Journalism, friendships and Claire

It didn't take Mr Ho long to ask his wife out after their first introduction in 1975, and romance bloomed. He wrote in his book: "Claire and I were married on July 7, 1977, but had our formal wedding dinner only in May 1978. Our wedding date is easy
It didn't take Mr Ho long to ask his wife out after their first introduction in 1975, and romance bloomed. He wrote in his book: "Claire and I were married on July 7, 1977, but had our formal wedding dinner only in May 1978. Our wedding date is easy to remember and also a once-in-a-decade - 7-7-77!" PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO
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Having to repeat a syllabus in Singapore that was almost identical to what I had in Stanford, and choosing to live on my own and support myself, I started to do freelance journalism out of boredom and to earn some money.

I got into journalism by accident. As a teenager in the late 1960s, spending my first summer in Singapore, I worked as an intern at The Straits Times, Singapore's main English-language newspaper, where I befriended Dr Wee Kim Wee, who later served as the President of Singapore from 1985 to 1993, and formed a lifelong friendship.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Sunday Times on September 30, 2018, with the headline Journalism, friendships and Claire. Subscribe