Women Talking with Suzanne Walker

For over 20 years Ruqxana or Ruq would invite tourists to her home for a cooking class on local cuisine, followed by lunch or dinner in her lovely garden where if you were lucky, you would spot one of her cats. But things have changed in the past couple of years, reservations now come few and far between, rent is rising and costs aren't coming down. I caught Ruq at a time when she was at the junction of change. She was in the midst of looking for a flat and coming to terms with the need to move on from a business that had worked so well for so long. As we sat in her lovely home and Ruq showed me around her kitchen and garden, she talked about how pottery has helped her and why letting go and moving on isn't so bad.Discover Ruq's work at cookerymagic.com or visit her IG @midnightpottersg

In the 2nd and final episode with Seraphine or Sera as she is often known as, she shares about how starting a business is the closest she has come to reclaiming her identity. We cover the steps women can take to start their journey of reclaiming their identities and living the life they want. I like the parts where she mentions how women's emotions have been weaponized and how our lives should continue to evolve as we age. I asked Sera to reflect on her journey and what she would say to her past and future self. To find out more about Sera's style and identity reclaim services, visit Style with Sera - Personal Styling and Life Coaching, Authentic, Confident and Empowered

Style coach Seraphine worked at being the person for everyone, but not herself. It took a health scare during COVID-19 for her to realize that she needed to start advocating for her authentic self. She started losing the weight she put on, and friends who could not accept the boundaries she drew but it empowered her to start her business. Today she helps women find their authentic selves through style coaching, and in Part 1 of this two-part series, she shares about her journey to self-advocacy. Find out more about Style with Sera @ Style with Sera - Personal Styling and Life Coaching, Authentic, Confident and EmpoweredNote: The audio recording has been tightened and differs slightly from the video version

In a previous job I held, I saw colleagues come to work post cancer with a scarf around their head and tubes under their shirts. The entire office felt terrible and we knew, it was not our boss who insisted they return. My sense is they felt they had to. So I asked Jill to share her experience, and I am touched by how compassionate her supervisor has been to her. Noone can be the same after cancer and Jill has definitely changed. Throughout our conversation I thought how life can be unfair and capricious, yet I could not be prouder of my courageous friend. So so very proud. NOTE: I tightened up the recording for Spotify. There were some long pauses in the heavier moments of our conversation which works on video (Youtube) but were a tad too long for audio only.

Jill retraces the emotions that she experienced in 2023 during her cancer treatment in this episode. She candidly shares about reconciling and coming to peace with the possibility of death and reclaiming her spiritualism, largely through therapy. I reflected on why everybody avoids speaking about death: the fear that death will come simply by its mention. It becomes conversations persons living with cancer will have with themselves, and I think that is where and why spiritualism grows. When we are, to borrow a phrase Jill uses in this episode, "cracked open".

Jill Alphonso is a free spirited, creative, grounded and loving person. Someone whom I am grateful to know. I was upset and shocked when she was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 44 in December 2022. How could someone as vivacious and health conscious as Jill be asked to face her mortality as such a young age? I did not know what I could say that she would not have already thought of or had to come to terms with. Instead, I cheered for her from afar, reading about her cancer journey which she documented in https://whatareyoudoing.sg/jill-alphonso-experience-with-breast-cancer/. In Part 1 of My Breast Cancer Journey with Jill Alphonso, we talked about cancer at 44, therapy during cancer and her husband, the anchor throughout it all.

In Part 3 Braema talks about her regrets, frustrations and future plans. I am grateful for her candid sharing and hope we can generously listen to her story and appreciate, even though it may not be apparent to our lives now, how significant her work is. I had a great time chatting and laughing with her after so many years.#heroinesofourlives

In Part 2 of my conversation with Braema, I asked her about what keeps her on this journey that few would dare to tread or even stay as long as she has. I also asked about her thoughts on championing causes that may seem futile and difficult to pursue. What I discovered was a woman driven by her values to address "what ought not to be" in Singapore.

In Part 1 of our 3-part conversation "Why Caring for the Vulnerable Matters", Braema Mathi shares about how The School Pocket Money Fund was started in 2000. It was my first time meeting Braema after our careers had taken us on different paths, and we did have a lot to catch up on. I wanted to start with her work on the School Pocket Money Fund because I witnessed how it unfolded at SPH as a passive bystander, then a stringer with The New Paper. But 25 years later, when I listen to Braema recount how it all started, I also reflect on the efforts to protect children since and how important it is to have a national news outlet that speaks for Singaporeans. #heroinesoftheirlives

In part 2, Joyce joins a support group, and with her Endo Sisters and some help from social media, finds out more about the latest treatments for Endometriosis. She shares about what it is like to finally live pain free.

This is a two-part episode on Endometriosis. I don't know why we don't talk about it when we as women know how it can be like to have cramps during our periods and how it can be debilitating at times. I heard about Joyce's journey with Endometriosis, but I did not realise how it affected her life until our conversation. Please enjoy and share with friends to help raise awareness of Endometriosis. This is what Joyce would want as it was her motivation to come on the podcast despite her shyness.

In her 60s, Ajuntha Anwari got herself certified to teach women in their 50s to embrace and enjoy salads. Sometimes known as a "medicine woman" she is an advocate for raw vegetables and how it can heal the body. I had a great time talking to her about jamu and local vegetables that seem to be disappearing from our diets. She has persuaded me to visit Geylang Serai market and reacquaint myself with local herbs and vegetables. I admire Ajuntha for taking a path that would be unheard of 40 years ago but she persevered and never looked back after taking a horticulture diploma in her 30s. Her life journey has taken her through a number of trajectories and I am happy that she has found peace.#heroinesoftheirlives

Founder & Artistic Director of The Necessary Stage, and Singapore's 2014 Cultural Medallion recipient Alvin Tan has been caregiving for close to 20 years. He shares his thoughts about love and duty in this episode interspersed with anecdotes about his Peranakan mother who has dementia.

Bertha Henson was one of Singapore's best journalists from the 1980s to early 2000s. Well maybe I am bias.But that is not her full-time job today - caregiving is. She even wrote an e-book for new caregivers like me to reference - When Mama Fell: by Bertha Henson . The book is a resource on the programmes, schemes and processes caregivers will need to access and navigate at different caregiving stages we will, one way or another, find ourselves in. FYI, this is not a sponsored podcast.

Caregiving is a journey a child takes on with their aged parent in their declining years. It's a life stage we will all have to confront in our ageing society be it as a caregiver or an aged person.I spoke with Ong Soh Chin who shared about the emotional aspect of the caregiving journey.