Feminism has come a long way and most of us are literally living like Barbie — we can do anything we want, from being a doctor or lawyer to the president of a country. It’s now 2023 and women all around the world have been thriving in different ways. But what about the women within our own Little Red Dot?
To celebrate women in Singapore and the stories we’ve told over the years, we’ve compiled a list of 10 inspiring stories that make us proud of how far women have come.
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When it comes to conversations around “NS” or “serving the nation”, we often think of men, since it’s a well-known fact that they have to serve two years of mandatory service. But ME5 Pauline Ang proves that women can strive equally in the same industry, serving as an Air Force Engineer who signed on at just 24 years old.
Read more about Pauline’s story here.
Bambi is a Singaporean witch who has created a name for herself by casting spells and breaking hexes. And no, we’re not talking about spells like “wingardium leviosa” that Hermoine Granger is familiar with. Bambi grew up being highly sensitive to seeing spirits, and eventually opened a physical shop, The Love Witch, offering a range of witchcraft services.
Read more about Bambi’s story here.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, many of our lives were affected tremendously. This period was especially hard for Chanel, who lost her job as a cabin crew at just 22 years old. Determined to get back up on her feet again, she established her own cafe, Cafe Lilac, by the time she was 25 years old.
Read more about Chanel’s story here.
Fanny Ler, who was born as a male and named Frankie Ler, began cross-dressing when she was just 10 years old. When her daughter Evelyn was Primary 4, Fanny came out to her as transgender, and Evelyn accepted her to transition as long as she was happy.
Despite changing from “daddy” to “mummy”, one thing that remained faithfully consistent is Fanny’s unconditional love for her daughter.
Read more about Fanny’s story here.
While death is often viewed as a taboo topic, Harmony Tee embraces her job as a funeral director with pride. After all, death is simply a natural phenomenon in life that everyone eventually goes through. She started as a successor to her grandfather’s coffin wholesale business at 24, and now fully handles Harmony Funeral Care.
Read more about Harmony’s story here.
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Stuck in California during the Covid-19 lockdown, Kyla Zhao didn’t let TikTok trends and dalgona coffee recipes distract her from being productive. Instead, she worked on a novel — The Fraud Squad — during her third year of university. Publishing at 24 years old, she closed a 6-figure deal and has plans to continue pursuing her passion as an author.
Read more about Kyla’s story here.
At 17, most teenagers struggle with homework or getting up at 6am to get to school on time. But for Stacy Chow, she found out that she was pregnant instead. Through her hardships of raising her son, Stacy also struggled with breastfeeding.
It was through these experiences that Stacy founded her own breast pump business, Baby Express, to provide affordable and convenient breast pumps for mothers in Singapore.
Read more about Stacy’s story here.
Norhidayah started singing live at bars when she was just 18, but when the Covid-19 pandemic hit, she was forced to switch to online streaming instead. Determined to support her family of 6, she chose to become a Deliveroo rider on top of her singing gigs to earn extra income.
She would livestream from 5pm to 7pm, then begin her food delivery job until 3am the next day. If that doesn’t scream “hustle”, we don’t know what does.
Read more about Norhidayah’s story here.
Fertility isn’t something that’s widely discussed in Singapore, but statistics show that 1 in 6 Singaporean women experience difficulty conceiving. 40-year-old Melissa suffered from fertility issues and went through three painful miscarriages, which nearly took her life, and two failed IVF cycles before she finally conceived her firstborn daughter in 2021.
Read more about Melissa’s story here.
Jamie Xia is a Hong Kong-based model and actress, who made her acting debut in DBS’s award-winning mini-series, DBS Sparks. In January 2023, she joined DBS’s Technology and Operations department with no formal training or degree in the field, as it was always her dream to join the tech industry.
Read more about Jamie’s story here.
These 10 inspiring stories about women in Singapore have shown how they are empowered in different ways — whether it’s in their careers, their journey to self-discovery or embodying their role as a mother in the family.
As Zula is a channel that aims to empower girls by validating the stories of everyday women, this time round we’re giving back to our loyal audiences by celebrating our 10th anniversary with TheSmartLocal. In October 2023, viewers can win $100 in cold hard cash by participating in Zula’s TikTok challenges — free money, who don’t want?
Stay tuned to Zula’s Instagram and TikTok channel for more information on the exact location and time of the upcoming challenge.
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