In her teen years, designer Sabrina Goh drew inspiration from her dad’s work as an architectural draughtsman, observing structures and forms of buildings and designs. Now, years later, his influence echoes in her fashion design: Her line, Elohim, is loved by fashionistas and the fashion press for its startling structure and play with symmetry. Elohim received rave reviews at the recent Audi Fashion Festival, when Goh debuted her line alongside Vivienne Westwood and Gareth Pugh.

Born in Malaysia, Sabrina went all the way to pursue her dreams, making up her mind to enroll in LaSalle-SIA College of the Arts in Singapore when she was just a secondary school student.

Goh’s persistence has been her secret to success. While at LaSalle, despite not being a top student, Goh was determined to press on till she grabbed the fashion limelight. She interned as a stylist at MediaCorp, and participated in the Singapore Young Designer Contest in 2006 and 2007. In these contests, she emerged a top 10 finalist and worked for various local labels as an in-house fashion designer for four years before launching her own label Elohim in January 2009.

“Elohim means ‘God of creativity’,” says Goh, adding that this is an inspiring label that encourages the wearer to be confident of herself both outwardly and inwardly. Her stark silhouettes portray the image of strength and vulnerability at the same time.

Her latest Fall/Winter 09-10 Collection has garnered much interest from local celebrities such as Felicia Chin, and her fashion is being used in an upcoming Mediacorp variety show.

Goh is determined not to rest on her laurels — she thrives on having her creativity challenged all the time. Her personal design heroes include Nicholas Ghesquiere from Balenciaga, who creates minimalist and unexpected designs. By observing other established designers she vies to create her own brand spirit and value.

Goh lives by this quote from the legendary Cristobal Balenciaga: “A couturier must be an architect for design, a painter for color, a musician for harmony and a philosopher for temperance.” More then being a self-made success, Goh attributes her rise in the fashion arena to many who have given her emotional support and business advice.

“Most importantly,” she says, “I want to thank God for giving me the strength and wisdom to bring the label and business to next level.”

Goh aims to market her label internationally, and to open concept stores islandwide. For now, fashion-forward shoppers can buy Goh’s designs at Hide & Seek and Blackmarket, as well as via her website www.sabrinagoh.com. International shoppers can purchase Elohim at New York-based fashion website Pixie Market (www.pixiemarket.com) starting August.

The Great Singapore Sale isn’t for the faint-hearted; hours of jostling and traipsing through malls can wear even the most resilient down. To soldier on in search of the best buys, arm yourself with these seven things:

1) Laneige Makeup Mist: Long periods spent in an air-conditioned environment can be extremely drying for the skin, so keep your skin fresh and hydrated with Laneige’s Makeup Mist, a facial spray made with glacial water from the Himalayas and five fruit extracts. Available in sweet rose, pure orchid and fresh bergamot, it comes in a compact and portable 80ml bottle. Retails for S$25.00 at all department stores.

2) Water bottle: Hydration on the inside is just as important as on the outside, so keep your palate moist throughout the day. You don’t have to lug a two-litre bottle around; just a 500ml one will do. You can always replenish with tap water should you run out. Available at Toys ‘R’ Us for less than S$2.

3) Comfortable shoes: You might be conned into strutting the high street shops in high-heeled shoes after watching Sex and the City, but unless you have a chauffeur to carry your bags and ferry you from one mall to the next, don’t even consider it. Comfort is of utmost importance when you want to grab the best bargains; swollen feet or a sprained ankle isn’t a good look on any day. But if you can’t live without heels, try these comfy yet chic Crocs shoes, which are easy to slip on and off. Unlike its ghastly designs of the past, Crocs now includes sweet gems like these in their repertoire. The Malinda-leopard retails at S$58.20 and the Cabana retails at S$85.55.

4) iPod/mp3: Much like running a marathon, shopping can be a long and arduous journey, so if you’re alone, it helps to have some tunes to keep you going. Rock out to your own personal anthem as you walk briskly from one destination to the next. Some good tunes to have include The Final Countdown by Europe or Paralyzer by Finger Eleven.

5) Neat nails: Having neat nails are a must. You wouldn’t want the hassle of having a broken nail, or worse still, fraying your latest purchase with your craggy nails.

6) Big bag: For those sales where you have to dive into a massive pile of free-for-all clothes, the last thing you want is to miss out on a great deal because you didn’t have enough arms to carry everything into the dressing room. Pick out a few items you think are in your size and squash them into your big bag. You’ll be ready for the dressing rooms with a ton of choices without having to throw yourself into the mayhem again. Available in lime-green, black, white or salmon-pink, this bag retails at Mango for S$35.

7) Gummies: Keep your sugar levels up, so you don’t end up fainting with arms outstretched towards your Gucci shoes. It’s really not a pleasant sight, nor is it good for your body. Bring along a pack of gummies or for a healthier choice, try dried cranberries. Munch on them while waiting in line for the cashier or while queuing for the dressing rooms.

Ladies, we know it’s a jungle out there, but with our survival kit, it’ll be a whole lot easier. Our only concern is that you might hurt your wallet more than your feet, so show some restraint, however difficult it may seem.

Men’s survival kit to shopping with your other halves

We understand the ordeal that you go through as your wife or girlfriend drags you around town for the best deals, but take heart that your partner wants you there, even if it’s just to seek your opinion, to help carry her shopping bags or for companionship. Take this opportunity to get to know her better and feel appreciated that she values your opinion! Here’s how you can make the journey a little less painful:

1) Water bottle: Keep yourself hydrated as you’ll probably be on your feet the whole day.

2) PSP/book: Keep yourself occupied as your partner tries on her outfits; the long waiting times might make you cranky if you have nothing to do.

3) Wallet: Your partner might request for something and you’ll be obliged to get it for her. After all, that’s what you are there for.

4) Suggest items: Cut the shopping time in half; instead of standing around, make yourself useful and pick out some outfits you think she might like. Besides speeding up the shopping process, you earn brownie points for taking initiative and being privy to her tastes.

5) A pair of helping hands: Always be quick to volunteer to carry your partner’s shopping bags. You will be duly rewarded for your chivalry.

6) The right attitude: You’re only going to make the trip more painful if you walk around with a “woe-is-me” expression. It’s only once a year and it’s inevitable, so take this chance to show your partner how big a person you are and she’ll love you even more. Pull a long face and very soon, you’ll both be sulking and the shopping trip will take a turn for the worse.

7) Food: Once she hits the shops, she’s unlikely to stop till she’s gotten everything she wants. A wise man once said that a hungry man is an angry man, so keep some snacks on hand to satiate both your partner’s and your hunger pangs and to stop tempers from flaring.

With these seven tips in mind, you’ll be less inclined to rip your hair out and you might even be rewarded with a good buy. So take a deep breath and dive in!

Many people balk at the idea of writing a will — some due to superstitious reasons, other for fear of thinking about their own demise.

But it is important for every individual to think of asset distribution through the form of wills and trust funds, says Mindy Teo, Director of Wills and Trust Pte Ltd. One never knows when something untoward might happen, resulting in a person’s assets not being left to their family, or the organization of their choice, due to the absence of a will.

Wills and Trust Pte Ltd offers wills and estate planning services unlike any other company or firm. Rather than have a lawyer simply draft out your will across a desk in an office, Wills and Trust offers a personal touch to this important matter. With their fleet of estate planners who mostly have backgrounds in the life insurance industry, Wills and Trust offers a wider range of expertise and experience in the life planning arena than many other companies.

Says Teo, “Wills and Trust’s estate planners are able to recommend, suggest and highlight to a client what to draft in a will once we know the needs of our client. This is different from having a lawyer draft out a will as most lawyers just take instructions from their client.”

According to Teo, Wills and Trust also aims to help in educating the public on the issue of will-writing and estate planning. Wills and Trust offers a wide variety of services on that subject, even allowing clients to set up Charitable Trust funds where the client is able to leave all his worldly possessions to a charity of their choice.

So how old should you be before you start drafting up a will? “You can if you are 21 years or above,” says Teo.

If an investment that offers maximum profit potential and minimum risk sounds good, then consider owning a small part of England through land-banking with Jardin Smith International.

How land-banking works is really simple, says Charmaine Lun, a client relationship manager with Jardin Smith. The company first sources for land in various geographical sites in the United Kingdom. These sites are researched to ascertain that they possess great potential for development. Next, the company apportions the land into smaller plots for sale to investors. It’s like buying a piece of land, without the headache of applying for planning permission. It’s totally legitimate — you will receive a title deed for your parcel of land and yearly updates.

Despite a non-guarantee for the planning permission, Jardin Smith International has developed itself into one of the region’s leading investment firms, thanks to a team of professionals capable of identifying land with high yield returns. On top of that, with the investment period ranging only between three and seven years, land-banking is an attractive mid-term investment option.

Making this investment more exciting to Singaporeans is the fluctuation of the Singapore dollar against the British pound. Coupled with prudence, individual investors can enjoy favorable foreign exchange transactions, which result in a profitable overseas property investment that puts you at nearly zero risk.

It was one of those rare weekends where a female preacher stood behind the pulpit.

An ordained minister since 1983, Mary-Alice Isleib is the founder of Mary-Alice Ministries. Author of the best-selling book Effective Fervent Prayer, Isleib has taught the Word of God in more than 45 countries. She is also a child advocacy speaker and the Executive Director of Christian Outreach International, a worldwide organization that specializes in short term mission projects.

On the Mary-Alice Ministries website, she shares, “The last time I was with City Harvest was in 1998. Since that time the church has exploded to over 28,000 members. It is a blessing to see a mega-church so actively involved in reaching out to the community, the marketplace, and the nations.”

On Saturday, 6 June 2009, using a Jewish prayer shawl, Isleib gave the congregation a vision of God placing a double portion of His anointing upon the church, likened to that of Elisha putting on Elijah’s mantle. She stressed the importance of effective, fervent prayer as it yields tremendous power.

The following day, Isleib expounded on how the strong prayer life of the individual believer can give power to corporate prayer. She exhorted the people of God to pray for social justice, that there might be hope to the hopeless.

PHOTOS: Michael Chan and Lee Boon Bee

“I felt that God is reminding the church to go to the highways and the byways once again; to reach out to the needy and the rejected, to give the world out there a hope that there is still someone out there who cares for them,” said current School of Theology student, Victor Chan, 20.

Lin Weiye, 33, was reminded of St. Francis of Assisi’s famous words, “Preach the gospel. And if necessary, use words.” He said, “Her message helped us to see the heart of God.”

As part of the Community Sports Festival@North East, the People’s Association and North East Constituency Sports Club, supported by North East Community Development Council, organized 24 hours of non-stop golf driving activity at the newly minted Toa Payoh Golf Range. Conveniently located in the central area of Toa Payoh East, this new golf range means that country club memberships and long drives out to secluded golf courses are no longer an issue for the neighborhood.

Guest-of-Honor, Mr. Masagos Zulkifli, Senior Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Education & Ministry of Home Affairs and Member of Parliament for Tampines GRC, teed off the event on 6 June 2009 at 12 noon. This commenced a continuous string of golfers all the way until 7 June 2009, 12 noon the next day.

This event endeavored to spark heartland interest in golf, but on top of that, it was also an attempt to secure a place in the Singapore book of records. 520 participants and 67,840 golf balls later, the organizing committee struck a hole in one.

The event was a swinging success as Chairman of the organizing committee for this event, Dick Hui, BBM commented: “We are very happy that we have set a new record in the Singapore Book of records. It was also a great success to see my team working together with such camaraderie throughout the night with very little sleep.”

PHOTOS: Nigel Tan

For Andreas Skogvard, a VIP at this event, he enjoyed the fresh concept of the event and felt that “it is a great way to make golf accessible for everyone and provides families with a new activity to interact and engage in physical activities together, promoting healthy living.”

With new publications such as Golf Punk on newsstands and record-setting events such as this 24 hour non-stop golf driving festivities, it looks like golfing has been rebranded and is making headways into Singapore.

Finalists for Miss Earth Singapore 2009 show support for humanitarian efforts of Habitat for Humanity by walking barefooted.

6 June 2009 — Finalists for this year’s Miss Earth Singapore showed up at the inaugural “Bare Your Sole” Barefoot Walk 2009 by Habitat for Humanity (HFH) Singapore to render their support towards HFH’s humanitarian work. For the first time in Singapore, a massive barefoot walk took place to raise awareness of the plight of needy children in Third World nations, whose bare feet risk cuts from broken glass and infected syringes.

The event, held at Pasir Ris Park and organized by HFH, Singapore Management University (SMU) and Victoria Junior College, registered a turnout of some 800 participants which included celebrities such as Paul Foster from the cast of Mediacorp’s Red Thread, Liang Shijie and Mr Frederick Fielding from Mediacorp’s Fighting Spiders.

Mr S.Dhanabalan, chairman of Temasek Holdings, who is a patron of HFH, and Nominated Member of Parliament, Eunice Olsen who is also HFH’s Singapore Goodwill Ambassador, were presented as Guests-of-Honor to grace the event. Both were also barefooted and walked part of the 5km route.

A patron of HFH for the past five years, Mr Dhanabalan said he was happy to be part of this innovative program that reminded Singaporeans of the fact that there are many people around the world still living in poverty, and that these people needed help.

“There are people who are so poor that they cannot even afford a decent pair of shoes,” said Mr Dhanabalan, “we hope that through this simple act (of walking barefooted), it will encourage more people to join us in fighting poverty around the world.”

Olsen echoed similar sentiments as she related her experience of a 3-day expedition to Batam with HFH this year in March 2009. She was part of an all-women’s team that worked on a build-a-house project for a poor family. That deepened her involvement in helping the poor and needy.

As a former beauty queen — Miss Universe Singapore 2000, there is little to dispute about her exemplary lifestyle for the aspiring finalists of Miss Earth Singapore 2009 who were able to exchange exclusive moments with Olsen before the flag off.

In her usual encouraging style, Olsen praised the pageant for their support towards HFH’s humanitarian cause. She further added that it was great that a pageant was standing for something.

One of Miss Earth Singapore’s finalists, Valerie Lim said she found the event meaningful and a great avenue in giving back to the community. She also expressed her deep respect for Oslen as a successful role model that she could learn from.

PHOTOS: Nigel Tan

Two beautiful Miss Earth Singapore ambassadors were invited to the Green Generation Concert to add a touch of glamour and grace at this celebration of eco-friendliness.

The Green Generation Concert, touted as the biggest environmental conservation and entertainment event in Singapore, was organized by Jane Goodall Institute (See inset box) on 5 June 2009 with the support from a group of student-teachers from National Institute of Education (NIE). This was held in conjunction with the Singapore Botanic Gardens’ 150th Anniversary. The Shaw Foundation Symphony Stage of the botanical gardens saw a throng of more than 1,000 people of all ages gathered and ready to party the night away for a good cause.

The event kicked off on a celebrative note with a cake-cutting ceremony for Jane Goodall’s 75th birthday, one of the world’s most renowned primatologists and conservationists, and the founder of Jane Goodall Institute. What followed was an exhilarating program filled with acts and performances such as Stomp by Chestnut Secondary School, using recyclable items as musical instruments; and DanceFuzion — a ‘green’ hip hop dance act by NIE.

As part of enhancing the green purpose of the evening’s program, beautiful Miss Earth Singapore green ambassadors, Ivy Leow and Shn Juay who were crowned the pageant’s 2008 and 2006 titles respectively were specially invited to convey the message of earth’s conservation.

Ms Shn Juay, a 23-year old NUS graduate who’s currently employed with a Norwegian company shared that although she was crowned as Miss Earth Singapore 2 years ago in 2006, she has not ceased contributing towards the earth’s conservation. She attributed her environmental-consciousness to her family upbringing where her childhood was mainly surrounded by kampung (village in Malay, referring to rural living) life. Even after moving with her family to a developed urbanized home, her family chose not to install any air-conditioning to conserve energy.

Juay believes that adopting a green lifestyle is all about cultivating good habits. She cited how her family’s green practice of sorting out trash for recycling had also influenced her towards recycling.

“I believe in using my own recyclable bag when I make any purchase at shops so that I won’t need to use any plastic bags,’ said Juay, “this is one little habit that I’m sure will make a big difference to our earth.”

Miss Earth Singapore 2008, Ivy Leow, a 26-year old IT analyst shared her views toward earth’s conservation, of how this would enable the sustainability of future generations ahead of us.

Leow also shared some of her future plans to leave a legacy beyond her time as a Miss Earth Singapore that will be aimed at promoting environmental consciousness among the youth in Singapore.

Together with her counterparts from Miss Earth Singapore 2008 — Carol Chin (Miss Air), Chang Wann Wah (Miss Water) and Yen Wu Ling (Miss Fire), she intends to begin a series of re-design workshops that will inspire and help youth in re-using materials from their current wardrobes with the objective to positively influence them towards conserving resources through creative means.

Quoting from one of the environmental leaders with the greatest global impact, the late David Brower, Leow aptly puts it, “We don’t inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.”

About Jane Goodall Institute

PHOTOS: Lee Boon Bee

Jane Goodall, one of the world’s most renowned primatologists and conservationists, founded the Jane Goodall Institute in 1977, which continues her pioneering research of chimpanzee behavior, a research that transforms scientific perceptions of the relationships between human and animals.

The Institute is a global leader in the efforts to protect chimpanzees and their habitats. It also is widely recognized for establishing innovative community-centered conservation and development programs in Africa, and the Roots & Shoots global environmental and humanitarian youth program, which has groups in almost 100 countries.

Contributed by Koh Yang Lin

The popular Harvest House Fair was back once again over the weekend of 29 to 30 May 2009 after a resounding success of the first showcase. The Harvest House fair aims to introduce City Harvest Church (CHC) to newcomers and visitors in a fun and interactive way. 1,500 people showed up and participated in the first run. Held at CHC’s premises at the Singapore Expo, Hall 8, Conference Rooms 1 and 2, the event was filled with activities and spontaneity.

Charming booth volunteers with colorful Mohawk style wigs, alluring posters and banners, vibrant games and attractive prizes were on display at the fair.

Using the acronym H-A-R-V-E-S-T, CHC’s culture and lifestyle were presented to the participants as they made their way from station to station with their game cards. Each station, representing a letter from the word Harvest, conducted simple games and illustrations to showcase the activities and beliefs of CHC. With completion of each station, coupons were awarded to the participant, who could then exchange the coupons for token prizes.

The station ‘R’ representing ‘Relationship’ allowed participants to take professional photo shots as a cell group or as family. Photos were printed out on the spot for participants to keep as mementos. The station ‘V’ representing Vibrant Praise and Worship had participants singing out missing lyrics from frequently sung Praise and Worship songs as well as pop songs. These were clearly the top two favorite booths, constantly filled with crowds.

PHOTOS: Aaron Low, Macson Tan And Yan Juyi

Joseph Neo from cell group N442 commended, “The games are fun and did a great job in portraying the various aspects of the church. My friends from Taiwan and Malaysia are able to understand our church activities in a relaxing manner and they don’t feel pressured in that they had to attend the real thing to experience what it’s all about. Now that they’ve gone through the Harvest House Fair, they are interested to attend the actual activities in CHC.”

Teo Limei from cell group E366 had something to say as well, “I think that the Harvest House Fair is good because it showcases the foundations on which City Harvest is built upon. It helps our friends relate to it.”

The Harvest House Fair has proven to be a successful tool to reach out to friends and visitors in a fun, relaxing and non-intimidating way.

For elderly people who suffer from dementia, hope has arrived in the form of a card game called A-HAH!

Dementia is an illness, usually affecting the elderly, where one’s cognitive abilities such as memory, language and intellect become progressively impaired.

Treatment for dementia patients, to date, have resembled playschool: Coloring books and puzzles have been the tools used to help them to improve their memory and motor skills.

A-HAH! Fruito and A-HAH! Memoritz are two card games designed specifically for dementia patients to help them learn and have fun at the same time.

Both card games contain 40 cards each. Each Fruito card has part of a fruit printed on it, when placed together correctly they form images of 10 different fruits. Memoritz cards, on the other hand, are numbered 0 to 9, and each bears a picture of an object pictured. These games help patients to improve their cognitive ability, and also helps stem the progression of the disease.

The two inventors of A-HAH!, Shereen Pong and Daniel Ling from >60 Design Centre,  successfully launched their creation at the 24th Conference of Alzheimer’s Disease International 2009.  Pong says the games are designed to engage the minds of dementia patients. She hopes that the lives of these elderly patients can be significantly improved. Ling reveals that although the patients were initially apprehensive as they thought themselves to be too old to play, they found the games to be engaging and fun.

Each card game is priced at S$15 (excluding GST) and is available from the Alzheimer’s Disease Association. For more details, contact Ada at 6353 8734 or email at alzheimers [email protected].