City News talks to two recent award-winners on what drives them to excel.

Name: Genecia Luo
Occupation: Entrepreneur
Award won: Southeast Asia Woman of Excellence Award

With her statuesque figure and stunning looks, Genecia Luo never fails to make an impression when she walks into a room. This young lady dons many hats. Not only has she won a number of beauty pageants and modelling competitions, she is also the founder of InQueenz, a training academy to equip women, men and youth with the necessary skills to achieve their goals.

Apart from managing her heavy work commitments, Luo is also actively involved in community work. She volunteers her time helping out in community outreach programs involving youth and young children such as Children-At-Risk-Empowerment and Society of the Promotion of ADHD Research and Knowledge. She also conducts aerobic, yoga and even line-dancing classes.

In December 2009, she was part of a team that spearheaded fund-raising projects for children with cancer, followed by “A Colorful Christmas Carnival,” an event to raise funds and awareness for underprivileged women and children. She has also worked with Habitat for Humanity, amongst many other organizations.

For all her efforts, Luo is the first Singaporean to be presented the Southeast Asia Woman of Excellence Award, which celebrates the contribution of trailblazing women in the region who have achieved extraordinary things. Other winners include a Malaysian Datuk and a mayor from the Philippines.

Luo attributes her win to being a “God-incident” and is very honored to be recognized for her contributions to the community. “I am grateful for the many blessings that have made me who I am today. I am real and my true beauty is not found in my dress size or outer beauty, but exhibited through love, compassion, inner person and my determination to make a difference in the lives of others.”

In addition to her recent award, she was also appointed the official ambassador for Miss United Nations Singapore 2010/2011.

Luo is currently working on her first book, and is determined to bring InQueenz to greater heights. “This is a business about impacting and transforming lives—helping individuals to discover their gifts, talents and empowering them to be successful. I want to continue engaging, empowering, impacting and inspiring lives—to enable people to be winners on stage and leaders in life.”

Luo’s words of advice to other young women who seek to live their best life just as she does?
“To quote Henry David Thoreau, ‘Go confidently in the direction of your dreams and live the life you have imagined.’”

Name: Vincy Ng
Occupation: APAC HR Director, Brady Corporation
Award won: Pride of HR Profession Award at the Asia HR Congress 2009

A chance meeting with a friend’s brother who was a human resources director at General Electric influenced Vincy Ng to become a HR professional. Having a passion and genuine desire to draw out the best in people, Ng believes that this is how she can contribute to the growth and successes of businesses. Ng believes it is all about people.

“Highly successful companies have the same common denominator—they focus on people and leadership development. Hiring the best, engaging and developing people is proven to be a competitive advantage for many organizations and is something I passionately believe in.” Ng draws much of her learning and inspiration from the best-in-class multinational companies such as Schlumberger, where she spent about 10 years working with some of the brightest talents in the region.

Over the past 25 years, Ng has become an industry veteran widely recognized for her expertise in the HR field, particularly in the areas of talent management and employee engagement. She is frequently invited to speak at regional HR conferences such as Talent Management Asia Conference and the Asia HR Congress on the topic of Employee Engagement.

Ng was nominated by her peers in the industry for the award and won because organizers felt that she had contributed significantly to the HR community both locally and overseas.

Her win is the highest honor an individual can receive for his or her contribution in the industry. Ng feels a strong validation from her peers and continues to be extremely passionate about what she does.

“The strategic role of human resource is to develop organizational capabilities through talent acquisition, development and management. Having good business acumen is absolutely important for any HR leader—it’s crucial to have a seat at the table and influence key decisions in the organization. I believe in drawing out the best in people; developing employees to their fullest potential is a top priority in my organization. What keeps me motivated is when employees’ career aspirations are met and lives are impacted —this really inspires me to keep getting better at what I do.”

For Ng, Christianity has made a very positive difference in her life and contributed in making her the person that she is today. She is particularly grateful for the support and teaching she has received from her church leaders over the last seven years. “I am more conscious of everything that I do and the decisions I make as it always has to translate into something meaningful for people. To young people who want to rise in their career, my advice is: whatever you do, always do it to the best of your ability, always persevere and never stop learning.”

Nanz Inc.com, an online partnership between entrepreneur Nanz Chong-Komo and editor Theresa Tan, was launched with an outdoor bash at the Prive Waterfront Bar on 29 October 2009.

The party was an intimate gathering of business partners such as Sony, Intel and Make Up For Ever, as well as supportive old friends such as Nanz’s modelling buddies — Celia Teh, Jane Chong and Wendy Liong.

“I’ve known Nanz since our modelling days and she never ceases to surprise me,” said Chong, a former top model and currently a homemaker. “She just has such incredible energy and no matter what role she takes on — whether as a mother, friend, businesswoman — she always does it so well. Knowing her, there’s always something more to look forward to and she’s definitely just getting started with this latest venture!”

A Twitter competition rewarding the best tweets took place and Fly Entertainment CEO Irene Ang was among the winners who walked away with Post and NuZeaBee hampers. A moving moment occurred when Chong-Komo gave her thank you speech expressing her gratitude for all the love and support from the many people who believed in her.

Chong-Komo and Tan met more than a decade ago when Tan, then the editor of Female magazine, interviewed Chong-Komo. In 2005, they collaborated on Chong-Komo’s bestseller One Business, 99 Lessons. Both ladies hit it off so well that they decided to embark on a business venture together. They shared a common vision of creating a business that would enable women, but especially Asian women in particular, to “do life better” — through living their dreams, starting their businesses, practising integrity, loving and valuing themselves. As a result of this shared vision, Nanz Inc.com was born.

Positioned as a networking and information platform for Asian women, both ladies strongly felt that social media was the only way to reach as many women as possible. As Tan says: ‘Many women are active on social media. Reading the papers or a magazine takes time and effort but getting information from Facebook or a website takes just a click.”

Believing in the power of self-worth, passion and a positive mindset, Nanz Inc aims to establish itself as a key source and go-to-portal for like-minded women who desire to achieve success at work or in business while enjoying the full benefits of their multiple roles as “mother”, “daughter”, “best friend”, “colleague” and much more in life.

Highlights of the website content on Nanz Inc.com and its related activities will eventually be transported into live seminars a few times every year, eventually building up a community of women who network for ideas and support from one another.

When asked how Nanz Inc.com is different from the myriad of websites out there, Chong-Komo had this to say. “We only say and share what we have experienced. We do not preach from books. We are also very Asian — we are very practical and unpretentious — so people can be themselves with Nanz Inc.com.”

PHOTOS: Albert Tan and Jeffrey Tan

According to Tan, “there isn’t a website dedicated to the myriad of interests which Asian women have and which addresses the multi-hyphenate that every Asian woman really is. Also, Nanz’s strong reputation as an entrepreneur is really our defining difference. So many women want to own their own business and if they want to find out how, nanzinc.com is a good place to start.”

Aimed for impact and outreach, the various sections of Nanz Inc.com such as “Be A Business” offers tips to business owners, documents lessons from inspiring personalities and presents a checklist of ideas that can guide readers in their quest.

The “Money” section dispenses quick tips on sustainable financial health and success and how one can simply live better, by being aware and addressing the natural tendencies and anxieties many associate with money.

Other useful columns under “Inner Self” and “Style” feature write-ups on inner healing, general well-being, self improvement and other style/fashion-related topics.

In five years’ time, both Chong-Komo and Tan envision the website becoming the “authority” and “friend” in every Asian woman’s life. They hope Nanz Inc.com becomes a “resource that women naturally turn to in order to find solutions, answers and a community that cares and shares.”

Miki Gavrielov is one of Israel’s best-loved and popular singers. He performed at City Harvest Church at Singapore Expo Hall 8, on 22 August 2009. “It was such an honor for me to perform here — the energy was simply amazing!” Gavrielov told City News.

“Everyone stood up and clapped along to my music. It was also really impressive the way everyone worshiped — I had only seen such fervent worshiping on TV, of crowds in the US!” Widely acknowledged as one of the founders of Israeli music, Gavrielov’s music is heard in Jewish communities all over the globe, from the Philippines to Sweden and the USA. In recognition of his many contributions to Israeli music, he was presented a Lifetime Achievement in Music award in 2007 by Acum (an organization of Israeli writers and composers).

“My greatest joy in performing is connecting with my audiences all over the world,” he said. “When I visit different countries and audiences immediately know my songs, that feels great and drives me on.” Born into a musical family, Gavrielov gets his inspiration from his loved ones, his country, movies, as well as from books.

While he generally does not write songs about religion, he did garner inspiration from one book in the Bible: Song of Solomon. “I’m a romantic at heart and I just found the verses so beautiful! That song I wrote is a very popular song at weddings in Israel.” Despite having achieved so much in his career, Gavrielov remains grounded and sincere.

PHOTOS: Jayson Lee

“I love how music touches people and brings them together. I’d like to give a big thank you to Pastor Kong for inviting me here to City Harvest, and I send everyone love from Israel! May God bless you and keep doing the beautiful work you are doing!” To read more about Miki Gavrielov, go to http://www.mikigavrielov.com/english/index2.php

Recognized for his hilarious yet often accurate depictions of local idiosyncrasies that often hit a nerve with Singaporeans, funny or otherwise, celebrity director Jack Neo delivers once again with his latest offering, the genre-bending Where Got Ghost?. At the movie premiere, which took place at Golden Village VivoCity on 4 August 2009, Neo shared, “We wanted to do something different, which was why we decided to mix the two popular genres of horror and comedy, resulting in Where Got Ghost?. We always aim to be innovative in our productions and hopefully, audiences will like our new film!” Local film stalwarts such as Mark Lee, Henry Thia and Liu Qianyi star in Where Got Ghost?. The film garnered laughs aplenty from the audience with its usual dose of Hokkien jokes and puns, classics that audiences have come to expect from Neo’s offerings. The movie comprises three separate tales on supernatural encounters in everyday settings such as housing estates and temples, as well as in the forest where national servicemen train. These everyday locations help to flesh out familiar themes in local culture, such as the popularity of 4D, superstitions during the 7th month, urban legends recounted to national servicemen and even how late ancestors are worshipped in the hope of getting material blessings. If audiences are expecting a horror movie along the lines of The Ring, they will be sorely disappointed. Where Got Ghost? is a horror-comedy which combines elements from both genres, although it is more funny than it is scary. Shock tactics like sudden appearances and loud sound effects fell flat and even the special effects were found wanting in some scenes. Despite these shortcomings, Neo has remained faithful to his blockbuster recipe of using popular local comedians; familiar settings that heartlanders can relate to and Hokkien puns, to deliver a local flick that is funny, heartwarming and insightful. Think of it as a spooky version of Money No Enough. Where Got Ghost? will be released islandwide on 13 August 2009.

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