Seah Hui Wen

Seah Hui Wen is a legal counsel based in Singapore. She channels her observations about everyday life into her creative writing endeavours undertaken outside of work. She is
interested in exploring themes of relationships, nature and place in her creative writing. Hui Wen was trained at the National University of Singapore Faculty of Law and the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy pursuant to a Concurrent Degree Programme in Law
and Public Policy. She graduated top of her cohort at the LKYSPP and was also ranked 3rd at the Singapore Bar Examinations 2012. Hui Wen has served as a Chinese-English translator in her church since 2012. She enjoys
finding good reads in the public libraries, getting lost in nature and pilates workouts.

Memoir Title

A Pair of Black Shoes in Hougang

About the memoir

Through reflection, I realized that the seemingly common and everyday places are the very places that have added tremendous meaning to my life and helped me to grow as a person.
These are places where I have spent my childhood and adolescence, and places that have served as vessels to hold and shape the lived experiences that I share with my family. My memoir is set in one of these places – an unassuming, tree-lined neighbourhood park in a rustic and homely area of Hougang town, located across the road from the Hougang Village and neighbourhood centre anecdotally known as the “Dragon’s Head”.

I wrote this memoir in honour of the life and legacy of my late father, Seah Kim Huat. On a broader level, this memoir is a nod to the wordless and countless sacrifices that both of my parents and many other parents have made and continue to make, to the best of their
human efforts, for their children. This memoir tells the story behind a pair of black shoes frequently spotted in and around the neighbourhood park and the Dragon’s Head. Join me on this intimate journey of the heart as I ruminate on a love that is given not through mere words, but through endlessly thoughtful actions exemplified by a quiet and family-
centred life.

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Artist

Joey.SPL

Artwork: Reverie: Stationary Movement