Samsui women, also known as hong tou jin (红头巾; Mandarin for “red headscarf”) after their trademark red headgear, were female immigrants mainly from the Sanshui (“Samsui” in Cantonese; meaning “three waters”) district of Canton (Guangdong today) province in southern ...

Ho Minfong (b. 7 January 1951, Myanmar–), is an award-winning author of literature for children and young adults. Ho won the Cultural Medallion Award, the highest arts accolade in Singapore, in 1997. Although Ho is a Singaporean, she has spent most of her life ...

The Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) in Singapore is located at 254 Outram Road. Established in Singapore in 1875 by British missionary Sophia Cooke, the organisation was founded on the same Christian principles as its parent in Britain.

Shirin Fozdar (b. 1 March 1905, Bombay, India–d. 2 February 1992, Singapore) was a women’s rights pioneer. One of the founders of the Singapore Council of Women (SCW) in 1952, Fozdar was also a key figure in establishing the Muslim Syariah Court and the Women’s ...

Sophia Blackmore (b. 18 October 1857, Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia–d. 3 July 1945, Australia) was the first woman missionary sent by the Methodist Women's Foreign Missionary Society to work in Singapore. During her stay in Singapore from 1887 to 1928, she ...

The KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital has a history that stretches back to 1858 as the fifth general hospital established since Stamford Raffles set up a trading post in Singapore in 1819. The hospital officially became a maternity hospital on 1 October 1924. ...

Established in 1985, the Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE) is a Singapore non-governmental organisation (NGO) concerned with issues of women’s rights and gender quality. AWARE seeks to eliminate gender-based barriers through research, advocacy, ...

The Singapore Women’s Everest Team (SWET) was the first all-female expedition from Singapore to reach the summit of Mount Everest, the world’s highest mountain at 8,850 m above sea level. Lee Li Hui was the first member to scale the peak at 3.45 am Nepal time on ...

Singapore’s women’s table tennis team comprising Li Jiawei, Feng Tianwei and Wang Yuegu fought a series of tough battles against the world’s best table tennis players to win Singapore its second Olympic medal in 48 years in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The trio won ...

Rebecca Chua (b. 1953, Singapore–) is a poet, writer and playwright whose short stories have been anthologised in a number of collections, published in newspapers and magazines and broadcast internationally. She published a collection of short stories, The Newspaper ...

Joan Hon (b. 1943, Penang, Malaya –) is a writer and former teacher. She wrote and published a fiction book, Star Sapphire, under the pen name Han May in 1985. She is also the author of a number of non-fiction books, including Relatively Speaking – a biography ...

Seet Ai Mee (Dr) (b. 31 March 1943, Singapore–) was Singapore’s first female Cabinet minister. She assumed the position in July 1991 when she was appointed Acting Minister for Community Development in a cabinet reshuffle. Seet is also known for her contributions ...

Agnes Joaquim (Ashkhen Hovakimian) (b. 7 April 1854, Singapore–d. 2 July 1899, Singapore), a second-generation Singapore resident of Persian Armenian descent, is best known for successfully cross-breeding Vanda teres with Vanda hookeriana to create a new orchid ...

Ovidia Yu (b. 1961, Singapore–) is an award-winning novelist, short story writer and playwright. She is the recipient of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry Singapore Foundation Culture Award (1996), the National Arts Council Young Artist Award (1996) ...

The term Peranakan generally refers to people of mixed Chinese and Malay/Indonesian heritage. Many Peranakans trace their origins to 15th-century Malacca where their ancestors were thought to be Chinese traders who married local women. Peranakan males are known ...

Arguably one of Singapore’s funniest women, talented local artiste Selena Tan (b. 1971, Singapore–) is a director, playwright, actress, producer and comedienne. As a versatile actress, Tan has performed in live theatre shows such as stand-up comedy acts, musicals, ...

Kouo Shang-Wei (b. 1924, Vietnam–d. 22 December 1988, Singapore) was a pioneer photographer of Singapore. He is known for his shots of Singapore as a newly developing city from the 1950s to the 1980s. His subject matter include the Singapore River and samsui women. ...

Sophia Cooke (b. 27 February 1814, Hilsborough, Norfolk, England–d. 14 September 1895, Singapore) was an Anglican missionary and teacher who made significant contributions to the Chinese Girls’ School (CGS) – now known as St Margaret’s School. She also started ...

Chin Woon Ping’s Details Cannot Body Wants was the first Singapore play to receive a Restricted (R) rating, which grants admission only to viewers at least 18 years of age. First performed at The Substation’s Guinness Theatre on 12 September 1992, it was one of ...

The Chinese Protectorate was established in the Straits Settlements in 1877 to address matters concerning the Chinese community. Its main functions included establishing a pool of civil servants conversant in the Chinese language, managing newly arrived coolie ...