A Daughter of Singapore: Life Lessons of a Homegrown Tour Guide

This is the witty and inspirational early-life memoir of Singapore tour guide, Cathy Ross. As a mixed-race child from a Chinese Catholic family, she lived with her paternal grandmother and was bounced around to various extended family members throughout her youth. She further happened to live amidst Singapore's upheaval from a sleepy, colonial outpost to a bustling, global metropolis that took off during her childhood years. Hers may not be a full-blown "rags to riches" story-after all, she is still seeking the latter. Rather, perhaps her experience is more a "missing parents to middle class" tale, which may be even more relatable to her fellow, first-generation Singaporeans.

In many ways, Cathy's personal story parallels that of Singapore, albeit immensely scaled up. She and her country both experienced growing pains, setbacks, lessons learned, hard-won accomplishments, and steadfast perseverance to reach some version of success. Most important, both Cathy and her national leaders remained staunch optimists, dreaming of a brighter future. A Daughter of Singapore weaves these narratives together into a heartwarming story of one woman's love for her nation and her desire to share that love with the rest of us.