My first single recallable memory of science was in Gongshang Primary School arguing with my science teacher, Mrs Tay, on whether coconut has a seed. She said that the entire coconut is a seed but I remembered seeing a seed in a coconut. The following week, I got my mum to scout the market with me for a coconut seed to show her. I was 10 years old and in Primary 4 then. Perhaps that was where I really got interested in science – to learn the natural world. It is really interesting now that I really ended up as a molecular biologist / bioinformaticist.
I left Singapore on July 5, 2002, to Melbourne, Australia, in pursue of my tertiary/university education at The University of Melbourne – to do a Bachelor of Science. There was much trepidation and anxiety as the day drew close to leave Singapore. Little did I expect that very same feelings was felt when I moved back to Singapore on April 2, 2008. Almost 6 full years of my life was in Melbourne – it is a second home to me and I am very much at ease there. For the tribulations and gifts that it had given me, I am truly glad that I made this move.
I should have kept a diary when I was there or at least bring back the few journal entries that I made during my time in Melbourne. I did neither and regretted not doing so. Ronald Reagan expressed the same regret in his book for not doing the same.
The life in Melbourne is something that I do not wish to forget but the river of time is slowly grinding away the memories, except the most significant ones. To stem this normalcy, I decided to write down as much as I can recall into this autobiography, in hope for it to act as a reduced diary for the time I spent there and as a gift to the many people that I am indebted for to make this journey memorable.
Maurice Ling
November 14, 2011