It was a slightly surreal experience as an author to hear someone else perform my work.
Storyteller Tanya Ang brought one of my books to life at Changi Chapel and Museum.
Her storytelling was organised by HeritageSG as part of the Children’s Day celebrations from 2 to 4 October 2026, organised across several Singapore heritage sites paired with a corresponding Singapore history book.
In my case, Elizabeth Choy: Singapore’s Kind Heroine from my children’s book series Our Amazing Heroes, was a natural fit for Changi Chapel and Museum because Elizabeth Choy’s wartime experiences were intertwined with the history being explored at the museum.
As part of the programme, Tanya performed the story for different groups of participants over three mornings.
Children and their parents listened to stories, grappled with questions, and crafted their own medals. Above all, they reflected on how they could be courageous and compassionate, like Mrs Elizabeth Choy.
Regrettably, I could not be there to sit in for all the sessions as I was busy, but I managed to go down to the museum over the weekend.
Whenever I visited, I had a lovely time meeting parents and their children, museum volunteers, my fellow Singaporeans, and visitors from Australia and England.
Different Approaches to Storytelling
It was a slightly surreal experience as an author to hear someone else perform my work.
Children’s book writers spend much time and effort on the precise words, sentences, and paragraphs on each spread. More broadly, thinking about the specific words we want to array on the page is also true of narrative non-fiction writers in general.
That is why it can be fascinating and interesting to see what happens when another storyteller takes the words, sentences, and paragraphs we crafted, and makes them her own.
I enjoyed watching Tanya perform, and her storytelling approach was different from mine in many respects. Watching her perform gave me a useful opportunity to think harder about the different ways we can introduce history to children.
For example, she was comfortable bounding beyond the boundaries of my book. She asked the children questions beyond what was written on the page, and brought in the surrounding historical context in her own words. She treated the book flexibly as a storytelling resource, rather than following every sentence closely. She did read some of the more pertinent passages out loud too. She focused on engaging the children and interacting with them, which is something I personally believe in and was reminded to do more of.
My own historical storytelling approach is slightly different. I think that my way, perhaps, reflects my past working life as a teacher (or maybe it is undiagnosed OCD).
As an educator, I tend to stay closer to the text, often word for word. I often pause to explain the historical context around particular phrases or offer more details, but only after I have covered the particular, specific historical narrative first. For key points, I will even repeat, repeat, repeat.
I reflected that I tend to make fuller use of the illustrations in the double-page spreads, drawing attention to details or actions and asking them what they notice before moving the story forward.
We did share many commonalities in interactions. I liked how she engaged the children. As for me, I sometimes use a simple “show of hands” or call for quick responses to questions like, “Did they live happily ever after?” or “What do you think happened next?”
I also usually use “withitness” to adjust my pace, volume, or eye contact to the children. As an example, I have reflected on how to give an amazing assembly talk to primary school pupils.
However, I still enjoyed watching Tanya perform and did not steal her thunder. She did great justice to my book and even introduced me as well (very kind of her). And there are many ways to tell a story after all. Education and entertainment can be combined in many ways, and a story can acquire a different life in the hands of different storytellers.
What matters most to me is that children are engaging with the material; thinking; asking questions; and learning.
Now, it is not always easy for children to pay complete attention, concentrate, or stay focused all the time. To me, it is A-OK even when children make faces, laugh, or fidget. I mean, at my age, I still have ants in my pants.
As long as any historical storyteller has tried their level best to engage with the children, some self-forgiveness is in order.
Revisiting the Double Tenth Incident
Over the years, I have visited Changi Chapel and Museum several times. I will not spoil the visit for you, but here are some pictures that might encourage you to pay a visit.
For full disclosure, do note that this is a relatively small but deeply meaningful museum.
One thing that really stood out to me during this time was revisiting the Double Tenth Incident.
The name refers to 10 October 1943, the tenth day of the tenth month, when the Kempeitai, the Imperial Japanese military police, began arresting civilian internees whom they suspected of involvement in an attack on Japanese shipping in Singapore’s waters.
The context was that, in September 1943, British and Australian commandos carried out Operation Jaywick, a daring raid. The operation succeeded in damaging or sinking several Japanese ships, and the commandos escaped. The Japanese did not quite realise that the attack had been mounted by an Allied commando force from outside Singapore. Instead, they suspected that people within Singapore had assisted the raid.
On 10 October, the Kempeitai raided Changi Prison and began arresting and torturing suspects. More arrests followed. This tragic episode subsequently became known as the Double Tenth Incident.
Among those caught up in the crackdown were Mr Choy Khun Heng, and subsequently his wife, Mrs Elizabeth Choy. The Choys had been smuggling food, medicine, money, and messages, including radios.
As a result, Elizabeth was imprisoned for almost 200 days, as well as interrogated and tortured.
My children’s book on Mrs Elizabeth Choy in Our Amazing Heroes touches on this pivotal episode. When I walked about Changi Chapel and Museum and encountering the broader, wider story again was a reminder that Mrs Elizabeth Choy’s experience formed a part of the broader, wider history of the Japanese Occupation of Singapore.
What Can Children Learn From Elizabeth Choy’s Story?
There are several lessons children can take away.
The first is that courage does not necessarily mean military courage (just like Total Defence does not simply refer to only military defence).
Mrs Elizabeth Choy was not a soldier, yet she chose to help people who were suffering, even placing herself at considerable risk.
Most of us will (hopefully!) never face the challenging circumstances Mrs Elizabeth Choy courageously faced. However, in our lives, we will encounter many moments when we have to decide whether to help someone, speak up, or do the right thing, even when it might be easier not to.
We remember heroes and heroines such as Mrs Elizabeth Choy because of how they responded to extraordinarily difficult circumstances.
Her courage was accompanied by compassion and a willingness to contribute to society. I hope that younger readers will be inspired by her story, and the stories of Singapore’s amazing heroes and pioneers.
In our own little ways, each of us has a part to play in keeping Singapore strong.
Thank you for reading.
Cheers,
Shawn Seah
About the Author
Shawn Seah is a published author and public speaker who makes Singapore’s history come alive through engaging storytelling. He is the author of the children’s non-fiction series Our Amazing Pioneers (2023) and Our Amazing Heroes (2025), fully-illustrated books aimed at primary school pupils. He has also written non-fiction books for the general reader on family history and Singapore pioneers like Seah Eu Chin and Seah Liang Seah. One of his books, My Father’s Kampung: A History of Aukang and Punggol, was a finalist for Best Non-Fiction Title at the Singapore Book Awards 2021. A recipient of the NUS Outstanding Young Alumni Award (2023), Shawn speaks regularly about family history research, Singapore history, and the art of historical storytelling at schools, literary festivals, and museums.
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