Blog Purpose

Rachel Tan Hui Xin (Blog author) became mother to Rachel’s Truth on the 1st of January, 2020, with much exhausting labor. Like any traditional Asian parent, she has placed high hopes on this baby before it is even one day old, such as:

1. It must tell her story in a way that relates, informs and entertains;

2. It must keep track of her past, present and future (in terms of experiences, studies and career pathway in healthcare);

3. It must ensure that every baby step it takes enriches and benefits both her and other people;

4. It must love and respect, and be open-minded, humble and perpetually curious. Always.

These are a lot of hopes for a newborn, but in time, it will realize this is for its own success, and happiness. <Asian mom vibes>

Blog Birth

The idea for this blog came to me during the excruciating wait for the arrival of SPM* stage 2.

Two years ago, I had started a Blogger blog that featured mostly my original short fiction, and opinion blog posts. I managed to keep it going for nearly a year. However, due to a lack of discipline, and also to prepare for PT3* and SPM, I stopped after a while.

This year in 2019, SPM was divided into two stages. (Stage 1: Electives. Stage 2: Core stream subjects). After sitting for Chinese (elective) on the 16th of October, we sank into a furious study schedule for the core subjects. Our only break was our graduation ceremony, smack in the middle of Stage 1 and Stage 2 of SPM. It was while waiting for our BM* paper (first paper of stage 2) that I came up with the idea for this blog… because boredom drives creativity.

This time, I made two solid decisions:

1. My new blog would focus more on my day to day life, and my experiences. Why? Let’s ask Mark Twain:

“Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn’t.”

Mark Twain,

Of course, I also see this as an opportunity for me to be more disciplined in documenting my daily activities for memories, while hoping these experiences may help or intrigue anyone who may grace my domain.

2. My new blog will be on WordPress. This is because after a few months of research I decided that WordPress.com is more user friendly, has a more aesthetic layout, and has a convenient follow button that makes it easy for like-minded bloggers to engage and support each other.

Blog Name

Recently, I read an article where a girl gave the most blunt, honest reviews of her Girl Scout cookies, under faithful compliance to the Girl Scout Rules. “Bland, unoriginal taste” “Gluten-free wasteland” were her seemingly counterproductive choice of words, while aiming to sell 300 boxes. Her cookies sold instead up to 25000 boxes, to customers who were intrigued by her frankness. Honesty was really the best policy for this girl, even if in a rather extreme context.

And because I am fairly good at bringing out the essence of certain scenarios through my writing, I aim to use this blog not just as a part-time diary, but to raise awareness on important issues in general (perhaps more tailored toward healthcare and education). Therefore, I named this blog Rachel’s Truth.

Happy new year 2020!

~Rachel

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* Glossary:

SPM: Malaysian high school exam taken by 17 year olds (prerequisite for higher level institutions and job applications)

PT3: Malaysian high school exam taken by 15 year olds (for stream allocation)

BM: Malay (National) Language Paper

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