Meet The 10 Singaporean Wonder Women

These 10 women are all changing their respective games. We hope they inspire you to be as brave and passionate about following your own path.

Veronica Shanti Pereira

21, National Track and Field Athlete

Shanti has broken the national record for women’s sprint events – thrice.

You could probably say running is in Shanti’s blood: her parents were runners who represented their schools in their younger days, while her sister was a former national sprinter. In fact, it was her sister who inspired her to be a runner. “I would always go to the stadium and see her run. So when I got a chance to run for [my school’s] Sports Day, I didn’t think much – I just ran,” she shares. She was then invited by the coach of her school’s track and field team to join their training sessions. “It started out as something I realised I was good at. Slowly, it became a love for running.”

In 2013, she broke the national record for the 100m women’s sprint event at the World Youth Championships in Athletics in Ukraine. This was the first of a string of records she broke: in 2014, she broke the national record for the 200m women’s sprint event, and a year later, she broke her own 100m record.

After setting records and bringing home a gold medal from the 2015 SEA Games, Shanti failed to retain her title last year, achieving a bronze. She says part of the reason was the pressure to retain her crown. “I’m not saying the bronze isn’t an achievement... But I felt like I wasn’t strong enough to face what was coming,” she shares.

But Shanti is undeterred and has high hopes for the future. “It’s [all] part of the journey. Now, it’s definitely easier to adapt.”

Tan Yang Er

25, Multidisciplinary Artist

Yang Er took a leap of faith to become a full-fledged artist.