during hicks' heyday, few had begun to adequately situate her life and works within the larger societal changes that had enveloped singapore at the time under forces of rapid globalisation—changes that, by then, were simply far to advanced and powerful to altogether stop the clock upon by the traditionally successful means of shaming and ostracising. for the most part, traditionalists simply reacted from gut-level fear against hicks, or a simplified characterisation or straw man of her, whom they perceived as a "notorious" moral threat willing to degrade singaporean society for personal fame and financial gain. even though the criticisms were not entirely fair—they certainly contained at least a kernel of truth—their accumulation had long been taking a toll upon hicks' perseverance, eroding away at even her senses of identity, purpose, and wholeness, and thus her basic senses of faith, hope, and peace about the future. while she yet continued to milk opportunities for self-promotion, as pat chan had taught her to do, it was becoming clearer and clearer that hicks had for some time been deep within a season of personal introspection, and had been laying plans for a significant life and career transition that appeared to be informed by the values of singaporean traditionalists. whilst she was perhaps conceding a victory to her traditionalist critics amid her life transition, her life change was caused at least as much by her own personal maturing away from the years and seemingly unrestrained values of her youth, although there was certainly an interplay of both external and internal forces that prodded her along.