Joy Kwek

About six months ago, I pulled a short novel out of the pile and after the first few pages of reading I knew it was something out of the ordinary. The story was about a young French woman who had come to study in America around 1960. She was lost and felt alienated until she became friends with her landlady who was a survivor of the death camps in Auschwitz. At the beginning of the story, the young woman knows nothing about her landlady and would never suspect it. The talkative and charming older woman invites the young French student to her apartment to chat and share tea while she’s making a strudel.

There’s comfort in the rhythm as she’s turning the dough over and over and then she forgets and pushes her sleeve back and there is the tattooed number of the death camp on her arm. Something about that scene grabbed me by the throat and would not let me go. You could almost see the older woman pushing and kneading the dough and talking with her young tenant. You could smell the cinnamon aroma, taste the soothing tea and feel the bridging of cultures and years. Womanhood and loneliness were the common bonds from which this uncommon friendship grew. You could sense the jolt the younger woman felt when she realized the horrors her friend had survived. Her day-to-day challenges of adapting to life, which seemed so anxious, now seemed trivial in comparison. The final chapter ended on a high note. Both women were transformed by their alliance. It was a story of survival and hope. It made me think of the recent friendships that have meant a lot to me—especially my friendship with Joy. It also inspired me to work on my own writing more. Late at night when I couldn’t sleep, I found myself revising sections of some of my older stories. I wanted to breathe life into the scenes. I wanted my writing to have these vibrant descriptions that touch the senses and the heart




Here's a photo of me with my BFF & college roommate Joy. I’m taller but I think her face is much prettier. She's the most beautiful person I know. ^-^ (Gosh..I sound like a groupie. Only for you, Joy) She’s incredibly bright and definitely much more confident than I am. She works as a financial consultant in Hong Kong. I wish we could see each other more. One of the things about her that I love is her goofiness and lightheartedness. Her personality seems mismatched for the work she does, but her name fits her.

Sorry guys! She's off the market. Lucky guy. His name is Chris. In my book, I changed Chris' name to Troy. Thought it'll be fun to refer to the couple as Joy Troy. Joy made me change it back to Chris, because she said Troy sounded like a condom. LOL. That wasn't exactly what I had in mind. =)