special qualities in every child, inspiring children to embrace their uniqueness, and to live their life to the fullest.
It all started when Dianah, my good friend from junior college asked me if I could help Huda, her daughter, publish a book on autism. Earlier on, I had told Huda that she needed to publish a book so that she could stand a higher chance of getting into Cambridge medicine. Since we knew a family with special needs kids, I figured we could start by interviewing the family. The Sander family had been very helpful and supportive of the book project. Huda was not confident writing the Malay text so I translated the content for her. Evelyn, the illustrator, suggested that she draw a series logo, in case I wanted to write other books. Hmm... I thought, why not, right?
Voila, when Huda was writing her autism book, I was inspired to write a story about Mikhail who has cerebral palsy. Then, another junior college friend, Norliza, said that Ilyana, her younger sister, would like to write about her daughter who has Down syndrome. Concurrently, Cheng Yong, Newnham College alumna, approached me to talk about writing a book about her own Type 1 diabetes (T1D) condition.
Book 2: My Name is Mikhail. I have Cerebral palsy. [English & Malay]
Book 3: My Name is Alyssa. I have Down syndrome. [English & Malay]
Book 4: My Name is Adam. I have Type 1 Diabetes. [English & Chinese]
Postscript:
Huda is in her final year of medical school. She didn't apply to Cambridge (to my huge disappointment coz I wanted to live vicariously through her) as she thought that she wouldn't have gotten in.
Ilyana fulfilled one of her bucket list of being an author. She recently presented at AFCC and is a strong advocate for the Down syndrome community.
Cheng Yong, who initially wanted me to write, co-authored the diabetes book with Candy who was diagnosed with T1D at 2 years old.
Seow Ser got the chance to translate English content to Chinese.
Coincidentally, the ladies in T1D book team studied in England (at different times). Farah (whom I talent scouted from Instagram) studied children's book illustration at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridgeshire. The world is indeed small.
Why did I continue with the series despite my overwhelmingly hectic schedule? I don't know. Perhaps, deep inside me, I wanted to channel my inner doctor. Since I am unable to pursue my childhood dream, I figured that I could still do something medical related. Harvard Med, if you are reading this... please give this Malay girl the opportunity to pursue her dream of becoming a surgeon.
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