From studying potential biological weapons to teaching preschoolers: A scientist’s unusual career switch

Suited up in protective equipment, Catherine Ong used to spend mornings working with live bacteria in a biosafety laboratory. She was part of the elite team at the Defence Medical and Environmental Research Institute studying potential biological weapons as part of Singapore’s national defence., known to cause melioidosis, an infectious disease with symptoms such as fever, abscesses, lung infection, bloodstream infection and seizures.This was highly specialised work.

This baffled many of her junior college classmates. “One even asked out of concern if I was going to become a gardener at the Botanic Gardens after graduating,” she recalled. “I had my daughter after a nine-year gap from my two older sons. Though I took a one-year no-pay leave to take care of my baby, I felt very burnt out when I returned to work,” Ong said, adding that she had to juggle work, care for her infant and two older children, and do household chores.

A year after the birth of her third child in 2015, Ong began to experience symptoms of postnatal depression, which prompted her drastic career switch. Her gut instincts told her that she needed a fresh start doing something different. So when she found out that the owner of her children’s preschool wanted to retire and was looking for a successor, she jumped at the opportunity.

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