Be like a toddler: lessons on mental resilience during a pandemic

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To the best of us, toddlers can be the most disagreeable human beings around. They love turning a recently tidied up room upside down, are notoriously stubborn, and have a knack for throwing the worst tantrums at the most inconvenient times. And with many cities on lockdown, many of us have been holed up at home with our tempestuous tikes 24/7. But being in lockdown (or on a circuit breaker as my country Singapore likes to call it) with my tot in these stressful times has shown me that these little humans are also incredibly mentally resilient, perhaps even more…

The Totobobo Mask of the times: reusable, face-fitting, comfortable and proudly Singapore-made

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When I learnt that the COVID-19 virus could be airborne, I went on the hunt for a good reusable mask for my family. But many international stores were (and the point of writing, are) sold out of their reusable masks. Besides, I am extremely wary of the rampant internet scams going on now and prefer to buy locally. I chanced upon Totobobo in a UK news article reviewing anti-pollution masks for cycling. I was thrilled to find out it is a Singaporean brand and made locally. I did more research and liked that the mask is very light (a mere…

Trabeculectomy: Day 3

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My little boy flits right by me like a silvery apparition, a ghost. I can hear his sweet husky voice calling out to me, but his face is a ghoulish swirl of beige tones that no longer cohere. I am lying in bed, my one good left eye covered in gauze. I’ve just had my second trabeculectomy surgery done, two days after the first one on my right eye. All in a bid to keep the glaucoma ravaging my sight at bay. It’s just past the one-year anniversary of my disease, or what I now call my second child. I…

When the silent thief of sight comes for your eyes

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It happened in January this year. Back then, as a new mum to a one-year-old and fast approaching my 30th birthday, I felt invincible, immortal even, like I was going to live forever. And that fateful Saturday started ordinarily enough. My husband and I were making our fortnightly Queensway Shopping Centre run with our toddler to eat my favourite muah chee (glutinous rice balls with ground peanuts) and to make our yearly pair of new spectacles. At our regular optical shop, I selected a retro-looking Thom Browne frame and at the examination room, the optician placed the good ol’ pair…