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Loneliness is often seen as a personal feeling, but for Simone Heng, it became a question worth exploring on a global scale.
Now, with the upcoming Chinese translation of her 2023 book, Let’s Talk About Loneliness, her message is reaching a new audience and entering a new chapter.
What began as a deeply personal experience has grown into a wider mission to make conversations about loneliness more accessible across cultures.
From Personal Isolation to a Written Voice
Simone Heng’s book Let’s Talk About Loneliness was born from a period of deep emotional isolation. After leaving her broadcasting career to care for her paralyzed mother, she found herself cut off from her social world. While others were building families and careers, she was navigating caregiving, grief, and isolation.
Before that chapter, her life had always been shaped by movement. She was born and is based in Singapore, grew up in Australia, studied in Switzerland, and worked in the UAE. Her background reflects a mix of cultures, even reflected in her DNA, which shows 11 different ethnicities.
But the defining moments were not just about where she had been, but what she had gone through. She lost her father at 19, and 10 years later, along with her sister, became the main support to her mother. Those experiences reshaped her priorities and slowly pulled her away from the life she was chasing.
In that quieter, more difficult season, she began asking questions she could not ignore. Why does loneliness feel so heavy, even when you are not physically alone? Why is it so hard to talk about?
Over time, Simone realized something that became central to her work. Loneliness is not simply about being alone. It is the gap between the kind and amount of connection a person wants and what they are actually experiencing.
A Book That Challenges Cultural Assumptions
Let’s Talk About Loneliness explores an idea many people overlook. Loneliness can exist even in collectivist societies. Simone highlights how cultural expectations, emotional restraint, and unspoken pressures can make it harder to express isolation. This perspective brought a diverse lens to the dialogue on loneliness often dominated by Western viewpoints.
She points out that in cultures where people are expected to always be surrounded by family, saying “I am lonely” can carry stigma. At the same time, many connections are shaped by obligation rather than genuine emotional closeness. These kinds of relationships do not always meet deeper emotional needs, and can leave people feeling alone even when they are not physically isolated.
Retitled in Chinese as “Anyway, I Am Just as Lonely,” it will be available in Xinhua, Sisyphus, and Yanijou bookstores in China. The book blends research with lived experience, making it both informative and deeply personal. With the release of the Chinese edition, the focus is on reaching Chinese-speaking communities where conversations around loneliness are often less visible.
Building a Mission Around Human Connection
Beyond the book, Simone Heng’s work continues to focus on one idea. Human connection is not just something we hope for, but something we absolutely must learn and build, particularly in the era of AI.
After spending 15 years in broadcasting, she chose to step away and start again in 2019. It was not an easy decision, and she built her career without financial backing, relying on persistence and clarity in what she wanted to create.
Today, she is a global speaker who works with leading organizations such as Google, Meta, Harvard University, and JPMorgan. She teaches audiences how to build meaningful connections both in and beyond the workplace.
Her message continues to resonate because it speaks to something many people are quietly experiencing. Without a sense of belonging and psychological safety, it becomes harder to think clearly, create, and show up fully.
At its core, her work is a reminder that connection is not about how many people are around us. It is about how understood we feel. And sometimes, putting that feeling into words is the first step toward changing it.
Learn more about Simone Heng here:
