Huilin Chiew Life Explorer
Who are you and what do you do?
I am Hui Lin. I work in policy development, specifically on making insurance better and more accessible to the Malaysian public. Answering this is making me think: why must work always come after name in an introduction? Why do people associate “What do you do” with career?
I am Hui Lin and I like music and singing, figuring out poems and dance footwork, mulling over how beautiful mountains and a clear night sky are, books that give me existential panic attacks, a beautiful turn of phrase, the colour purple (not the book). OK and I also like some people.
What makes you get up in the morning?
On the occasions where I get up without snoozing to the death, it’s usually for any of these reasons:
- I have a project for the day (this Saturday it will be making butterfly pea flower tea turn purple and pink!)
- Travel
- Seeing people I like whom I haven’t seen in a while
What keeps you up at night?
Worrying about my life plan and that I don’t care for the people I love enough. Oh and procrastination.
The one thing you regret the most.
Not making the most of learning opportunities when I was younger. I wish I took piano lessons more seriously. Not being able to play a piece of music I love or to play to accompany my singing is a real handicap.
What is the one thing you’ve learned and want to pass on to the next generation?
This is a tough one. I think it’s so hard to pass anything useful on to the next generation because the world is changing so quickly. Plus thinking in terms of generations seems solipsistic—people born in 1989 across the world are living such different lives with different problems and aspirations. I could say, for example, that money isn’t everything—but that is not advice that would have applied to my parents or a lot of people in the world today.
Perhaps one thing I can think of that I care about and is universal and timeless would be about empathy—always put yourself in another’s shoes. That helps put you on the path towards accepting people as they are rather than trying to change them, towards love or at least indifference rather than hate, towards understanding not prejudice. It makes you less angry as a person. It makes you more considerate and more likely to solve problems rather than be one. If anything it makes for much more interesting conversation.
That’s my theory at least. I am still mainly a judgmental irritable grouchy old hag though.
What is the one thing that we should have asked, but we didn’t, and what’s the answer?
“Tell me about the last time you felt happy.” I think I got that from The Hours. Unfortunately after 6 attempts googling with different keyword combinations I am unable to verify this. Anyway, to answer the question—the last time I was happy was actually the whole of last weekend, which I spent exploring Chiang Mai on my own. It’s a wonderful thing to meander about a new place alone. You go wherever your curiosity or fancy takes you, observing the world go about its business, and then occasionally find yourself having unexpected conversations with strangers at unexpected moments.
Posted on Thursday, 12 April 2018