12 Singaporeans who are making us proud overseas

The 26-year-old astounded the world after beating American superstar Michael Phelps, who’s also his childhood idol, at the 2016 Rio Olympics in the 100m fly final.

In the recent Tokyo Olympics, he may not have brought home a medal but it was nonetheless a remarkable effort. While disappointed, he also shared, “Sometimes that’s how it is. It’s hard to swallow and digest. But at the same time, I live to fight another day.”

And by Joseph Schooling, we also collectively mean all 23 of the Singapore athletes who represented us at the recent Tokyo Olympics, from fellow swimmers Quah Zheng Wen and Quah Ting Wen to paddlers Clarence Chew and Yu Mengyu, sprinter Shanti Pereira, fencer Amita Berthier, rower Joan Poh and marathon swimmer Chantal Liew.

Thian Boon Hua of Boon Tong Kee, SV Gunalan of Springleaf Prata and Ng Kim Hock of Geylang Claypot Rice

Credit: Jamie Koh/ST File

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Local foodies will be familiar with Boon Tong Kee, Springleaf Prata and Geylang Claypot Rice, all stalwarts of the local hawker scene, founded by Thian Boon Hua, SV Gunalan (pictured, left), and Ng Kim Hock respectively.

In collaboration with the Zouk Group, the trio of founders have recently had their brands represent Singapore at the Famous Foods Street Eats in Resorts World Las Vegas, a hawker-inspired dining hall concept with authentic street food and cuisines.

And of the 65,000 plates of food sold within its first week, 11,000 of them were dished up by our famed hawkers.

Geylang Claypot Rice is now headed by second-gen owner Chris Chang, and Boon Tong Kee by business development manager Jason Thian, who’s also the son of Thian Boon Hua.

Olivia Lee

Credit: Olivia Lee

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Think local industrial designer, and Olivia Lee is one of the few names that come to mind.

An alum of Central Saint Martins College Of Art And Design, the creative worked for famed British designer Sebastian Bergne, and later founded her eponymous studio in 2013 at the age of 28.

She was named one of the eight most promising young designers at the renowned Salone del Mobile (Milan furniture exhibition) in 2017, and also made architecture and design magazine Dezeen’s 10 Designers To Watch From Milan Design Week List in 2018.

She currently teaches History & Theory of Industrial Design and facilitates a luxury retail design platform at NUS.

Local filmmaker Anthony Chen, 37, is the director behind Ilo Ilo, his debut feature that bagged the Camera d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival 2014 — and the first Singapore feature work to win an award at the event. Subsequently, the film also racked up 40 awards across the world.

His film Wet Season, starring Yeo Yann Yann, also saw the actress winning Best Actress at the Golden Horse Awards 2019 for her role as a Chinese language secondary school teacher.

Most recently, he directed The Break Away, a 24-minute piece that’s part of an anthology titled The Year Of The Everlasting Storm — it features seven pandemic-themed stories by seven directors across the world and was presented as a Cannes Film Festival Special Screening.

This Singaporean’s behind some of the biggest faces in Hollywood now, managing music sensations like Dua Lipa, Ellie Goulding, and Lana Del Ray.

Being part of a radio station on campus when she studied at Ngee Ann Polytechnic sparked her love for the music and entertainment industry.

Ong, who joined TaP Music in 2018 as head of marketing, is now president of the company. She was also previously at ROC Nation, and worked on campaigns for the likes of Jay-Z, Mariah Carey and Jaden Smith.

Balli Kaur Jaswal

Credit: Jon Gresham

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Being an avid reader since young has seen Singapore novelist Balli Kaur Jaswal (who is also the Arts & Media Nominee of our Great Women Of Our Time 2020) grow to become an award-winning author.

In 2014, her first novel, Inheritance, won the Sydney Morning Herald’s Best Young Australian Novelist Award. Sugarbread, her second, was a finalist for the 2015 inaugural Epigram Books Fiction Prize and the 2018 Singapore Literature Prize.

If that weren’t impressive enough, her third novel Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows also made a splash in international waters and was picked up by Reese Witherspoon for her book club in 2018.

Ian Ang and Alaric Choo

Credit: Samuel Ruby/The Straits Times

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Gaming fans will no doubt be familiar with the covetable Secretlab gaming chairs. And the duo behind this rising business? Ian Ang and Alaric Choo.

The pair, who met as aspiring professional gamers, have grown the business to what is now a multi-million dollar company that has sold its chairs in more than 60 countries including the US, Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea – and sold its millionth chair in 2020.

In fact, they’ve even collaborated with big gaming companies like Blizzard Entertainment’s World of Warcraft and Riot Game’s League of Legends.

Charles Wong and Keith Wong

Credit: Charles & Keith

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You won’t need an introduction to homegrown footwear brand Charles and Keith, which was founded in 1996 by Singaporean brothers Charles and Keith Wong.

Charles Wong (pictured), the Chief Executive Officer of Charles & Keith, first started with a humble shoe store in Amara Shopping Centre, and was later joined by his brother Keith after the latter had completed his National Service.

Long story short — the brand now has over 600 stores globally, a staff strength of over 5,000, and even got French luxury giant Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy (LVMH) on board with a 20 per cent stake in the company.

This article was first published in The Singapore Women's Weekly.