What does your age mean to you? Is it a mere numeral, a yearly reminder of the passage of time, or a guide to how well you ought to live your life? In our ‘Age Is Just A Number’ feature, Her World speaks to Singapore women from their 20s to 80s, and delves into how they feel about age and ageing.
These are their stories.
Adlina Anis, 39, founder of Muslimah fashion brand Adlina Anis
Adlina Anis is the founder of her namesake Muslimah fashion brand and a content creator. She tells us how she went from being afraid of ageing to embracing it.
“Up till a few months ago, I was afraid of turning 40. But then I had a breast cancer scare recently, and right now, looking back on my life, I’m very much looking forward to growing older.
I think I’m currently at my peak because I’ve achieved the things I wanted to do and am able to set new goals. Now, instead of associating growing old with dying, I see it as an opportunity to be able to do more – things that I wasn’t able to do when I was younger. Experience is important, and I treasure everything that I’ve had to go through. Apart from operating my hijab brand, I’m also an influencer and content creator. I’ve been fortunate in that I’ve never been discriminated against because of my age: It helps that in my line of work, it has nothing to do with age and everything to do with first- mover advantage.
Your biggest challenge is yourself, so never let your age stop you.
Adlina Anis
That said, I think it’s important to keep up with social media trends to stay relevant. I’ve always been a go-getter, but the universe has a part to play in allowing me to meet the people that I needed to meet and work with, to help me gain the experience I now have.
Our goals and needs change over time, and it is good to be able to continually work towards them. Following my recent health scare, I realised that life is too short. My husband and I don’t have kids. We want to ensure that the business can run by itself, so we will have time to explore the world and just be. Your biggest challenge is yourself, so never let your age stop you. Do not wait for people to give you opportunities – create them yourself.”
PHOTOGRAPHY Veronica Tay
CREATIVE DIRECTION Windy Aulia & Elizabeth Lee
ART DIRECTION Ray Ticsay & Adeline Eng
HAIR Fadli using Keune & Aung using Revlon Professional Singapore & Gama Professional Singapore
MAKEUP Nikki Fu using Dior Beauty & Lolent Lee using Chanel Beauty