Heidi Mah: Found in translation
Throughout all 44 years of her career in healthcare, Heidi Mah has had meaningful roles at the Ministry of Health and two public hospitals. Having wrapped up her final stint in clinical governance, she’s all raring to make her next move that connects her previous career with an awakened ambition.
How It Started
In The Polymath, Waqas Ahmed discusses how one needs to cast aside espoused merits of specialisation and embrace the greatest possible range of interests and inspirations as a means to fulfil your potential. Meet Heidi Mah, a retired senior manager who followed her passions and pursued a degree in translation and interpretation.
At 71, after more than 40 years in healthcare, Heidi has completed her studies and is about to walk a different path towards her aspirations.
“It has always been my ambition to work as a translator when young. However, I could not fulfill my dream due to various reasons, such as family and work commitments. Though I had dealt with translation and interpretation in the course of my work in National University Hospital, I reckon that there is more to be learnt in this field. To better equip myself with the knowledge and skills in this field, I enrolled in a Translation & Interpretation programme after my retirement.”
Landing Her First Gig
It was no walk in the park, however, as Heidi was not able to find any work after completing her study. Through an announcement in the student portal at her university, she got to know about Gig Academy, an initiative that helps participants learn from industry experts and explore freelancing and self-employment. Topics ranged from Ecommerce, Digital Marketing to Micro Influencing.
One of the assignments at the workshop required participants to put up a proposal for a project of their chosen field. Her proposal, which was a translation project, sparked the interest of the instructor who linked her up with her first translation gig.
“Participation in the Gig Academy Workshop provided me the opportunity to learn the basic freelancing knowledge from industry experts. I’ve landed my first gig project in a step toward freelance translation. There is this sense of fulfilment when I completed the project which is related to my familiar domain – healthcare.”
Heidi also describes three personal attributes that got to her destination despite the obstacles she faced. The first is her determination that sees her trying her level best to carry out her plans once she has set her mind on a goal.
“Take my translation study as an example, students may choose to take up to 8 years to complete the degree since it is a part-time programme for working adults. In view of my age, I had planned in 2018 to complete my course within 3 years and my plan has worked out well.”
Heidi graduated from the Singapore University of Social Sciences in 2021, with a degree in Translation and Interpretation.
She also discusses how her diligence and meticulousness have pushed her to go the extra mile to ensure that her work is completed with minimal errors as far as possible.
Finally, she cites positivity as an important competency that propels her forward when the going gets tough. When she faced difficulties during her study, it was her positive mindset that helped her overcome them.
How It’s Going
Since then, Heidi has continued to marry her past experiences and current aspirations by embarking on another translation project in the medical field. She also plans to enhance her translation skills through continuous learning and working on more projects. She reflects, “I would like to build on my experience in healthcare to work towards focusing on medical translation.”
To those who wish to take the leap towards another field, she has this to share, “Change is inevitable in this ever-evolving world. Opportunities always come to those who are prepared. To transit to a different field, one must have the passion and determination to learn the necessary knowledge and skills. When the opportunity arises, just go for it.”
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