Anti-bullying activist Esther Ng wins Singapore Woman Award 2009
SINGAPORE : Anti-bullying activist Esther Ng is the recipient of
the Singapore Woman Award 2009. The award, given out by Channel
NewsAsia, honours ordinary women with extraordinary achievements.
Ng started one of the first after-school care centres for latchkey
children in Singapore. She was also one of the first voices championing
anti-bullying.
The 47-year-old research consultant founded the non-profit
organisation "Coalition Against Bullying for Children and Youth" in
2005, and has since provided support to hundreds of students and
parents in trying times; all this over and above managing 16 student
care centres in Singapore, Indonesia and China since 1990.
"Sometimes it is hard... when you have to make a decision to push
further or not, especially when you know that there will be obstacles
ahead of you. But when you know that what you do is the right thing to
do, you don't care about the rest, you just go forward," said Ng.
The judges were impressed by her efforts in addressing various children's issues, including bullying.
"The fact that she got a group together to do something positively
about a very real situation that hadn't really been diagnosed, or
emerged before... this was something that gave her the extra edge,"
said Laura Hwang, one of the judges for the Singapore Woman Award 2009.
Hwang is also the president of the International Women's Forum,
Singapore.
But judges said picking one winner was a tough task since there were so many deserving women.
Over 140 nominations were received for the Singapore Woman Award this
year. That is double the number of nominations received for the
inaugural Woman Award last year.
"In a society driven by economic pursuits, it is very easy to
overlook the social issues that exist in our midst. These women -
through their passion and sheer conviction - find time to give of
themselves, and often times, without expecting anything in return,"
said MediaCorp's CEO, Lucas Chow.
This award honours the silent heroes in our midst - the women whose
achievements provide inspiration to many others.
- CNA /ls