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56
November14
Y
ou won’t findmany people who
don’t like Nassim Road. It’s the
artery that leads from the green
and pleasant Botanic Gardens
to the hustle and bustle of Orchard Road,
with residential condominiums lined up
against expansive embassies and high
commissions. Sue Levens’ three-bedroom
ground-floor apartment is a classic
example of the peace and convenience
you can expect from the area.
The Levens’ condo opened in early
2013, perfect timing as they were
relocating from Kuala Lumpur in April
that year. With both children grown up
and living in Australia (daughter Jessie,
28, a vet in Canberra, and son Samuel,
24, finishing an international business
and finance degree in Sydney), Sue
and her husband Peter were looking
for a convenient home that could
accommodate family visits.
“I wanted to be able to walk to a
grocery store, as we had made a
conscious decision not to have a car.
We’d come from living in central Kuala
Lumpur, a growing metropolis, and I was
tired of the construction noise. I wanted
somewhere green and quiet.” Being
within walking distance of the Botanic
Gardens was also a requirement, so
their current home was ideal.
Picture Perfect
It quickly becomes apparent that
someone in the household is a keen
photographer. Pictures of family,
landscapes, animals, and flora and
fauna adorn many of the walls.
“My main hobby is photography,”
confirms Sue, “and most of the
photographs in the house are ones I’ve
taken. I’ve also decorated my husband’s
office suites with a big installation of
squares, each a landscape, all from the
outback in Western Australia.” Sue also
plays the piano, loves arts and culture,
and has recently taken on a new job
as a graphics artist for the
Bamboo
Telegraph
, the membership magazine
of the American Women’s Association.
She clearly has many skills and
interests; she even points out plans to
mosaic one of her living-roomside tables,
something that she’s never done before
but is keen to try. Her 32 years on the
road have enabled her to experience
and exploremany newplaces and things.
Sue headed off backpacking in
1982, which included a six-month stint
in Singapore. She met her husband
Peter, a New Zealander, in Kuala
Terengganu in Malaysia, before she
headed back briefly to the US and he
to Australia. They were reunited in New
Zealand, got married in Darwin, and
both children were born in Australia. Just
after son Samuel was born they moved
to Trinidad, where they lived for four
years in a beach bungalow. “There was
very little there: a market, some Chinese
shops, a ‘pluck and gut’ chicken shop
The side tables and television console are from Origin Asia. The lamp is from British India, and the
vases (under the side tables) are from the nurseries at Cluny Road.