What do Stefanie Sun, Jennie Chua and Claire Chiang have in common? Well, these successful women have all walked away with the Her World Woman of the Year or the Her World Young Woman Achiever award since it was inaugurated in 1991.
And joining this illustrious list of women this year are two women who have accomplished more than their fair share of milestones in their life – Professor Ivy Ng and Janice Wong.
(From left to right) Ms Janice Wong and Professor Ivy Ng at the Her World Woman of the Year 2011/12 press conference
After a long judging process of narrowing down all the successful women in Singapore who have attained a high level of achievement, contributed to society and served as an inspiration to others, the judging panel headed by Chairman Jennie Chua awarded the prestigious titles to Professor Ivy Ng and Janice Wong.
Professor Ng was named Her World Woman of the Year 2011/12 while Wong was named Her World Young Woman Achiever 2011/12. The awards were conferred at the Her World Woman of the Year awards event, held at the Regent Hotel earlier tonight.
Professor Ng, 53, is currently serving as the group CEO of Singapore Health Services, which oversees two hospitals, nine polyclinics and five specialist centres. She was instrumental in transforming a hospital specialising in obstetrics and gynaecology into one that encompasses a holistic range of health services for women.
As the head of KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Ng has tackled the health sector’s challenges head on, with clarity and tenacity. The one-stop endometriosis centre, the “Women&Child Healthpedia” iPhone app, a short film on Breast Cancer awareness, plus a whole slew of programmes that benefit her patients, were all of Ng’s doing.
The affable and elegant Ng, who is also the wife of Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen and a mother of four, attributed her win to the people around her.
“I’ve just been very blessed. I’ve had the opportunity to learn from so many good people – from my parents, my family, to the colleagues and friends that I work with. I only got this award because of all these people and I certainly share it with all of them.”
(From left to right) Ms Maureen Wee -Managing Director of SPH Magazines, Professor Ivy Ng, Ms Janice Wong, Ms Jennie Chua – Chairperson of Judging Committee, Ms Genevieve Jiang – Deputy Editor of Her World Magazine
The Her World Young Woman Achiever 2011/12 went to Janice Wong, the chef and owner of 2am:dessert bar, a name that has seen a meteoric rise and rocked the culinary world since she opened it in Holland Village five years ago.
The petite 29-year-old who studied at the famed Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, has been named everything from a “gastronomic daredevil” to a “female Willy Wonka” to a “culinary wunderkind”, and those names could not have been more spot on.
Not only is Wong Singapore’s most prominent female chef, she is also a multi-hyphenate, having launched her first cookbook, Perfection in Imperfection, debuted her first edible art installations and opened 2am:lab, a non-profit and independent culinary think-tank and test kitchen in Fusionopolis.
She has also brought Singaporean food to the global stage, promoting our cuisine to cities like Moscow and Dubai, as part of Singapore Takeout, an initiative launched by IE Singapore.
Wong is not only very honoured by the award, she noted that this award is definitely a motivational milestone in her entire journey.
“I am very honoured to receive this award. For me, it’s a push, for me to do better, to inspire more, to continuously do what I love, and to continue to be really passionate about what I do.”
These two women are certainly at the top of their game when it comes to their individual fields and with their passion, determination and drive, it’s more than befitting to name these superwomen, our women of the year.
