Daughter graduates from Swansea University over 70 years after mum

Verena said Swansea was a “natural choice”, and one she was glad to have made.

“I remember my mother telling me how she resided in the University’s Beck Hall and visited Mumbles to have ice cream, a luxury for her then as she had a very tight budget,” she said.

“We’re also lucky enough to have voice recordings in which she speaks about how, although the city bore the marks of the war, people were friendly, and she enjoyed her experience there.”

Her mother, known as Rose to her friends in Wales, returned to Singapore, becoming a teacher and school principal before joining the Ministry of Education.

Verena said she has always loved stories, real or fiction.

“As a child, I would read quaint fairy tales and novels about faraway places, but I loved listening to my mother and aunts tell family stories even more,” she said.

When Verena’s mother returned to Singapore, she became a teacher and school principal before joining the Ministry of Education staff.

In 1954, she got married and took her husband’s surname, Tay.

Speaking to Swansea University in 2016, she told of her pre-war schooldays in Singapore’s Chinatown and taking her O-levels on the day the first Japanese bombers raided the island.

She also spoke of her relief at being able to rebuild her life after the war and her journey to Wales.

Mrs Tay also told of the great pride she felt knowing her daughter would be renewing a family connection that reached back so far.

She said: “Verena has been very creative ever since she was in primary school.

“It’s all she’s wanted to do, and I’m glad she’s decided to place herself with other writers at Swansea.”