FOCus
Super
Not Your Average
M m
Most women would find
it a challenge to manage
both children and a fulltime career, but that’s just
the tip of the iceberg for
Christy Chung-Lim. Just like
the rest of us, the 38-yearold superwoman only has
24 hours a day, but proves
herself a Jill of all trades: a
loving wife and mother, a
driven career woman, and
Mrs Singapore 2013.
Christy says she’s a late-bloomer in the looks department, and
with her almost-superhuman schedule, it is fully imaginable
how taking part in a beauty pageant would be the last thing on
her mind. But a panel of judges all agreed that she bloomed
beautifully, as the full-time senior lecturer at Ngee Ann
Polytechnic’s School of Business and Accountancy was crowned
Mrs Singapore Universe 2013 just hours away from Mother’s
Day this year.
It’s not all glitz and glamour for Christy, whose life can’t seem
to get any more mind-boggling. Take for example when she
survived winter alone in Ithaca, New York in 2007. There, she
emerged as a Gold Medallist in her Master of Management
in Hospitality (MMH) course from the Singapore Tourism
Board/Cornell-Nanyang Institute of Hospitality (CNI). She
accomplished this while giving birth to her fourth child, Noah,
during her stay.
The mother of five attributes her incredible multitasking
abilities to simply “discipline in time management” and help
from her husband of 12 years, Nicholas, whom she refers to as
“a very hands-on father”.
Did you ever imagine having five children?
I’ve always wanted to have a big family. Growing up as the
only child in a single parent family, I know how lonely it can
be when there’s only my mum whom I could turn to when
facing major decisions in life. Age is not on my side, and
given the last trying pregnancy carrying my youngest son, our
factory is closed for the time being!
Photo courtesy of LightedpixelsPixies
Tell us more about your kids.
Claire is 13, and loves to bake. She is currently in Singapore
Chinese Girls’ School Integrated Programme, and was
formerly the head-prefect of St. Anthony’s Primary School
(SAPS) in 2012.
Nigel is a 10-year-old sportsman in the SAPS badminton team,
and represented his school in a recently concluded interschool competition.
Chloe is 9, also in SAPS, and an aspiring artist. She won the
2nd prize in the recent HDB nation-wide Heartlanders Art
Competition.
Noah is 6 and Nathaniel is 2. Both of them are in The
Caterpillars’ Cove Child Development and Study Centre. Noah
is an avid reader, while Nathaniel loves all things associated
with modes of transport.
Having more
(children)
can be just
as beautiful,
meaning that
my life
is beautiful
and complete
because of my
five children.
12
Family & Life • Sept 2013
How do you find time for all of them?
It takes a lot of discipline in time management. I’d try to wake
up around 5 am to prepare breakfast and lunch for the kids. The
morning car rides sending Nigel & Chloe to school would be
the best time to catch up. Likewise, I’d try to eat breakfast with
Noah and Nathaniel at the childcare before heading to work. I
spend my lunch breaks sending my kids back from school, and
again that would be my touch points with them.
A typical day ends at 7 pm when I’d catch a quick dinner before
setting up my “tuition centre” at home to coach the older ones
in their homework. Currently, I’m trying hard not to outsource
the coaching work to tuition centres, as coaching time equates
bonding time.
Bed time is spent reading or playing games with Noah and
Nathaniel. My favourite question to my kids is always, “Are you
happy?” as I believe that kids must be happy with themselves
and with what they are doing. After all, passion in what you’re
doing fuels achievements.
Photo courtesy of Christy Chung-Lim
With so many children, how do you still find time for romance
in your marriage?
Nicholas and I always find time to spring surprises on each
other in the form of random dates and gifts, which need not
coincide with special anniversaries or occasions. When things
aren’t going exactly the way we’d like or when our actions irritate
each other, we’d gently voice out our displeasures. Besides
communicating a lot verbally, our track record of five kids says a
lot more, doesn’t it?
What’s your love story?
Nicholas is in the Navy and heads the Information Fusion
Centre. It was Christmas in 1993 when we met at a party. He
sent me home that night, and thereafter went to ransack my
senior’s locker for my phone number. Well, the rest is history.
I appreciate the fact that Nicholas reads me like an open book,
and is my most honest and sincere critic. I am really blessed
that this true “friend” of mine is also my lover and pillar in life.
Outsiders always say that he’s a lucky man (to have me as his
wife) but I know that between us, I have always been and will
always be the luckier one with him in my life. It’s icing on the
cake that he’s a very hands-on father to whom I can entrust the
kids for a night or two, without worrying that they will not be
well-cared for or that their school work will not be completed.
How is the ‘workload’ distributed at home?
Nicholas is a very hands-on father who chips in as and when he
can. I’m more of the disciplinarian at home. The kids do help to
clean up after themselves, though I admit there’s more that they
can do in that department.
Was there ever a low point in your life?
I was in the States doing my Master of Management when Chloe
was diagnosed with autism at 2-years-old. I took a year of halftime work after I returned to Singapore, to send her for therapy
and spend time with her at home.
Finances were really tight back then, and most of the time she
was on my back in a sling while I travelled on foot or by public
transport from therapist to therapist.
Until today, I’d still feel guilty and wonder if things would have
been different if I had stayed in Singapore when she needed me
most. Chloe never stops trying her best even though she is fully
aware that she is “different”. I’m proud to say that she’s quite an
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