Serene got her first taste of journalism as a 10-year-old, creating a newsletter for her class in school, typing out stories on a typewriter in the teachers’ common room. Today, she is still creating and directing content for young people,  in her role as Schools Editor of The Straits Times in Singapore.

One of her most treasured experiences of journalism was being the Singapore representative of the Asia Journalism Fellowship (2011), which brings seasoned journalists from all over Asia to learn more from one another over three months. It gave her renewed perspective on journalism, and made her firm friends with other journalists particularly from Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Pakistan.

Serene has been a journalist for 14 years, of which the last 10 years have been working on The Straits Times’ News In Education programme. She was deputy editor for several years before becoming editor in 2016.