About me



Who is Karien, this bedu mama lady?


The bedu, or bedouin, بَدَوِي, in arabic, are a nomadic tribe from the Arabic peninsula. I too, was conceived in the Arabian desert, and have the nomadic lifestyle to match. Born into expat live, I boarded my fist intercontinental flight at only fourteen days old. From the Middle- to the Far-East we wandered, until we moved back to Europe. There, I tried the Netherlands, France and the United Kingdom, but found them all too cold and boring to my taste. So I convinced my husband to pick up our young family and move to hot and steamy Singapore. There he provided the family income whilst I look after the kids, fight for the rights of migrant workers and write. In our jungle house, I kept chicken and grow my own vegetables, quite a challenge in a city that prefers those in cling-film. And there was also the matter of protecting them from the furry primate neighbours...

As a real nomad, I am always waiting to see where the wind will blow me next. In 2019 we moved to Bali and at the moment we have landed in the Netherlands, where I wrap myself up, sipping my hot ginger tea, write and reminisce. The adventure is never over.

In 2013 I joined Singaporean charity HOME to support domestic workers staying at their shelter. In 2014 I founded the MyVoice blog; a place for migrant workers to share their stories. I created and edited the book ‘Our Homes, Our Stories’, an anthology of 28 real-life stories written by migrant domestic workers, which was published in March 2018. 

As a freelance writer and blogger I contribute to several publications in Singapore and the Netherlands. In 2012 I published a children’s book in Dutch recounting my childhood in Borneo. 

My debut novel ‘A Yellow House’, was published by Monsoon Books summer 2018. 


Photo by Lina Meisen

6 comments:

  1. Hi Karien, I am organising a bloggers networking event for bloggers in Singapore to meet and share their ideas and tips and potentially grow our own readerships and networks by working with each other. Would you be interested in attending this kind of event? If so, let me know via email at lulabellelifestyle@gmail.com Thanks, Lucy

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  4. its a nice information.. Thanks admin

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  5. I love your blog, Karien...Jane

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  6. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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