{"id":4275,"date":"2024-03-04T10:15:29","date_gmt":"2024-03-04T10:15:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev-alumn-nus.pantheonsite.io\/alumnus\/?p=4275"},"modified":"2025-07-15T16:07:56","modified_gmt":"2025-07-15T08:07:56","slug":"writing-the-next-chapter-of-herstory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/2024\/03\/04\/writing-the-next-chapter-of-herstory\/","title":{"rendered":"Writing the Next Chapter of Herstory"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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The annual observance of International Women\u2019s Day not only celebrates the achievements, resilience, and contributions of women across all walks of life, it also serves as a powerful reminder of the ongoing journey to uplift and empower women worldwide. Join us in commemorating this day and championing the rights and dignity of women everywhere.<\/p>

Leading the way are eight of our own accomplished alumnae, who have led by example and shown dedication to their chosen causes. Read their words of wisdom, courage and kindness.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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\u201cGiving is more rewarding than taking. At work it\u2019s about mentoring the next generation of innovators and even taking time off my schedule to meet young medical students and residents for coffee or drinks to understand their passions and help them navigate their careers.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>

NUS Alumni Awards Outstanding Young Alumni Award winner 2023, Dr Rena Dharmawan<\/a><\/span> (Duke-NUS \u201911), founder of the DUKE-NUS Health Innovator Programme (D-HIP)<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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\u201cI know many people cringe at the word (influencer), but hey, I say, own it! My advice: Don\u2019t do it for the \u2018likes\u2019, the popularity and the free stuff. Find your purpose, because only then will you be willing to put in the time and work \u2014 and it is a lot of work.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>

Actress and host Ms Munah Bagharib<\/a><\/span> (Arts and Social Sciences \u201910)<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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\u201cAs a nurse, I could impact a great many patients. But as a nurse educator and academic, that impact could be profoundly multiplied. I hope to be a role model for other women in STEM fields, as well as nurses seeking to venture into research.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>

President\u2019s Award for Nurses recipient, researcher and Associate Professor at Alice Lee Centre for Nursing Studies, NUS, Dr Shefaly Shorey<\/a><\/span> (Nursing (PhD \u201913)<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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\u201cAfter meeting many professionals who worked in the humanitarian space, I was keen to explore this path. It was not a typical one for Singaporeans back then. For many years, friends thought that I was a \u2018professional volunteer\u2019. International humanitarian work \u2013 up till then \u2013 had been dominated by people from the West. So the fact that I was a \u2018triple minority\u2019 (female, young, Asian) made me quite an interesting candidate.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>

International humanitarian relief professional and social worker Ms Sharon Low<\/a><\/span> (Arts and Social Sciences \u201997)<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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\u201cWe are here on earth to do two things: achieve self-realisation and serve humanity. I possess this deep strength because I emerged better as a human after my soul-breaking experiences. These gave me the wisdom to tell the difference when I need to have courage, to change what I can and must change, and the grace to accept what cannot be changed.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>

Former Nominated Member of Parliament, leadership coach and social entrepreneur Ms Anthea Ong<\/a><\/span> (Business \u201990)<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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\u201cAlmost all the concepts (of the brands I offer) are a reflection of my state of mind and how I want to live. I am curious and love travelling and reading. I surround myself with beautiful things \u2014 and this, coupled with a love of innovation, has given me the blessings and success in the evolution of my businesses.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>

Entrepreneur Ms Cynthia Chua<\/a><\/span> (Arts and Social Sciences \u201993), founder of the Spa Esprit group, a global lifestyle and F&B business<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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\u201cI feel that education institutions can never have too much money if you want to have world-class faculty, staff and facilities for the students. Also, if you prefer your gift to directly benefit a financially needy student, you can always opt to give to a bursary. To me, bursaries have a unique purpose. They ensure that no one is turned away from an education because of a lack of resources.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>

Ms Agnes Sng<\/a><\/span> (Law \u201984), who nominated NUS Faculty of Law as a beneficiary of a substantial portion of her Central Provident Fund (CPF) monies towards a bursary in 2015<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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\u201cAs a consumer, I don\u2019t want my purchases to affect our environment negatively. I don\u2019t let myself be affected by how big or small the impact I am making is \u2014 if I were, I would be discouraged every time I went down to the recycling bin since it\u2019s often contaminated with non-recyclables. But I still recycle religiously because I want to be the change I want to see.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>

\u2018Freegan\u2019 and zero-waste lifestyle advocate Ms Bianca Tham<\/a><\/span> (Arts and Social Sciences \u201917)<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As we commemorate International Women\u2019s Day (8 March), The AlumNUS looks at the perspectives shared by some of the powerful and inspiring female role models we have featured in past issues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4285,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_theme","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4275","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-leadership"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4275","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4275"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4275\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5025,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4275\/revisions\/5025"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}