Singapore in Style: A National Day Special by Susannah Jaffer

This Saturday, we celebrate our nation's 49th birthday! What better time to celebrate all things local and all homegrown makers? (:

We have invited three individuals from different walks of life to select their favourite locally made or designed items, and share with you what this country means to them.

Born in London and Eurasian by ethnicity, Susannah moved to Singapore in 2012, and has been loving her bike rides down East Coast and hawker-style carrot cake since! She is now the fashion and beauty editor at Expat Living magazine, and writes her own fashion diary at A Fashionable Leo. We asked this lady, who has covered and photographed fashion weeks and reported from backstage at international designer catwalk shows, about her top picks from our local makers. Check out her favourite items here!

1. Tell us more about yourself and what you do please?

I’m British, from London and work as fashion and beauty editor at Expat Living publications in Singapore. I also have a blog, afashionableleo.com.

2. You've travelled around the globe. But, what attracts you most to this country?

Well, I originally moved here with a partner for his work after I finished university, but was always interested in heading to Asia, as it’s a very up and coming region. Living and working here for just two years it’s crazy how fast the pace is and how things change. I get bored quickly and like all the transition, so that suits me.

3. Three things you like, remember most, or will miss most about Singapore?

a) Warm, humid weather and sunshine (If you’ve lived in a cold country all your life like England you’ll never complain)

b) Carrot cake and amazing dim sum.

c) Quirky areas which mix old and new, e.g. Haji Lane, Everton Park, Tiong Bahru. Vintage shop houses and HDB’s against a skyline of modern glass architecture – always blows my mind.

4. Thank you for curating this collection. How is design relevant to you / in your daily life?

I guess when I consciously think about it design plays a part in everything I do – from coordinating page designs for magazine pages to advertorials and other creatives…product photography, photo shoots and more. At the end of the day, my job is all a) creating great, useful, interesting content and b) about making the aesthetic design of the page look great for our audience with my graphic design team (who are superstars!).

5. Top pick from this collection, and why?

Long Snake Is Lazier Enamel Cup: I'm so charmed by enamel cups - they remind me of the old hawker centres and hipster coffee shops.

And one more...

Singlish Notebook: I’ve worked largely in local companies since I moved here, and my singlish is pretty extensive and I guess I’ve grown quite fond of the dialect – I love the idea of reading little singlish definitions whilst I’m making notes.

6. Lastly, if someone from home asks you about Singapore, how would you describe this country or its people?

There are so many different types of people, cultures, races here that it's hard to give a collective description – if I had to choose one word to sum everything up, it would be busy – or should I say, boh eng lah!