Anthea Ong is like the purring engine of a Ferrari – full of drive and raring to go. At 48, the serial entrepreneur has the energy of someone half her age. She arrives early for this interview, and tells me that she typed out six pages of detailed notes the night before to prepare for our chat.

Anthea says people often comment on her “intensity” and the vigour with which she throws herself into everything – whether it’s taking part in an upcoming hike across the Loot desert in Iran to raise funds for charity, or promoting Hush Teabar, a social enterprise she founded that offers “silent tea appreciation” sessions to busy professionals.

The multi-hyphenate do-gooder juggles being a life coach, yoga instructor, and driver of social causes. Besides Hush, she’s president of non-profit Wings, which encourages active ageing in women, and a board member of Daughters of Tomorrow, a charity connecting underprivileged women to job opportunities.

In the last five years, Anthea has started several social initiatives: Circle of Bliss organises meditation sessions, and Yoga-on-Wheels provides free yoga classes to the needy, including migrant workers and domestic-abuse survivors. She is also a mentor to ITE students.

Fast and Furious Days

Anthea didn’t begin life with a great hand. She was born with a squint, which she says attracted taunts from schoolmates and family members, some of whom called her “sampat” (a Hokkien term which can mean “retarded”). These remarks stung, but shaped her flinty, never-say-die attitude.

Realising that the name-calling stopped when she did well in school, she pushed herself in her studies, graduating with a degree in business administration from the National University of Singapore.