“Born blind in a small town in the Philippines, Aliénette did not have easy access to Braille books, but fast forward 26 years later and she earned herself a third-place finish in the finale of the 11th season of France’s Got Talent. The daughter of a taxi driver and a clerk mother, Aliénette inspires me because she never let her impairment stop her from achieving her dreams. In college, she enrolled in a French class as a course elective, but she really learnt the language online. Almost every night, she would diligently practice speaking French with Facebook friends using special software and three years into doing this, she became fluent in the language. Aliénette has said that she wanted to learn French after she became mesmerised by a rendition of “La Vie en Rose” by popular French singer Edith Piaf. She’ll be performing in Singapore as part of the True Colours Festival from 22 to 25 March 2018, which I’m the artistic director of!”

“I really admire Christiane Amanpour because of her strong belief in the necessity to provide quality journalism, and having the willingness, determination, and bravery to go head first into dangerous and often life threatening situations to provide it. I think it’s important for men to surround themselves with women for a myriad of reasons. In a business environment, women bring ideas, opinions, and angles to the table which I feel men may not necessarily be able to come up with. My partners Celestine Koh, Winnie Lim and Toh Ziling, have shown me that. It has been my experience that women’s thought processes and views on subjects can be totally different, perhaps due to being more “in-touch” with their emotions or perhaps they are just more creative; but by having women freely express their opinions, it allows for a much better balanced and stable business environment.”

“I admire many women in Singapore, and one of them is Dr Cheong Koon Head, CEO of the Housing and Development Board. She is an inspiring leader who has done an outstanding job at HDB, as well as the Urban Redevelopment Board and the Ministry of National Development. Dr Cheong was also a member of the Singapore team which defended the nation in a legal dispute with Malaysia over our land reclamation activities in the Straits of Johor and Tuas. She spoke so well in the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, in Hamburg, Germany, that I think she won the case for Singapore. I believe it is important for men to be brought up by and surrounded by competent and inspiring women because in many countries and societies, women are still treated as second class citizens. It is very important for men to treat women as their equals.”

“A woman that I greatly admire is Madam Halimah Yacob. She is a strong leader who has a heart for the people that she serves. Madam President has contributed to Singapore in various capacities – be it as a labour leader, a parliamentarian, Minister of State and Speaker of Parliament. In all these roles, she has advocated for the rights of workers, fought for opportunities for single mothers and children of poor families, as well as healthcare for the disabled and elderly. As the first female President of the Republic of Singapore, Madam Halimah Yacob is an inspiration to many women in Singapore.”

“Local musician and all around bad-ass Inch Chua has been one of the trailblazers for local musicians and aspiring artists for years now. Not just with her musical pursuits, but her pursuits in performance art, philanthropy and environmentalism. To me, she’s a human dynamo of inspiration, and I’m also proud to call her a friend. I’ve known her for about eight years now and have seen her work, as well as worked alongside her, over many projects. There are many stories I can tell, but the one that really made an impact on me was her work with the Scape Invasion Tours. Alongside a great team, Inch spearheaded and organised arts education tours in schools all over the country, and they still continue to do it today. Arts education has always felt a little ham-fisted to me, but the way they introduced this program to the students was amazing. Local musicians would go down to schools, hold a mini rock concert with a full band, killer sound system and everything. These performances were paired by talks given by industry professionals. I would’ve loved to attend one of these back when I was in school. I believe the impact of these tours is much deeper than I can imagine. Hundreds of students could now be inspired to pursue a career or hobby in performative arts, and this woman had a lot to do with it.”

“A woman I really admire is Irene Ang. She is such a go-getter. She has the ultimate rags-to-riches story. And I’m not saying this because she’s the CEO of FLY! I don’t admire her just because she’s rich and successful; she also has a lot of drive. Whatever she wants, she’ll go and get it. But she does it with empathy and love. She dreams big when many of us forget to dream. This is a competitive industry. I’ve met people who think differently from her. Some are nice about it, some are not. But she doesn’t let that get her down. She has thick skin! We can all learn from her how to shake it off! Okay, just don’t get her to dance. She’s not that good at that.”

“I have always admired my close friend, actress Joan Chen, whom I’ve known for 20 years! She seemed to have a great balance between a career and family which is quite tough in show business. I feel she has achieved so much professionally and at the same time have raised a great family with two girls. She’s living proof that it is possible to do it both! We always discuss about the family versus career issue; do you do any movie and give up time with your family and how often do you do it to make it work. She told me, ‘A director has so many actresses to choose from but my daughters have only one mother!’ This explained everything to me about where her heart was. Incidentally, I think surrounding yourself with inspiring people be it a woman or a man can always help! But I must say a woman sure brings something different to the table and cannot be ignored.”

“The woman who I truly admire has to be my mum, May Schooling. She has loved me all my life, looked after me, spoiled me and of course, supported me in my dreams. Without her, I would be lost and maybe Singapore would not have its first Olympic gold medal.”

“Mrs Leana is a woman that I greatly admire and respect. As one of our pioneering social workers, she dedicated her life to helping others, especially children with special needs. Notably, she started the first school for children with several disabilities, as well as a pilot project called the Teach Me Programme that helps disabled children with normal mental abilities to study in mainstream schools. Leaena retired as senior adviser to the Asian Women’s Welfare Association (AWWA) in 2013, and was inducted into the Singapore Council of Women’s Organisation’s (SCWO’s) Hall of Fame in 2014. Hellen Keller once said, ‘Life is an exciting business, and most exciting when it is lived for others.’ Leaena has indeed lived to help others, and our society has been enriched by her selfless devotion.”

“The first person that I can think of is Mother Teresa. Her charitable organisation, the Missionaries of Charity, has a presence in 130 countries, providing food, aid, family assistance and medical help to thousands of people. For me, it is not about her religion nor her fundamental beliefs, but purely of her as a human being. Her unconditional love and selfless sacrifice for the destitute and those in the lowest denominator of society was why I chose her. One of the things she said, “We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.” More often than not, when it comes to helping others, we always say “what can I do?” or “what difference can I make?” As a true believer in the power of the community, I believe that when a group of people come together with a single, unified thought or dream, they become powerful beyond imagination, and with that, they can achieve great things. She taught me that.”

“Oprah Winfrey never fails to inspire! We all know women who love her, but for me personally, I believe her strength, focus and opinions on the state of the world, especially on environmental and human rights issues have certainly garnered the respect of men like myself. Plus after her recent Golden Globes speech, she’s now being encouraged to run for President in 2020! Why her you ask? Well, that’s easy! Oprah emerged from an extremely tough childhood. She is a woman who worked her way all the way to the top through sheer hard work and determination! A true inspiration indeed!”

“I’ve always looked up to Professor Yap Hui Kim, who set up the paediatric renal service with dialysis and renal transplantation programme at the National University Hospital. She’s so accomplished: She was appointed Professor of the Department of Paediatrics at National University of Singapore in 1999 and is now the Assistant Secretary General of the Asian Paediatric Nephrology Association and Assistant Secretary (Asia) of the International Paediatric Nephrology Association. I was extremely intimidated by her during our first encounter but later realised that she is a gentle soul who cares deeply for her patients She also works extremely long hours, often going the extra mile to look after her patients. She takes the time to explain her theories and diagnoses and does not hesitate to answer phone calls to answer patientt enquiries. I’ve called her up a few times asking for letters for my travels and she has not ever hesitated to help.”

“Pangdemonium’s upcoming production is a brilliant drama examining dementia. The play is called The Father, playing at Victoria Theatre from March 2 to 18, and we have been doing lots of research on dementia. For me as an actor, I’ve been very moved and inspired by the experience of the actress Prunella Scales, who is best known for her role as Sybil Fawlty in the 1970s British sitcom, Fawlty Towers. In March 2014, her husband Timothy West revealed that Prunella was living with Alzheimer’s disease, and it was recently reported that her condition had worsened considerably to the point that she can barely remember any of her 56 years of marriage to Timothy. Prunella, however, said she is determined not to let her condition stop her from acting, and said she hoped to die on stage during her ‘eighth curtain call’. She added, ‘Eight will mean the show’s been rather a success.’ That’s how I want to go.”

“My dear friend Vanessa Paranjothy, founder of social enterprise Freedom Cups, runs a business that empowers women and changes their lives for the better. I met Vanessa at the Forbes ‘30 Under 30’ Summit in Manila last year where she and her sister spoke about periods and the plight of millions of women in the developing world. I learned so much from their talk and as a man who never had to deal with a monthly physical occurrence, I realized that there is so much that I don’t know and so much that I can do. Even if it’s just helping to raise awareness in my family and circle of friends. Perspective is everything. Women, especially inspiring ones, have so much to teach us men. Imagine having to fight to be paid equal for doing the same job or the societal stigmas and expectations that simply being female brings. I don’t think a lot of men will be handle it as gracefully as women do.”

“As clichéd as it sounds, I would say my mother because she’s sacrificed so much for our family and is the very reason that we still remain so close. My mother has been there every step of the way in my life. Even though now we have not lived in the same hemisphere for almost two decades, her influence still rings true for me. Growing up, my mother taught me about self-sacrifice and working hard because nothing comes for free. She would consciously and constantly make the choice to put her own happiness, desires, and dreams behind the rest of the family’s needs so that she could provide the best opportunities for us. And for that, I am forever grateful.”

“Whenever International Women’s Day comes around four young women come to my mind. They are my daughters. Each has overcome her own fair share of hurdles and has shined brightly. Natasha, Nicole, Chloe and Leigh are obviously my pride and joy. I would like to give an anecdote as to why these young ladies inspire me so much but to be fair I would need four. So let me say that it is their strength, their single minded determination, their belief in themselves and their will to get things done that has blown me away. Am I a proud parent? Of course, but more than that I am an extremely lucky man because I have four women to inspire me on a daily basis. I count my lucky stars every day.”

“My mother – Needless to say, she is my Queen. She raised me to be the man I am today along with my father. My mother instilled the fighting spirit in me to always push on & never give up. I’ve seen her in her hardest & most difficult times as I was growing up and when she fell, she might cry but she will always stand up and push on. She had always been a strong, independent woman even in the face of the immense challenges & odds that life throws her way. She loves my family unconditionally and I am eternally grateful to have a mother like her.

Irene Ang – She is like a mother to me ever since I entered the entertainment industry. Always looking out for me & guiding me. I admire her entrepreneurial spirit, work ethic and passion for developing and building the younger generation.”

(A version of this story first appeared in the March 2018 issue of The Singapore Women’s Weekly.)