BET YOU DIDN'T KNOW: Sharon Ismail roped in Suria colleague Khairudin Saharom (left) to illustrate her book, What Sallamah Didn't Know. -- PHOTO: ACE PIX

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Now 33, she recalls that she was with her mother at the wet market waiting for her father to pick them up when her mother said, apropos of nothing: 'By the way, you're half-Chinese.'

She says the revelation that her mother was Chinese was unexpected, but not entirely a surprise.

'When I was much younger, people kept asking me if my Mum was Chinese and I would say no as that was what she herself always said,' says the lecturer at Ngee Ann Polytechnic's School of Interdisciplinary Studies.

She is also known as an actress and host, on stage and on MediaCorp's Suria channel.

'But I had noticed that my aunts and uncles also did not all look the same, though I could not quite put my finger on it,' she added.

As it turned out, her mother, Sallamah, was a Chinese baby adopted by an Indian father and a Malay mother after her own parents decided to give her away.

Three of her mother's five siblings were also adopted.

As Sharon and her two younger brothers grew up and got married, she wanted to write her mother's story down for the next generation.

'Last year, my brother's wife became pregnant with my mother's first grandchild. I thought it would be really great if her grandchildren knew her story,' she says.

The book, What Sallamah Didn't Know, was published this month by Candid Creations under the Media Development Authority's (MDA) First-Time Writers and Illustrators Publishing Initiative.

The book is also just in time for another addition to the family: Sharon and her husband are expecting their first child this month.

Why did you decide to turn the story into a children's illustrated book?

At first, I had more of a family scrapbook in mind. I thought of writing a little story, fiddling with Photoshop a bit and compiling other stories about my extended family growing up in a kampung. Mainly, I wanted the children to know their grandmother's story.

However, eventually I realised that this is a story that belongs to all of us. This bi-racial, bi-cultural story is a common one that is unique to Singapore.

You keep hearing about people who were adopted into a different race and religion, about people reunited with long-lost blood family.

Through this story, I hope people will rethink the old saying that blood is thicker than water.

Tell me about the illustrator, Khairudin Saharom.

Khairudin is a Suria colleague and good friend. He is a full-time architect and this is his first time illustrating a book.

I just gave him the manuscript and asked if he wanted to work on it. The first sketch he showed me, which is in the book - it is of the baby being given away - just stunned me. He completely captured the tone and feel of the story.

It is so great that I got the MDA grant, because after that I could afford to pay him.

How has your family reacted to the book?

My Mum is very blase - you can throw anything at her and she won't jump over the moon.

She was only a bit hesitant for a moment when I asked if I could include a picture of her as a toddler at the back of the book. But overall, she seems quite pleased.

My brothers and my husband have been really supportive, though we'll have to wait and see if our children like the book. My nephew is only six months old now, and mine isn't here yet.

What Sallamah Didn't Know ($15.70 without GST) is available at major bookstores.