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Daughter graduates from mum's uni over 70 years on

A writer from Singapore has graduated from Swansea University, more than 70 years after her mother did the same.

Verena Tay, 58, followed in her mother's footsteps from the south east Asia city state to south Wales to study for her PhD in creative writing.

Her acadamic success comes after Lim Poh Luan also moved from Singapore to Swansea in 1949 to study youth leadership.

Her 100-year-old mother is one of Swansea's oldest living graduates and due to her health was unable to make the journey back to see her daughter's ceremony, but spoke of her pride at the renewal of the family connection.

Family photo Professor David Britton (Left), Director of Creative Writing at Swansea University, in Singapore July 2022, with renowned writer and Swansea graduate Verena Tay (Right) and her mother, Mrs Tay (centre)Family photo
Swansea director of creative writing Prof David Britton, with Verena Tay (right) and her mother Mrs Tay in Singapore in 2022
Family photo Verena Tay at her graduationFamily photo
Verena Tay Mrs Tay outside Beck Hall (former halls of the university) in 1949Verena Tay
Verena Tay graduated from Swansea University more than 70 years after her mother
Mrs Tay - who was then Lim Poh Luan - outside halls of residence at Swansea University in 1949

Verena said Swansea was a "natural choice", and one she was glad to have made.

"I remember my mother telling me how she resided in the University’s Beck Hall and visited Mumbles to have ice cream, a luxury for her then as she had a very tight budget," she said.

"We’re also lucky enough to have voice recordings in which she speaks about how, although the city bore the marks of the war, people were friendly, and she enjoyed her experience there."

Her mother, known as Rose to her friends in Wales, returned to Singapore, becoming a teacher and school principal before joining the Ministry of Education.

Verena said she has always loved stories, real or fiction.

"As a child, I would read quaint fairy tales and novels about faraway places, but I loved listening to my mother and aunts tell family stories even more," she said.

When Verena’s mother returned to Singapore, she became a teacher and school principal before joining the Ministry of Education staff.

In 1954, she got married and took her husband’s surname, Tay.

Speaking to Swansea University in 2016, she told of her pre-war schooldays in Singapore’s Chinatown and taking her O-levels on the day the first Japanese bombers raided the island.

She also spoke of her relief at being able to rebuild her life after the war and her journey to Wales.

Mrs Tay also told of the great pride she felt knowing her daughter would be renewing a family connection that reached back so far.

She said: "Verena has been very creative ever since she was in primary school.

"It’s all she’s wanted to do, and I’m glad she’s decided to place herself with other writers at Swansea."