CW: Mental Health, Suicide Ideation, Substance Use In this episode based on the book chapter called PRETEND, I invite Rayner Tan to join me in a conversation about imposter syndrome, identity and youth mental health.  "When I was thinking of who I would love to have a conversation with on this shade of love on our public and personal identities, and how our gender shapes the way we view the world, a dear friend came to mind, Rayner Tan. I first met Rayner at a public health seminar where we were both speaking, and I was very taken to the way he introduced himself to the audience as a gay man. He’s the only man I know so far who has 4 cats, ran his own pastry cafe, now still a partner of Patisserie G and also a full time researcher in the Saw See Hock School for Public Health at NUS."  Join us for an exploration on identity, impostor syndrome, youth mental health and self-worth. I come clean about pretending to have a boyfriend in my teenage years because of my defects and discrimination whilst Rayner shares about how he also dealt with feeling like an imposter as a Chinese gay man and how that affected his notions of self-worth.    Also, come find out why the Chinese Banyan is paired with this shade of love in the book!     MY INVITATION TO YOU: How do you value yourself? How does your gender and sexual orientation determine the way you view the world?   RESOURCES:  (For substance use and recovery support) The Green House https://thegreenhouse.sg/  (For LGBTQ+ counselling) Ooga Chaga https://oogachaga.com/ /  Sayoni https://www.sayoni.com/  /  T-project  https://www.thetprojectsg.org/  CHAT https://www.chat.mentalhealth.sg/mobile/about-chat/ 

In this episode based on the book chapter called STOP, I invite Corinna Lim to join me in a conversation about gender parity and identity.  "My first thought of who I would like to have a conversation with on this shade of love on gender and identity was of course Corinna Lim. Many know Corinna as a former lawyer and one of Singapore’s most prominent women’s rights activists for close to 30 years as well as the current Executive Director of Aware, the Association of Women for Action and Research. But most may not know that Corinna is a twin, a former national squash player and also a Fulbright Scholar."  Join us as we share openly about our fathers, the role of fatherhood in perpetuating or eradicating gender inequalities, what is toxic masculinity and what it means to achieve a state of gender parity that both women and men can enjoy.    Also, come find out why the Double Coconut plant in the Singapore Botanic Gardens is paired with this shade of love in the book!     MY INVITATION TO YOU: How have your family history and traditions shaped the way you see the world, and how you live your life?   RESOURCES:  AWARE Women’s Care and Sexual Assault Centre https://www.aware.org.sg/womens-care-centre/overview/  SCWO https://www.aware.org.sg/womens-care-centre/overview/  WINGS https://www.wings.sg/  Pave https://www.pave.org.sg/  Babes Pregnancy Crisis Support https://www.babes.org.sg/  PPIS Singapore Muslim Women’s Association https://ppis.sg/ 

In this episode based on the book chapter called SEEK, I am joined by Imran Taib, a philosopher and an interfaith and multiculturalism expert to explore the realm of religion and spirituality with empathy and curiosity.  “When I was thinking of who I would like to have a conversation with on this shade of love on religion, spirituality and humanity, I immediately thought of my learned friend whom I enjoy these conversations of spirituality and religion with - he’s none other than Mohamed Imran Mohamed Taib.  Imran already had a sterling reputation as one of Singapore’s foremost interfaith and multiculturalism experts when I first reached out to him to meet after stepping down from Parliament. I was then increasingly concerned with some of the right wing and conservative ideas that I was hearing from certain religious groups and wanted to understand more from him. You know how you conjure up these images of religious scholars with long beards and robes? Imran completely disappoints when he showed up looking no different to my kawans from the neighbourhood. In fact, when I later moderated the Civil Society conversation after the general elections in 2020, I asked all the 9 panelists of which Imran was one of them to describe themselves in a 7-word biography - his first attempt was “Enjoys robust conversations over teh tarik” - how interesting is that?  Imran is also the co-founder of Centre for Interfaith Understanding or CIFU which strives to strengthen the multi-religious fabric that weaves all of Singapore together by advocating for deeper discourse among various faiths through dialogue, training and curriculum development.” Join us as we explore the difference between spirituality, religion and culture, topped with our personal stories of our path to discover our versions of religion.  Also, come find out why the Epiphyte is paired with this shade of love in the book!   MY INVITATION TO YOU: What does religion and spirituality mean to you? Is there a difference? What beliefs help you move forward and what holds you back?   RESOURCES: IRO or the Interreligious Organisation   https://iro.sg/about-iro/  Youth-oriented groups such as  Being Bridges, https://beingbridges.com/  Roses of Peace https://rosesofpeace.com/  Interfaith Youth Circle https://www.interfaithyouthcircle.com/  More than Just https://www.buro247.sg/culture/buro-loves/more-than-just-race-racism-dinner-singapore.html  Minority Voices https://www.minorityvoices.net/team  Beyond the Hijab https://beyondhijab.sg/ 

CW: Mental Health, Suicide Ideation, Substance Use In this episode based on the book chapter called PRETEND, I invite Rayner Tan to join me in a conversation about imposter syndrome, identity and youth mental health.  "When I was thinking of who I would love to have a conversation with on this shade of love on our public and personal identities, and how our gender shapes the way we view the world, a dear friend came to mind, Rayner Tan. I first met Rayner at a public health seminar where we were both speaking, and I was very taken to the way he introduced himself to the audience as a gay man. He’s the only man I know so far who has 4 cats, ran his own pastry cafe, now still a partner of Patisserie G and also a full time researcher in the Saw See Hock School for Public Health at NUS."  Join us for an exploration on identity, impostor syndrome, youth mental health and self-worth. I come clean about pretending to have a boyfriend in my teenage years because of my defects and discrimination whilst Rayner shares about how he also dealt with feeling like an imposter as a Chinese gay man and how that affected his notions of self-worth.    Also, come find out why the Chinese Banyan is paired with this shade of love in the book!     MY INVITATION TO YOU: How do you value yourself? How does your gender and sexual orientation determine the way you view the world?   RESOURCES:  (For substance use and recovery support) The Green House https://thegreenhouse.sg/  (For LGBTQ+ counselling) Ooga Chaga https://oogachaga.com/ /  Sayoni https://www.sayoni.com/  /  T-project  https://www.thetprojectsg.org/  CHAT https://www.chat.mentalhealth.sg/mobile/about-chat/