Karien van Ditzhuijzen

Karien took a long and rambling journey towards becoming a tour guide. As a child she wanted to be a perfumer, but after obtaining an MSc in chemistry she got a job creating ice cream recipes!  

She then became an advocate for migrant worker’s rights, and a novelist but after becoming a volunteer guide for Kampong Gelam Heritage Trails she realised that sharing stories orally is just as exciting as putting them down on paper. Being a tour guide allows her to combine two of her passions: walking and talking.  

Karien has lived in as many countries as she has had careers. From her first visit to Singapore as a child, on a stopover from her then home in Borneo, she remembers only the Bird Park but since moving to the Lion City in 2012 she has created many new connections, and delved deep into local history and culture.  

Do join Karien’s tours if you want to hear some of Singapore’s lesser-known stories and find new angles to look at the world. She will share her love for the many different cultural groups that call Singapore home, its multi-layered history and its surprisingly wild nature.