As we round up 2021 and gear up for the new year, we’ve asked our contributors here at SilverStreak to reflect on the past year and share some of their significant moments — be it a personal achievement, having lent a helping hand, or a favourite memory with a loved one. With what the pandemic has taught us so far, it’s often the little things that count. But whether big or small, all milestones are worth celebrating.
The pandemic is a perfect time for picking up a new skill at home. For William Timmermann, one of his personal achievements is that he has picked up motion graphics and videos for Facebook posts (besides surviving another year, of course!) Check out the motion graphic poster he did up for Iceman Singapore. Who knows – the next time you see another wonderfully done up motion graphic poster or video on Facebook, it could be William’s work!
Apart from learning new skills, developing a healthy and positive mindset is important for our wellbeing too — and that is something S.Rani Pillai has maintained this year. Sure, the restrictions can be a pain, but Rani overcame them by taking advantage of the internet — whether it’s work, shopping or enjoying high tea and birthday luncheons over zoom. Putting this positive mindset to use, Rani also picked up a new language and continued her goodwill jar, but a particularly proud achievement for her is not using the pandemic as an excuse to skip her morning walks.
Not everyone can say they’ve written a book about Singapore’s most prominent crime scandals in the middle of the pandemic, but that is exactly what Balvinder Sandhu did this year. Being one of our newest contributors here at SilverStreak, Balvinder has had a fruitful year of writing. Having just recently launched on the 21st of December, A Nation’s Disgrace: Singapore’s Shocking Scandals covers the process of how the high-profile crimes like the NFK scandal and the City Harvest Church debacle were discovered, how they were followed up by law enforcement and what happened to those offenders.
Jasmine Adams took the opportunities she’s had this year to do more volunteer and charity work, including being a volunteer community interviewer for Oral Archives and a volunteer guide for the Sentosa Headland Intertidal Programme (SHIP). And as a personal charitable project together with her partner, they had collected thousands of clothes, toys, shoes and household items and delivered them to various charities for shipping to Mindanao, Myanmar, East Timor and Chiangmai.
More of her volunteer work includes conducting talks and demonstrations for Tiny Museums at elders care centres and schools, which have been featured in local newspapers!
As for Lena Soh-Ng, she took up cycling after her husband’s major knee replacement surgery this year, which helped him with his recovery. Whilst on their regular cycling trips on Sundays, they’ve managed to discover another side of Singapore, where along the Park Connector Network there are beautiful canal side vistas. Their most memorable ride so far has been a 30km trip from Bukit Timah to Marina Barrage passing underground tunnels, outdoor sculptures, and of course Singapore’s breath-taking south corridor at Gardens by the bay. According to Lena, she’s still reeling from how beautiful our city is.
When the pandemic first hit, a musician couple, Chris and Diana, had to look to alternative sources of income. So when the chance came up for Valerie Valberg-Yeoh to help promote their products this year, she did so gladly. Apparently, the nuts were so good there were even repeat orders. Get your hands on some tubs here.
Apart from that, hats off to Valerie as she’s also completed more than 100km in the OCBC cyclethon, staying true to her dedication to staying fit.
