A writer from Singapore has graduated from Swansea University, more than 70 years after her mother did the same. Verena Tay, 58, followed in her mother's footsteps from the south east Asia city state to south Wales to study for her PhD in creative writing. Her acadamic success comes after Lim Poh Luan also moved from Singapore to Swansea in 1949 to study youth leadership.
Her 100-year-old mother is one of Swansea's oldest living graduates and due to her health was unable to make the journey back to see her daughter's ceremony, but spoke of her pride at the renewal of the family connection. Verena said Swansea was a "natural choice", and one she was glad to have made. "I remember my mother telling me how she resided in the University’s Beck Hall and visited Mumbles to have ice cream, a luxury for her then as she had a very tight budget," she said.
"We’re also lucky enough to have voice recordings in which she speaks about how, although the city bore the marks of the war, people were friendly, and she enjoyed her experience there." Her mother, known as Rose to her friends in Wales, returned to Singapore, becoming a teacher and school principal before joining the Ministry of Education. Verena said she has always loved stories, real or fiction.
"As a child, I would read quaint fairy tales and novels about faraway places, but I loved listening to my mother and aunts tell family stories even more," she said. When Verena’s mother returned to Singapore, she became a teacher and.