INSPIRE | Amazing People, Amazing Stories
‘Follow the Science. A Person Living with HIV Who Stays Virally Suppressed Poses No Risk of Transmission.’: Calvin Tan
The word ‘fat’ had followed me around like a shadow since I was eight years old. That year, my mother brought home Japanese karaage, or...
From Being Bullied to Becoming a Disability Advocate – Winston Wong’s Life as a Hard-of-hearing Person
As told to Alden Boon Save for one incident, I remember little of my toddler years. What was supposed to be a fun day out...
‘There’s Nothing Shameful About Disabilities… And What We Do Need Is Inclusion.’: Josh Tseng
As told to Alden Boon As a young boy, I grew up fascinated with dinosaurs. Growing up in the midst of the dinosaur boom that...
Eight Questions with Star of Big Brown Girl Ross Nasir: Being a Plus-sized Woman and Her Self-love Journey
Ross Nasir is the star in the one-woman show 'Big Brown Girl'. The musical comedy follows Ruby as she dates several men from Singapore, Malaysia,...
He Built Woodlands Botanical Garden From Scratch Alongside His Father. Now, Ganesh Kumar Wants It to Be a Bastion of Mental Wellness.
The smooth swards of grass burst with the hues of iridescent flowers. It is a dramatic juxtaposition: the idyllic garden, built on a nine-storey-high hill,...
Human Rights Defender Sherry Sherqueshaa on Crimes Against Sex Workers, Love, and Her Muslim Faith
Sherry Sherqueshaa is running. Her screams rouse many onlookers, but no one helps her. Her hand hovers over her exposed breasts, a feeble attempt at...
‘Let’s Stop Trying to Normalise Autism. Let’s Start Normalising Diversity.’: Dr Dawn-joy Leong
As told to Alden Boon When I was seven, I brought an unabridged copy of Charles Dickens’s Oliver Twist to school. At that age, I...
Superbloom Founder Sylvia Ramlal on Making Dreamy Jelly Cakes, Handling Burnout and Finding Satisfaction
An unexpected job loss turned out to be a blessing in disguise for Sylvia Ramlal. During her downtime, she discovered an interest in making jelly...
From ITE Graduate to Self-made Entrepreneur – Littlebotany Founder Fendi Sani on His Love for Plants and Overcoming Insecurities
Stepping into the open-air Littlebotany at Sungei Tengah is like being ensconced in perpetual spring. Time seems to slow in this lush paradise teeming with...
Helping Autistic Children Gain Independence Through Behaviour Therapy: Founder of Therapy Kidz Eileen Su
(Editor's note: Following the interview piece with autistic researcher and artist Dr Dawn-joy Leong, edits have been made to this story. The use of person-first...
‘He Slapped Me, Punched Me, Kicked Me and Spat at Me, but I Forgive Him.’ Sandra Aulia’s Powerful Account of Surviving Domestic Violence.
This story contains details that may be emotionally unsettling, but they reflect Sandra's journey as a domestic violence survivor. The pain from the contusion on...
Bingz Huang on Navigating the World as a Highly Sensitive Person, Energy Healing and Gentleness
As a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP), Bingz Huang knows what it is like to feel emotional burnout. By tapping the teachings of the Human Design...
SGBrisketKitchen Founder Jayce Ho on the Joys and Pains of Smoking Meats and Entrepreneurship
Jayce Ho is a multihyphenate: she is a full-time business development manager, a passionate owner of Polish chickens, and she also runs a side business...
The Epitome of Selflessness: Metta Cats Director Terry Lim on Saving Stray Animals, Eighteen-hour Days and Carrying on His Late Mother’s Legacy
Clad in his typical ensemble of black shirt, denim jeans and waterproof boots, Terry Lim is ready for another day of a punishing eighteen-hour routine....
Stories by Children Founder Chen Yuanhui on Awakening a Child’s Divinity and Wisdom
Drawing on her experience as a former Head of Aesthetics Education in Singapore's Ministry of Education, Chen Yuanhui today runs Stories by Children, a heart-based...
How My Dog, Clifford, Uplifts and Gets Me Through My Chronic Depression and Generalised Anxiety Disorder: Rajes Balachanther
As told to Alden Boon. ‘You are a burden.’ ‘A waste of space.’ ‘A good-for-nothing.’ No, these are not my current innermost thoughts. These were...
Ceramication Founder Rayn Leow Talks the Art and Science of Pottery Making, Coming Out and Privilege
Nestled in the industrial fringe that is Sungei Kadut is an austere workshop, and here a ceramicist is hard at work. Flanking him are wheelable...
President of Voices for Animals Derrick Tan on Animal Activism, His Past and Sacrifices
For as long as he can remember, Derrick Tan, President of Voices for Animals, has always had a natural affinity with animals. Today, he has...
Liao Wenjing on the ‘Trauma’ of Breast Cancer and Finding Her New Calling in Life
All the signs pointed to it. The lumps in her breasts, first detected circa end of 2019, which Wenjing thought could be removed with a...
Bankruptcy, Divorce and Loss of His Son: How Jimmy Ong Restarted His Life after Hitting Rock Bottom
Jimmy sits on the bed, his arms wrapped tightly around Shaun. Like snow at the coming of spring, his son’s life force dwindles with every...
Abused Because of Cerebral Palsy, but Still Wesley Wee Rises Above, Finding Happiness and Love in the Face of Adversity
Wesley is lying in his own excrement and urine. Only twenty steps separate the toilet from his room, but he did not make the distance...
Johnny Chin on Reigniting His Faith, Beating Drug Addiction, and the Need to Remove Labels
For twenty years, Johnny Chin lived his life strung out on drugs — heroin, marijuana, ecstasy, he has tried them all. It was only when...
Co-founder of The T Project June Chua: Beyond Our Transgender Identity, See Us as People, as Individuals
When June Chua was twelve, she was called “bapok”, a Malay word meaning “transvestite”, by a schoolmate. This label, said in jest, became a eureka...
Life after Prison: Stervey Lim on Finding Purpose, Letting His Past Go and Creating a New Life
Stervey Lim stares out of the window wrought of despair. Hemmed in by four walls of cement, he is sequestered in a cramped cell with...
By 19, Jennifer Heng Already Had Two Abortions. This Is Her Story of Secret Shame, Self-forgiveness and Triumph.
Jennifer Heng is in a cold, sterile room. Lying on the surgical bed and staring into nothingness, she waits. The silence, interrupted only by the...
Edmund Khong on the Business of Clowning, Making Children Laugh, and Overcoming Gaming Addiction
Clad in loud overalls of eye-popping colours, Edmund Khong is hurling multiple balls into mid-air with ease and dexterity. Free falling, each ball lands and...
Lisa Teng: How Caring for the Elderly Allows Her to Answer Her Calling as a Christian
Lisa Teng is lying on a bed fitted with white cotton-polyester bedsheet. Only laboured staccato breaths she draws, her life whittling away as a dandelion...
Swindled of Her Fortune, Ginny Low Gains Second Wind by Working for the First Time in Her Life
Singapore five decades ago is markedly different from what she is today. Rustic kampong houses dotted the streets of Bukit Merah. Gangsters with thick gold...
Dr Siew Tuck Wah on Breaking the Poverty Cycle, Saving Singapore’s Street Dogs and Finding Buddhism
When he was studying in medical school, Dr Siew Tuck Wah would, come mealtime, ostensibly say he had a prior appointment and steal away from...
Nathan Russell Carves Out His Own Niche as a Glacier Guide
Raindrops are pounding on skin like bullets on armour. The vagaries of Franz Josef’s weather are at work again, and the onset of rain sours...
Karlee “Willow” Davies on Finding Her Calling as a Tour Guide
The sun’s golden shafts pierce the mackerel clouds. New Zealand is one of the first countries to welcome a new morning. An eclectic posse of...
The Travel Love Story of Earthstompers Bosses Hendrik & Chrissy Human
He was from Cape Town, she was from Kansas City. He was the tour guide, she was the traveller. Hendrik Human and Chrissy Wolfersberger-Human met...
Eric McLaren: From Print to Footprints
Cruising past Cape Town’s landmarks like Vredehoek and Three Anchor Bay always brings to 53-year-old Eric McLaren’s mind fond childhood memories of playing “Cowboys & Indians”,...
Founder of TheSmartLocal Bryan Choo Shares His Success Recipe
TheSmartLocal began as a humble travel blog, and today it is one of Singapore's most authoritative voices on all things lifestyle. The man behind its...
Tattooist Sumithra Debi: Creating Art Beyond Skin Deep
The tattoo gun fires up, emitting a spine-tingling buzz. For Sumithra Debi (Su), the sound has been a kind of music since she was 15. Human...
Bhas Karan: From Army Commander to BODYATTACK Instructor
My body stoops over my knees as I seek a momentary respite. A torrent of sweat pitter-patters on the floor like rain on windows —...
Haukur Thorsteinsson: Life on the Off Road
6:10am and the lazy sun has yet clambered to its zenith. Haukur “Hawk” Thorsteinsson is already up. He downs the famed Icelandic hotdog — his...
Altruistic Donor Lin Dilun “Loses” a Kidney but Gains a Second Family
In screenwriting, the superhero-saves-the-cat trope is one that raises the ire of professional readers. But at one point in his life, that was Lin Dilun’s...
Sharina Bynes: Braving the World as a Freelance Emcee and Choreographer
Aah, the ’90s: an era marked by the complete domination of cookie-cutter pop stars. It was a brand of intoxicating bubblegum-pop grandeur: cheesy rhyming couplets,...
Nazri Mohayadin: The Journey of Losing 45kg
There I was, a few paces from the steely, mammoth X-ray machine. This was 2008, when I was a strapping Military Policeman deployed in the...