Au Fait Editorial Services

My deep-rooted passion for food essentially started in 1999 when I became editor of Wine & Dine magazine, Singapore’s leading food, wine and lifestyle publication. Besides running the business front of the magazine, I was responsible for editing (and sometimes writing) food, wine, travel and lifestyle articles. My team of writers and I crafted an article called “The Road Home” which won the 2002 World Gourmet Summit Award of Excellence for Asian Cuisine Article of the Year. We traced the traditions of Chinese cuisine, and delved into the diverse food of various dialect groups – which have been largely undiscovered and rarely documented beyond the borders of China.

After leaving the magazine in late 2001, I set up Au Fait Editorial Services and have been working as an independent food, travel and lifestyle writer/editor since. Presently based in Singapore and Melbourne, I contribute to a host of publications. Some of my articles have been featured in The Peak, Appetite, TimeOut Singapore, Vacations & Travel (Australia), Austar (Australia), Lonely Planet, Escape, Fah Thai (Bangkok Airways), Jetstar magazine (Asia and Australia), Golf Asia, Harpers Bazaar, Her World, Singapore Tatler, Silver Kris (Singapore Airlines’ inflight magazine) and SC (by SC Global). I also contribute regularly to Singapore Women’s Weekly (writing, recipe creation and food styling) as well as Singapore’s major newspapers such as Straits Times and Today.

Besides that, I have worked on several cookbooks for Singapore’s leading book publisher Marshall Cavendish (formerly known as Times Publishing International). My job scope ranged from writing, editing, food and props styling to food preparation. These books include: The Art of Taste by Chef Chan Chen Hei; Cuisine Unplugged by Emmanuel Stroobant; Vine Dining by Emmanuel Stroobant; Cook Malaysia by Lee Sook Ching, The Best of Singapore’s Recipes: Everyday Favourites by Mrs Leong Yee Soo, and Chinese Recipes and Their Origins. I recently co-authored the new Gourmet Chic book published by Editions Didier Millet (EDM Books).

Food aside, my passion for travelling has taken me around the world, from my home town in Sarawak to Singapore and Melbourne as well as various countries around Asia and Europe. My most memorable trips to date were to Kwazulu-Natal in South Africa, an amazing land with stunning terrains as well as Tromso, a picturesque city in Northern Norway. I photograph most of the images for my travel articles too.

I also enjoy working on travel guidebooks and am the author of Insight Guides Singapore Step by Step (published by Inside Guides, APA Publications). I was responsible for writing the sightseeing chapters for TimeOut Singapore guide (published by TimeOut). I have edited and updated Bangkok Smart Guide; Insight City Guide Singapore (published by Inside Guides, APA Publications); and Cartoville Singapore (published by Guillamard, France)

Apart from editorial work, I have done copywriting for AUSTRADE (Australian Trade Commission) (newsflash bulletins and press releases for the Food Hotel Asia tradeshow); Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay (collaterals and magazines); Raffles Hotels and Resorts (press releases); Taste magazine by Tung Lok Group; Moet & Chandon (collaterals and newslettera), and many others.

I believe in constantly improving my knowledge and skills, and have attended professional baking courses such as the Baking Science and Technology Course, by UFM Baking And Cooking School Bangkok, Thailand (in collaboration with the US Wheat Associates) where I learnt how to make baguettes, croissants and choux pastry among other things. I have also taken a slew of baking courses at Melbourne’s Savour Chocolate and Patisserie School, the only chocolate and patisserie school in the Asia Pacific. In 2009, I participated in the prestigious Hautes Etudes du Goût (Course of the Institute of Advanced Studies in Taste, Gastronomy and the Arts of the Table) – a multi-disciplined training programme that encompasses the many facets of gastronomy – by Universite de Reims, Champagne-Ardenne and Le Cordon Bleu Paris.