Soo Ewe Jin, The Star, InTech Section (October 22, 2002)

WEBSITES must evolve. One of the most empowering elements of communicating via a website is that unlike a print publication, its look and feel can be constantly adjusted without incurring major costs. An initial labour of love can be transformed into a serious gathering point for surfers from all over the world if content is also built up at the same time. 

Such is the story of myhome4work.net which initially began as a simple website with resources for women working from home. 

Today, the website has not only grown content-wise but has also made use of technical add-ons which allow them to interact with surfers in a more systematic way. 

A recent visit to the site showed up some gems: 

Story-wise, there were interesting testimonies as follows: 

1. 10 Things You Should Know If You Are Arrested
   
   How do you define arrest? What do you do if you are stopped by the police? What if the police arrest you? How do you deal with police questioning? This article deals with the above issues and many more related to the legal rights of a person under arrest. 
   
   
2. Beware Of Bogus Cops
   
   If you’re stopped by policemen on a lonely road, do not blindly obey them. Who knows, they may be bogus cops. Far-fetched? Not quite considering that cases of bogus police officers jumped by 33.5% in the first six months of this year. There were 249 cases reported, compared with 187 for the corresponding period last year. Cases of bogus cops in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur made up almost 50% of the total number nationwide. The majority of victims were targeted at secluded places, and usually at night. 
   
   
3. Top Ten Tips On Story-telling and Making An Impact
   
   All great communicators are great storytellers. Listeners are more open to receiving when they hear the message delivered in a story format – they can lower their walls and defences because the message is coming to them in a safe and indirect way. Wherever you want to make an impact, tell a story! 
   
   
4. 16 Tips For Becoming A Better Writer
   
   Whether you’re writing a memo, a letter, an article or a full-length novel, there are a few basic rules to keep in mind that will help your message first to be read and then to be better understood and accepted. 
   
   
5. Education Has A Price – So Does Ignorance
   
   It’s a very interesting fact that successful people continually self-educate and reinvest their time and money in themselves through continual learning, whilst unsuccessful people do not. 

If these stories are not enough to make you head for your computer at once, how about going to the Voices section where mothers reflect on everything from mooncakes to life after retrenchment. 

For more practical purposes, there is the Marketplace, where you can find people able and willing to provide translation services, health and beauty, web-designing and even accounting. 

Practical advice on divorce, and the rights of women under Islamic law are also available under the What’s New column. 

All told, I would say that the site has lived up to its mission “to build a cyber community for homemakers and homeworkers who choose parenthood as their primary responsibility and an alternative lifestyle”. I wish this site had been available when I was a homemaker once upon a time