Ai Leen began writing for The Straits Times in 2012 as a freelancer based in London, reporting on a wide range of topics including doggy day care, 3-D printing and the ethnic minority vote. She joined the foreign desk after moving to Singapore in 2016, focusing mainly on ST’s coverage of South-east Asia. She first ventured into journalism in 2002, as a business writer for The Edge in Kuala Lumpur, after spending her first few years of working life as a litigation lawyer.