SINGAPORE – It was a chance conversation with a durian seller that got Straits Times journalist Cherie Lok wondering: What would you want to eat in your final days?
The seller had told Lok, who reports on food and culture, that customers have called him in the middle of the night to procure boxes of Mao Shan Wang for their dying loved ones.
“It made me wonder what else people craved at the end of life,” she said. “So I reached out to several hospices and asked if they could shed some light on this topic.”
Lok’s empathetic story on how last meals bring comfort to the dying won the 28-year-old the Citi-Singapore Press Club Rising Stars – Young Journalist Award at the Singapore Press Club Awards on July 15.
She was among three journalists from the ST newsroom who were recognised for their craft and the impact of their work at the annual awards held at the Pan Pacific Singapore hotel.
The Singapore Press Club said in a statement: “Her piece on last meals for the dying used food as a window into how Singaporeans face death with dignity, family and a bowl of something familiar.”
Lok, who has been a journalist since 2021, said of her win: “Lifestyle journalism sometimes gets dismissed as inconsequential fluff, so it’s heartening to see the Press Club recognise stories from the Life section.
“It’s also really humbling to be picked from a pool of fantastic young journalists; I’m so in awe of my peers across the industry and the important stories they tell.”
Another young winner was ST’s digital graphics correspondent Stephanie Adeline, who took home the Citi-Singapore Press Club Rising Stars – Young Digital Journalist Award.
The 27-year-old’s visual story – Inside The Confusing World Of Women’s Clothing Sizes – came about after she found herself frustrated while shopping for clothes.
To show readers how it could feel like a guessing game, she surveyed 105 women, compared size guides of eight popular brands and created 3D-printed sizing models.
The project, which Adeline described as her favourite to date, also involved interviews with fashion designers and product developers to explain how the numbers on the size charts are determined.
She recalled how the team also had to steam each piece of clothing before the photo shoot.
The result was an interactive story that was “original, rigorously researched and genuinely useful”, said the Singapore Press Club.
Adeline, who joined ST in 2020, said: “I think this recognition reflects how journalism is evolving and how visual storytelling is increasingly being valued.”
Read Full Article At Source
