Suzanne’s Blog

Women who go out of their way and touch the lives of others are truly deserving of recognition.

I am amazed when I read about women who despite struggling with their own challenges still make it their personal commitment to help others. Take for example, Molly, the 2008 winner of the Singapore Woman Award., given out by MediaCorp.  She was suffering from ovarian cancer but despite her own painful struggle, she reached out to young victims of cancer and dedicated her time to them.  Molly died last year but she lives on in the hearts of all those she’s touched.

Now, that’s what I consider a starting point of any journey towards making our society a better place to live in.

Whether it’s the volunteer who devotes her in time in healing others or the campaigner who makes a real difference to her community, the achievements of such women are made all the more precious simply because, in most cases, they’ve been made in the face of adversity and hardship.

I often think about what it takes to build that inner strength, the courage that keeps these women going no matter how high the obstacles, and how I can learn that secret too.  It’s something I’ve thought about for quite some time now.  The only conclusion I can come to, is that you can do two things – lie down and give up, or work up to the challenge and in the journey, discover what you can do.

There is a nation-wide search now looking for ordinary women who have done extraordinary things  through its Singapore Woman Award 2009.  These are women who often, don’t set out to do great things but do them anyway because they felt they had to.   These women serve as great role models to all of us and most importantly, show us that we too are capable of extraordinary things.

But don’t be mistaken… to be extraordinary doesn’t always have to mean you’ve got to do things on a large scale.

It doesn’t have to be about how many lives you’ve touched.

Let’s not forget the mother who cares selflessly for her child or the teacher who inspires her students and forever touches their lives. Whether it’s one or a hundred, these women have been extraordinary and they too deserve our salute.

Remember, every life has a story.

And there’s a hero in every one of our stories.

For me, it’s my mother. For you, it could be your sister, friend, teacher or colleague.

If you feel they should be recognized, do share because the stories deserve to be heard.

And by doing so, as Laura Hwang, our recent guest on Primetime Morning and one of the judges for the Singapore Woman Award puts it, “You’ve already made them a winner.“

Do you know someone you want to nominate for Channel NewsAsia’s Singapore Woman Award? Log on to www.channelnewsasia.com/singaporewoman