For this episode I spoke to Charmaine Leung author of 17A Keong Saik Road: A Personal Story.

Her memoir recalls a childhood in 1970s Chinatown when it was a prominent red light district in Singapore, and takes its name from the address of the brothel that her mother used to run.

The book starts with Charmaine’s mother coming to Singapore as a young child after being sold by her birth parents, and weaves together an intimate family portrait with the broader history of Keong Saik’s transformation from the 1930s up to the present day.

I learnt about a lesser-known part of Singapore’s history, traditional customs and even some of the requirements of running a brothel successfully. But what shines through most of all is the resilience of the women whose lives are chronicled, as they persevered through immense challenges towards a better future.

Links to all of the topics we cover can be found in the show notes at https://henryyorke.com/podcast/

For this episode I spoke to Bjorn Low founder of Edible Garden City.

Bjorn grew up in Singapore but only really got into gardening after living in the UK, where quit a successful career in advertising to study agriculture and volunteer on farms around the country.

After returning to Singapore in 2012 he soon realised that his dream of owning a farm had a very big problem - buying farmland in one of the smallest countries in the world costs millions of dollars. So he got creative, and Edible Garden City was born.

The social enterprise started off with a nomadic existence, teaching and growing on a carpark roof in Chinatown, a shop house in Little India and partnering with restaurants, hotels, schools and residences around the island. Since then, Edible Garden City has moved to a permanent location, was recognised at the 2019 Sustainable Business Awards, and will be showcased at the Dubai Expo 2020. Bjorn has also been named a finalist for the Straits Times Singaporean of the Year.

Our conversation touched on biodynamic agriculture, the challenges of bringing urban farming to Singapore, applying lessons from nature to running a business, the therapeutic qualities of gardening, and how Singapore can move towards greater food security in a post-COVID world. Bjorn’s tips on growing plants at home even inspired me to try growing from seed again, and I now have a baby tomato plant sitting on the windowsill beside me.

Links to all of the topics we cover can be found in the show notes at https://henryyorke.com/podcast/

For this episode of Red Dot Voices, I spoke to Ang Jolie Mei.

Her father was one of the pioneers of Singapore’s funeral industry, and after he passed away when Ang Jolie was just 24, she joined her mother in taking over the family business.

Having taken time out to work in finance, Ang Jolie returned to the funeral industry and set up The Life Celebrant in 2010. She had travelled widely to study different funeral practices, and was motivated by a desire to provide a more holistic service to families of the deceased.

As one of very few women funeral directors in Singapore, she has a fascinating perspective and in 2017 she shared her experiences in the memoir, Dying To Meeting You: Confessions of a Funeral Director. She subsequently won the ‘Most Innovative’ prize at the 2019 Women Entrepreneur Awards.

Ang Jolie’s passion for living life with empathy, without regrets, and celebrating it fully, is a very valuable message - now more than ever.

Links to all of the topics we cover can be found in the show notes at https://henryyorke.com/podcast/

For this episode of Red Dot Voices, I spoke to Alvin Yapp.

In 2003, Alvin founded The Intan. As well as being his home in Joo Chiat, The Intan is a museum which is open to the public and houses his collection of over 5,000 Peranakan antiques.

The Intan has featured internationally on CNN, The Washington Post and even the Singapore Airlines safety video.

I was lucky enough to visit for the first time two years ago, and it was a really fun introduction to an area of Singaporean history I knew very little about. Alvin is a born storyteller and an authority on Peranakan culture.

For this interview we discussed what Peranakan culture is, how he learnt about his heritage growing up, his extensive travels, and some of the extraordinary stories behind items in his collection.

Links to all of the topics we cover can be found in the show notes at https://henryyorke.com/podcast/

For the first interview of Red Dot Voices, I spoke to Calvin Soh.

Calvin’s background is in advertising and he’s previously been a creative leader at some of the best agencies in the world: Fallon, Publicis and R/GA.

While Calvin no longer works in the industry, as I found out, his creative journey is really just getting started.

As part of his mission to prepare his family for an exponential future, he set up One Kind House, an urban farm and cooking experience designed to recreate the kampong community spirit in 21st Century Singapore.

Our wide-ranging discussion also touched on the education systems of Singapore and Finland, the importance of building up a life skills CV, whether or not you can teach creativity and hustle, and why the ad industry is changing so much.

Links to all of the topics we cover can be found in the show notes at https://henryyorke.com/podcast/

Introduction to the Red Dot Voices series, its host, defining creativity, and what to expect in future episodes.