Meet the face
behind the posts
I was a reader before I was a writer although I can’t remember growing up with a lot of books. My father subscribed to the National Geographic so I read that. Later he added TIME & NEWSWEEK – so I read that too.
I remember he came from a banker’s conference at the capital Manila and brought back a suitcase full of illustrated stories. When the suitcase was opened, we grabbed the books and a hushed silence fell in the house. All 6 children aged between 10 to 18, sitting on the sofa, perched on the armrests or sitting on the floor, reading in absolute silence. I don’t know why I would remember that.
One of the books I grabbed was KING LEAR. Although I was the middle daughter and Rosamond as the youngest was probably the favourite, I seem to have identified as CORDELIA who says the ‘wrong’ thing by refusing to flatter her father King Lear. He becomes outraged and he banished and disinherited her.
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We moved to Cagayan de Oro City when I was twelve. My father worked for the Philippine National Bank and we moved around a lot, following his postings. I started secondary school at the Cathedral High School ran by the RVM (Religious of the Virgin Mary) nuns. They had a reading program, probably Scholastic or similar. A teacher assessed your reading skills and started you on a colour band. You read your mini book/booklet and answered comprehension questions. You read your way through that colour band and move up. I was a fast reader and read through the whole collection. I can’t recall now what I read but I do remember reading about the MARCH OF THE LEMMINGS! Why that would stick and nothing else did? Morbid or maybe my takeaway from that is to not follow the herd! A friend Louise wrote on a memory book they cobbled together when I left Hongkong, about my “individuality and willingness to follow my own path”. I think a nice way of saying “She’s rather odd but we’re keeping her!” Sweet.
The next year we moved to another city DAVAO and I went to a school ran by the Jesuits called ATENEO. There I discovered the library. I started with the Nancy Drew books. Read through the entire collection so started with the Hardy Boys series. Finished that and started Bobbsey Twins series. I’d like to say that my taste in books improved after that but I think I went the romance books route - Mills & Boon and Silhouette series. Danielle Steele and Harold Robbins. And of course, Barbara Cartland! This was 1981 and a 19-year old kindergarten teacher called Diana Spencer announced her engagement to the Prince of Wales. She was also pictured with a Barbara Cartland book in hand – her stepmother’s mother. Can you blame me?
I very much wanted to study English Literature but was discouraged as I will just end up “being a teacher” and particularly poorly paid in the Philippines. So I was signed up for an Engineering Degree. I slogged through that for 3-1/2 years until at age 19 and Advanced Calculus triggering my frequent migraines, I pleaded with my father to be allowed to switch to English Literature. I was barely passing my Engineering subjects but after switching to English, I suddenly made it to the Dean’s List. I’ve come home! A year later, a job opportunity too good to pass opened in Hongkong and I upped sticks. I did go back to English Literature. Well technically, a BA in Western Humanities (as opposed to Chinese Humanities) courtesy of the Open University. My tutor said that it’s a shame they didn’t have a BA in English as that’s all the subjects I took – Augustan Poetry, Romantic Poetry, Shakespeare, Comparative Literature, Modern Literature.
I wrote book reviews of South East Asian fiction for the South China Morning Post in Hongkong. Unfortunately, fulltime motherhood is a time blackhole. It is getting better as the boys are now teenagers. I may have stopped writing for a while but I have never stopped reading. Happiness is still endless cups of Café Crème with the Weekend FT. Or the rare luxury when I desperately need a break from Mommy Duties – a weekend retreat at the chalet in the mountains – pile of books on hand and a roaring fire. Reader Uninterrupted. Bliss.
And now blogging, to ease my way back to writing.