How To Stay Committed To Your Passions, Even If It's A Road Less Travelled

To all the people who say “you can’t have it all”, THENUGA VIJAKUMAR and PENNY KOO are proof that you can ignore the naysayers. The two accomplished professionals tell Crystal Lee how they stay committed to their passions, even if it’s a road less travelled.

- Crystal Lee

THENUGA VIJAKUMAR

Thenuga Vijakumar’s love for cats runs deep – deep enough for her to take on more than 10 furry housemates and the role of president of Cat Welfare Society (CWS), a charity that advocates sustainable and humane management of community and pet felines. Run primarily by volunteers, CWS assists a large network of animal lovers who actively sterilise, rehome and rehabilitate thousands of cats in Singapore.

As the head of the board, Thenuga focuses on the sterilisation of community and pet cats and the promotion of responsible cat ownership. During her eight-year tenure, CWS has neutered nearly 40,000 cats to limit overpopulation, which means better care and resources for each feline and less burden on community caregivers. In November 2020, CWS also relaunched its Pet Cat Sterilisation Programme to help financially distressed families hit hard by the pandemic. Some 2,696 domestic felines from needy households were sterilised to date.

Career-wise, Thenuga handles stakeholder management and the development of new businesses in various industries and regions at conglomerate Adani Global. Prior to that, she was a Disputes and Restructuring & Insolvency Lawyer for almost a decade, counselling a variety of corporate and individual clients in the banking, construction, energy, food & beverage and technology industries on contentious matters.

What keeps her going? The cat lady reveals her biggest resources.