KAREN ONG-TAN,

Former Lawyer and Full-time Mum

“We didn’t expect how much busier this second year of the pandemic would be for us, but we remain grateful for every step, from remotely managing overseas projects to reprioritising our household’s sustainability habits. While I believe we can’t take full credit for anything since we don’t truly start from a blank canvas, I am proud of my personal decisions and actions since they are intrinsically tied to my family, especially my daughter, Kara. Our family is taking action to facilitate a greater contribution to what matters to us, such as sustainability and communication. Kara and I are learning German and sign language to promote social inclusivity and connect with more individuals within our society—and even beyond our borders.

Sustainability is a big word. We need to take action towards an active solution, or else we are part of the problem. We co-ordinated with individuals with incredible initiatives, as well as audited our food waste management processes, and decided to consolidate deliveries, find ways to reuse and recycle packaging, compost food waste and rehome household items. We were introduced to geocaching and the whole family, including the dogs, fell in love with it.

A must-have is the Happy Project basque cheesecakes, set up by a friend who has personally baked more than 600 cheesecakes to date and donates 100 percent of proceeds to various causes in Indonesia. Now, I’ve never been a fan of cheesecake but this is simply divine and too good to pass on.”