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Hello, my name is Elizabeth Tai. Welcome to my personal website where I “learn in public”.

This is my digital garden where you can find my notes, journals and in-depth, articles about topics such as the Indieweb, knowledge management, personal finance and more.

Table of contents

About the writer and gardener

Me and Tessie, a friend's dog, in Colonel Light Gardens, Adelaide in 2014. — Me and Tessie, a friend’s dog, in Colonel Light Gardens, Adelaide in 2014.

My biggest passion in life is writing. Sometime in my 11th year, I decided to choose between two loves: Art or Writing. I chose writing.

Since then, I’ve had a long career in the communications field, having worked as a journalist, sub-editor, public relations officer, B2B content strategist and content manager. (Have a look at my portfolio.) I joke that my ambition is to try out every branch of the content/communications field. Though there was that sudden detour into nursing….

I live in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. You know, that country known for that plane that disappeared mysteriously and one of the biggest financial scandals the world has ever seen? But we’re also really known for our great food, rich multi-racial culture, and good weather. So you win some and lose some, I guess.

In 2012, I quit my job and moved to Australia to discover what made me tick. I have always wanted to live in another country and I couldn’t believe I actually pulled it off! I did all kinds of amazing things in Australia. (You can read all about it—I kept an online diary and also wrote a few articles about my time there.)

“You must be willing to leave the life you planned in order to find the one waiting for you.”
Joseph Campbell

I fell in love with Australia. I loved how every day was an adventure and that possibilities and new discoveries lurked in every corner.

But by the end of 2014, the novelty of living my dreams wore off. It was tough living away from my family and friends.

In the end, I realised Malaysia was my home. I returned to Kuala Lumpur in 2015 with greater clarity about myself: Namely, how I really want to live my life.

I’m currently happily living a simple life in Kuala Lumpur, working as a technical writer. When AI became commonplace in my workplace, I found myself building AI agents, skills and designing content models. I realise that I’ve stumbled on the content engineering profession. Whatever fancy name we give ourselves, however, content professionals still need to understand what good content looks like and how to create them.

Writing this years after I made the big decision to move back to Malaysia, I realise that a happy life doesn’t need a lot of bells and whistles. But we need to be really determined to pursue a life that works for us, not for everyone else.

Navigating the website

I’ve been blogging since 2004, and have written hundreds of articles on this website! Double that amount if I include posts from my early, oversharing blogging years. It can be quite daunting to navigate the website. So, here’s what you’ll find in the following sections:

Firehose feed (all posts) – my latest writing in chronological order. Some of the categories include:
- Essays – Long-form writing about topics that interests me
- Journal – diary-like entries that gives you a peek into my life.
- Guides – These are guides to some topics I am exploring.
- Link blog – links to articles that intrigue me.
- Notes – Quick jottings about ideas that caught my attention
- Now log – where I occasionally update what I’m up to.
2004-2022 essays – Nearly 20 years of blog posts in one page, arranged. by category.

What I write about

For the life of me I can’t stick to one topic. The topics that interest me:

My other blogs or newsletters

Drama Tea

A blog about Chinese dramas. It’s completely separate from this website and is a right and proper blog.

Tai Tales

My Substack, Tai Tales, is my “community hub” where you can get to know me more.

How to stay updated with my content

If you don’t want to miss any of my updates (if so, thank you!), you can follow me via:

RSS – You can use RSS readers like Feedly to get updates when I add new content
Email – Get posts viaemail. You can do so below:

Work with me

I occasionally accept freelance writing assignments. If the situation is correct, I will work with certain companies to syndicate my content or write sponsored posts. Have a look at my extensive portfolio.

If you’re interested in working with me, drop me an email.