Investigating One's Passion
Written by Jasmine Choong
Syahindah Ishak is only 20 years old but she has taken the plunge into adulthood.
“Adulting as a whole is challenging,” she told me. “There are a lot of bills, taxes and transport fares to pay. That sucks a lot, and is still something I struggle with because it’s really such a pain.”
As she laughed off her frustrations, I nodded, not because I could relate (I am still a student), but because I understood how far she has come.
Syahindah and I have known each other for four years. We started out as classmates in Singapore Polytechnic’s Diploma in Creative Writing for Television and New Media, working tirelessly on countless group projects.
Syahindah (middle) and I (second from right) worked in the same group with our teammates during our Final Year Project in 2018.
Now, Syahindah is a full-time writer with news site company Mothership.sg and she is enjoying every minute of it.
Syahindah’s calling to journalism rang loud and clear when she was in secondary school. She took every composition assignment seriously and did her best to write as creatively as possible.
She also joined the school’s debate team, where she relished researching and debating on current affairs on a regular basis. Unarguably, this was how she fell in love with facts and current affairs. Without debate, she would not have earned the crucial abilities to be confident, accurate and critical she needed to thrive in the journalism industry.
However, Syahindah’s relationship with journalism was not as smooth sailing or “perfect” as it sounds.
“After polytechnic, I was going through a really rough patch. It was mid-2019, I was unemployed and doing nothing. I was lost because I didn't know what to do and where to go,” she confessed.
Syahindah’s six-month-long internship with The New Paper, which occurred during our third year of polytechnic, strained her relationship with journalism so much that she nearly considered changing fields.
During her first week with the publication as an intern journalist, she pitched and wrote an article about how food in Singapore’s cinemas was not halal certified. Little did she expect her first story to garner a lot of scrutiny and criticism from the public and other media outlets.
“I remember crying every night for the next week. People kept sending me links to other articles or tweets or videos that talked about my article and it was hell,” she recalled.
As the months passed, Syahindah grew to accept that this was part and parcel of being a journalist. She did not let the opportunity to learn from the full-time editors and writers slip away either as it was the only time when she could learn and improve her skills.
“As a student intern, it's forgivable when you make a mistake. So make them because when you get into the real working world, you don't get that chance anymore,” she asserted.
Syahindah interviewing a circus performer for a lifestyle feature story for The New Paper in October 2018.
With this mindset, Syahindah continued to make mistakes, learn from them and tried her best not to repeat them. She even asked “stupid” questions when she was unsure about something because it was the only way she could really learn. After all, she was the only intern under the publication during the first four months of her stint. So she had to be independent.
Despite her rough journey, Syahindah knew she could never let go of this career. Journalism gives her an avenue to perform an important duty - to tell stories from minorities with less privileged backgrounds just like her.
“Giving a voice to the voiceless is one of my biggest motivations, and the reason why despite all the challenges, I will always love doing my job. It's a big responsibility but it's something I feel honoured and humbled to be able to do,” she explained. “I'm telling a story, and I'm lending a voice to these people who don't have the power to inform everyone of their own story.”
Syahindah’s current job allows her to write long-form features of profiles with compelling stories, which is what she loves about journalism the most. Doing these kinds of stories allows her to spend ample time with her profiles and get to know their stories in depth.
Two features Syahindah wrote as a full-time writer with Mothership.sg that she is proud of.
With her passion for telling stories in this manner, she hopes to become “the feature writer” of Mothership.sg in about five years’ time.
“What other future aspirations do you have?” I asked her.
“In terms of my career, that’s all I’m hoping for,” she humbly answered.
I was pleasantly surprised. Not only is Syahindah my good friend, but she is also the best performer in our class. Many would have expected her to further her education as the next commonsensical thing to do after we graduated, but she maintained her sense of clarity and took her own next step in life.
Syahindah was awarded the Singapore Press Holdings Silver Medal and a merit on top of her diploma during the graduation ceremony in May 2019.
“Being bold is all about knowing what you want, and doing whatever it takes to get it, no matter what others say, no matter what the social construct is and no matter what other opportunities may tempt you,” she said without a doubt.
And may she continue to swim against the currents of societal and familial pressure while staying true to herself.