Your daughter felt a big jab in her rear. LOL...................LOL
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Chitchat Where to find this kind of woman officer in the SAF?
- Thread starter Balls2U
- Start date
Your daughter felt a big jab in her rear. LOL...................LOL
From Turkey.
At first glance this looks like a female SWAT team. Actually it is far from it. These females are a part of the Turkish army. They are wearing all black and are all business. Young Turks are on the prowl.
The one on the left seems rather displeased to be there.
From Turkey.
At first glance this looks like a female SWAT team. Actually it is far from it. These females are a part of the Turkish army. They are wearing all black and are all business. Young Turks are on the prowl.
Nice body armour.
Nice body armour.
protecting female boobs is a necessity
Latest Update from Ukraine.
This may be what to picture when asked to imagine a model in Ukraine. This is however not a model. She is a soldier in the Ukrainian military. Her prideful pose and Russian style winter head gear says it all.
This may be what to picture when asked to imagine a model in Ukraine. This is however not a model. She is a soldier in the Ukrainian military. Her prideful pose and Russian style winter head gear says it all.
Singapore Navy's highest-ranking female officer Jerica Goh: Charting new territory for women on the high seas
From straitstimes.com
Charmaine Ng
When Colonel Jerica Goh was a junior officer in her 20s, she faced a taboo about women in the engine room of a ship.
"On one ship, I was told that girls were not allowed to walk through the engine room because it's pantang," said Col Goh, 42, using the Malay word for "taboo".
"They said the ship, being 'female', might get jealous and offended."
But as she recalled the memory, Col Goh, who joined the Republic of Singapore Navy in 1993, shrugged it off as a "funny story".
"At that time, I thought, if I was not allowed to go through the engine room, then I won't take charge of that ship when I am on duty," said Col Goh, who is now the head of the Naval Training Department.
In her 24 years in the navy, that was the only incident where she was treated differently because of her gender, she said.
Since then, Col Goh has risen up the ranks and is now the highest-ranking female naval officer.
As the Singapore Navy celebrates its 50th anniversary today, Col Goh is a living embodiment of an aspiration penned in a time capsule 25 years ago by a fellow female naval officer- to have female officers command ships and units.
The wish, which was made by then Lieutenant Phoon Chiu Yoke, was revealed when the capsule was opened in January this year.
Seven years after Lt Phoon made the wish, Major Tay Poh Ling became the first female commanding officer of a ship.
Later, in 2013, Col Goh became the first female commanding officer (CO) of a frigate when she took charge of RSS Supreme - the navy's most advanced warship.
Since 1999, there have been about 10 female commanding officers of naval ships, including Col Goh.
Female navy personnel now make up about 8 per cent of staff.
As CO of RSS Supreme, Col Goh led a search-and-rescue operation for AirAsia Flight QZ8501 in December 2014 - which was a challenging mission, she said.
For 10 days, the RSS Supreme surveyed the Java Sea, sometimes in rough conditions, for debris and survivors from the plane, which had vanished with 162 passengers and crew members.
"A few times, we were quite lucky that everyone on the launched boats returned safely."
Based on her experience, Col Goh said that on a ship, gender matters little. "In the end, it's about how we coordinate activities, the ships, resources and fight the war. It's more about decision-making skills than physical ability," she added.
From straitstimes.com
Charmaine Ng
When Colonel Jerica Goh was a junior officer in her 20s, she faced a taboo about women in the engine room of a ship.
"On one ship, I was told that girls were not allowed to walk through the engine room because it's pantang," said Col Goh, 42, using the Malay word for "taboo".
"They said the ship, being 'female', might get jealous and offended."
But as she recalled the memory, Col Goh, who joined the Republic of Singapore Navy in 1993, shrugged it off as a "funny story".
"At that time, I thought, if I was not allowed to go through the engine room, then I won't take charge of that ship when I am on duty," said Col Goh, who is now the head of the Naval Training Department.
In her 24 years in the navy, that was the only incident where she was treated differently because of her gender, she said.
Since then, Col Goh has risen up the ranks and is now the highest-ranking female naval officer.
As the Singapore Navy celebrates its 50th anniversary today, Col Goh is a living embodiment of an aspiration penned in a time capsule 25 years ago by a fellow female naval officer- to have female officers command ships and units.
The wish, which was made by then Lieutenant Phoon Chiu Yoke, was revealed when the capsule was opened in January this year.
Seven years after Lt Phoon made the wish, Major Tay Poh Ling became the first female commanding officer of a ship.
Later, in 2013, Col Goh became the first female commanding officer (CO) of a frigate when she took charge of RSS Supreme - the navy's most advanced warship.
Since 1999, there have been about 10 female commanding officers of naval ships, including Col Goh.
Female navy personnel now make up about 8 per cent of staff.
As CO of RSS Supreme, Col Goh led a search-and-rescue operation for AirAsia Flight QZ8501 in December 2014 - which was a challenging mission, she said.
For 10 days, the RSS Supreme surveyed the Java Sea, sometimes in rough conditions, for debris and survivors from the plane, which had vanished with 162 passengers and crew members.
"A few times, we were quite lucky that everyone on the launched boats returned safely."
Based on her experience, Col Goh said that on a ship, gender matters little. "In the end, it's about how we coordinate activities, the ships, resources and fight the war. It's more about decision-making skills than physical ability," she added.
Firsts for Women in the SAF
from mindef.gov.sg
SAF 50 - Women in the SAF
Officer cadets: MAJ (Ret) Agnes Fong, CPT (Ret) Nancy Tan and LTA (Ret) Patricia Koh
Rank of Senior Warrant Officer: SWO (Ret) Lai Mee Lan
Rank of Colonel: COL Karen Tan Puay Kiow
Commanding Officer Central Manpower Base: COL Karen Tan Puay Kiow
Commanding Officer of missile strike craft: LTC Tay Poh Leng
Commanding Officer of a frigate: SLTC Jerica Goh
Commanding Officer artillery battalion: LTC Lim Sok Bee
Fighter pilot: MAJ Khoo Teh Lynn
Navy diver: MAJ Esther Tan
NDP RSM: SWO Jennifer Tan
from mindef.gov.sg
SAF 50 - Women in the SAF
Officer cadets: MAJ (Ret) Agnes Fong, CPT (Ret) Nancy Tan and LTA (Ret) Patricia Koh
Rank of Senior Warrant Officer: SWO (Ret) Lai Mee Lan
Rank of Colonel: COL Karen Tan Puay Kiow
Commanding Officer Central Manpower Base: COL Karen Tan Puay Kiow
Commanding Officer of missile strike craft: LTC Tay Poh Leng
Commanding Officer of a frigate: SLTC Jerica Goh
Commanding Officer artillery battalion: LTC Lim Sok Bee
Fighter pilot: MAJ Khoo Teh Lynn
Navy diver: MAJ Esther Tan
NDP RSM: SWO Jennifer Tan
Esther Tan Cheng Yin
First female naval diver and endurance sports specialist
She is just 1.55 metres and of slight build, not exactly what you envision when you think of navy divers. But that is what Esther Tan does for a living. She is Singapore’s first female navy diver, and holds the rank of Major in the elite Naval Diving Unit. She specialises in search-and-rescue operations and explosive ordnance disposal.
Esther enrolled in the navy in 1995 and in 2000 she applied to join the naval diving unit. She passed the physical and medical tests and sailed through the interview, and she has not looked back since.
She wasn’t always fit and failed the fitness tests when she was in secondary school. But basic military training got that sorted out. As a naval diver, she needs to be able to move around with some 39 kg of equipment, and you need strength for that.
When Esther was at the Nanyang Technological University on a navy scholarship to get an electrical and electronic engineering degree, she developed a taste for adventure-racing. She has now taken part in dozens of international marathons, triathlons, Ironman and other adventure races all over the world.
Perhaps the most gruelling was the Australia XPD Adventure Race 2006 in Tasmania, when she only got 29 hours of sleep in the 10 days she took to complete the 700km course. In 2007 she was the only woman in the Asian team in the 2007 Adventure Racing World Championship, which is also known as the Olympics of adventure races.
In 2011, after two years of planning, training and preparation, Esther set out to climb Mount Everest. She chose to approach the summit by the trickier and much more dangerous north ridge. To acclimatise, she and her team mates trekked four times from base camp to the 7,000 metre level. Then finally it was time for their push for the peak. But just 100 metres short of the summit, strong winds and increasingly bad weather forced them to make the difficult decision to turn back.
Esther, in an account published in the South China Morning Post, wrote that for someone as competitive as she is, turning her back on the Everest peak was very hard. But she knew that ‘although I had this one chance to summit, I had only one lifetime to live”. She realised also, she said, that “the joy of the journey and the gift of being with great people” was far more important and rewarding than getting to the top of the world.
In 2006 Esther was named Her World’s Young Woman Achiever. She now works in the navy’s intelligence unit, but she makes sure she keeps fit by running every other day and hitting the gym at the weekends. She wants to make sure that she can, as a naval diver, continue to carry 39kg of gear.
In March 2014, shortly after being inducted into the Singapore Women’s Hall of Fame, Esther’s adventure with the navy took her on a four-month deployment on a navy frigate to combat piracy in the Gulf of Aden.
First female naval diver and endurance sports specialist
She is just 1.55 metres and of slight build, not exactly what you envision when you think of navy divers. But that is what Esther Tan does for a living. She is Singapore’s first female navy diver, and holds the rank of Major in the elite Naval Diving Unit. She specialises in search-and-rescue operations and explosive ordnance disposal.
Esther enrolled in the navy in 1995 and in 2000 she applied to join the naval diving unit. She passed the physical and medical tests and sailed through the interview, and she has not looked back since.
She wasn’t always fit and failed the fitness tests when she was in secondary school. But basic military training got that sorted out. As a naval diver, she needs to be able to move around with some 39 kg of equipment, and you need strength for that.
When Esther was at the Nanyang Technological University on a navy scholarship to get an electrical and electronic engineering degree, she developed a taste for adventure-racing. She has now taken part in dozens of international marathons, triathlons, Ironman and other adventure races all over the world.
Perhaps the most gruelling was the Australia XPD Adventure Race 2006 in Tasmania, when she only got 29 hours of sleep in the 10 days she took to complete the 700km course. In 2007 she was the only woman in the Asian team in the 2007 Adventure Racing World Championship, which is also known as the Olympics of adventure races.
In 2011, after two years of planning, training and preparation, Esther set out to climb Mount Everest. She chose to approach the summit by the trickier and much more dangerous north ridge. To acclimatise, she and her team mates trekked four times from base camp to the 7,000 metre level. Then finally it was time for their push for the peak. But just 100 metres short of the summit, strong winds and increasingly bad weather forced them to make the difficult decision to turn back.
Esther, in an account published in the South China Morning Post, wrote that for someone as competitive as she is, turning her back on the Everest peak was very hard. But she knew that ‘although I had this one chance to summit, I had only one lifetime to live”. She realised also, she said, that “the joy of the journey and the gift of being with great people” was far more important and rewarding than getting to the top of the world.
In 2006 Esther was named Her World’s Young Woman Achiever. She now works in the navy’s intelligence unit, but she makes sure she keeps fit by running every other day and hitting the gym at the weekends. She wants to make sure that she can, as a naval diver, continue to carry 39kg of gear.
In March 2014, shortly after being inducted into the Singapore Women’s Hall of Fame, Esther’s adventure with the navy took her on a four-month deployment on a navy frigate to combat piracy in the Gulf of Aden.
Latest Update from Ukraine.
This may be what to picture when asked to imagine a model in Ukraine. This is however not a model. She is a soldier in the Ukrainian military. Her prideful pose and Russian style winter head gear says it all.
Ironic--Russian style winter gear when Russia is the enemy
Good article about Singapore's first female naval diver Esther Tan, when she won the Her World Young Woman Achiever Award in 2006.
ESTHER TAN
HER WORLD YOUNG WOMAN ACHIEVER
For someone who once failed her 2.4km run in secondary school, Esther Tan sure has come a long way. She’s now one of Singapore’s top female endurance athletes, clearing 10-day expedition races in the desert and over the mountains for hundreds of kilometres at a stretch. For fun.
The best part is that this 31-year-old juggles her almost fanatical obsession with adventure racing, a multi-sport endurance race that’s not for the lily-livered, with a career that isn’t your everyday 9-to-5 desk job. Esther, Her World’s Young Woman Achiever for 2006, has also made history as Singapore’s first female naval diver with the elite Naval Diving Unit of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF), in a job that involves search-and-rescue operations and explosive ordnance disposal.
No wonder she’s been dubbed Singapore’s GI Jane. And in case you were wondering, yes, Esther can do one-armed push-ups without hardly breaking into a sweat.
But looking at her quiet demeanour and diminutive frame (all of 1.58m and 48 kg) you would never guess that Esther is both a super-athlete and a top-notch military officer promoted to the rank of Major last year. The only tiny clue to her athleticism when she arrives for our interview at an ice-cream shop in Sunset Way is her PT kit with the word “Navy” emblazoned on the back.
She sits down and you notice her hands, criss-crossed with bulging veins that look like they could crush more than just cockroaches. She puts it best: “I think of myself as an all-round competitor. I enjoy motivating myself to do my best when I’m racing and when I’m at work.”
And she really means all-round. Not for her the garden-variety marathons and triathlons. Instead, over the last five years and in between, detonating bombs underwater, she’s trekked, abseiled, kayaked and mountain-biked over hostile terrain in places like Fiji and China, battling fatigue, sub-zero temperatures and injuries to complete adventure-laden races like the fearsome Eco Challenge. Each year, she takes part in about 30 endurance races, each lasting anything from hours to 10 days or longer, she says with a shrug.
Her resume of races plots many firsts for Singapore, like the gruelling six-day 470km New Zealand Southern Traverse race in 2002, where she was part of Team Endorphin Junkies, the first Singaporean team to finish. Her most recent was last year’s XPD Tasmania, covering 700km of remote wilderness – hers was the only Asian team – and finishing a respectable 32nd out of 47 teams in nine days and 14 hours. Now, she’s gearing up for the 500km Adventure Racing World Championship in Scotland in May, all with a massive backpack on her back and an even wider smile on her face.
But a day in Esther’s life is not just about her awe-inspiring physical feats – like somersaults underwater with her hands and legs bound – most ordinary women (and men) can’t even fathom. It’s also about how she’s giving back to the community, by spurring young women and athletes, and giving talks to secondary school students on adventure sports.
As a teacher of sorts to three athletes from Temasek Junior College as part of its mentor programme, she gets “great satisfaction knowing I’ve made a contribution to others”. Esther, who would have been a physics teacher otherwise, shares with her young charges just one piece of advice: Find out what motivates you, then work towards that passion.
NOTHING STANDS IN HER WAY
It’s pretty easy to see the effects this adrenalin junkie has on others. Over bowls of mocha ice cream, she invited me to go jogging at MacRitchie Reservoir on the weekend (I decline politely, citing the meeting time of 7am as seven hours too early a start for any activity), then eggs me on to join the gym, even whipping out exercise-class pamphlets to show how easy it is to get started.
Her close friend Jasmine Wong, 31, a physiotherapist with the SAF, is someone who can fully attest to being inspired by her. Friends since they first took part in an SAF swimming meet seven years ago, the pair caught up again two years ago after Jasmine came back from her postgrad studies in Australia, by heading to MacRitchie for a 15km run. “It gave new meaning to our ‘catch-up session’! I nearly died; she had run so far ahead of me, I couldn’t keep up!” exclaims Jasmine.
Yet, she quickly became a convert to the sport. Last July, Jasmine took part in a 250km, seven-day ultramarathon across Chile’s Atacama Desert, known as the driest place on earth. She was placed 80th out of the 135 participants. “I would never have believed that I’d do something like that two years ago! She made me see that I could discover myself if I put my heart and mind to it,” says Jasmine with a grin.
It’s a lesson in sheer grit that Esther, who ventured into endurance sports at Nanyang Technological University while studying electrical and electronic engineering on a Navy scholarship, has taught well. She’s the same woman who ran up craggy rocks and hills with a bloody, ingrown toenail at last year’s Action Asia Challenge in Macau, the day after she had it operated on. Her team also had just one hour’s worth of sleep before the race started.
They came in second place. Esther tells me matter-of-factly: “I got the doctor to make the smallest cut possible then bandaged my toe as tight as I could. It was really tough. I was limping and almost couldn’t finish because of the pain and that awful sensation in my big toe. But I refused to let it get the better of me. I shut out the pain by talking to my team-mates about life, work, everything.”
To Esther, who trains eight hours a week on top of 12-hour workdays, the real challenge for competitions is all in the mind, despite the excruciating pain.
She says, her voice steady: “If I can build up my physical strength, I can also work on my mental strength. A lot of discipline is needed, so I listen to my heart and mind, not the body.”
Her kayaking coach, former national rower Ong Qixiang, 40, says that what differentiates her from other people is this incredible sense of self-discipline. “Whatever she sets her mind to, she achieves it. Everyone can learn the skills, but it’s very rare for people like her to keep on trying and never give up, compared to even the men.”
COME HELL OR HIGH WATER
Yet when I ask what’s it like being a woman in an all-male testosterone-driven work environment, Esther, who’s now reading James F. Dunnigan’s The Perfect Soldier about special operations forces, hesitates before answering. “Gender isn’t an issue,” she tells me. “What’s more important is your ability.” In other words, anything that men can do, she can do too, even better, if she puts her mind to it. She has told me previously that “privacy and preservation of dignity” are still important, citing the need for more female-only toilets.
As for being Singapore’s first female naval diver, she says she “chose to be a naval diver”. “I was following my heart. There was nothing more that I could ask for in a job that required both mental and mettle, with a strong emphasis on teamwork and professionalism. Till today, I still feel that it’s one of the best choices I’ve made. It just so happened that I was the first female diver. When it comes to work, what I think about is getting the job done well.”
As for how she holds her own among the 36 men who report to her, she says: “Yes I need to prove that I can do the job as well as anyone in the team. But don’t we all? It’s the same everywhere. Male or female, we have to prove that we’re competent before we can be entrusted with greater responsibility. Of course, there are times when some may not be convinced that I can do it, but all I have to do is focus on the job, be professional and win them over.”
And she has managed to win their support. Her naval diving supervisor, Master Sergeant Loh Cheng Kiat, 35, says approvingly that she “always tries to get involved as much as she can”. “She’s a fast learner, patient and of course, very adventurous.”
My guess is you have to be. Naval divers have to go through nearly a year of rigorous training, including three months of basic military training, a diving course and one week of non-stop physical exercises with very little sleep, popularly known as “hell week”. Only the very best make the cut.
The job involves sometimes dangerous work. While Esther says there are many safety checks to minimise the risks involved, there are times when her adrenalin really gets pumping, like when she has to clear live ordnances “where the risks of an accidental detonation are real”.
Despite the harrowing aspects, this tough cookie is “married to my job”. Single and loving it, her work still gives her a huge thrill, and adds that her life is “like one big adventure race”.
Her family couldn’t be more proud, like her sister June, 28, who remembers how Esther became a mother figure to her and their younger brother, Andrew, 26, after their mother died of cancer 11 years ago. Their 60-year-old father works with the Urban Redevelopment Authority.
June recalls how Esther helped support her financially with her university fees. Over the phone, the pride in her voice is obvious. She says: “I never expected that she would go to such extremes because her character is very soft-natured and shy. But I’m so proud of her and her accomplishments. She’s outstanding—she never, ever gives up.”
Asked where she sees herself 10 years from now, Esther says little will change: She will be serving the navy and taking part in adventure races. How could she be so sure? She says: “When you find something you’re passionate about, you wouldn’t want to stop, would you?” HW
ESTHER TAN
HER WORLD YOUNG WOMAN ACHIEVER
For someone who once failed her 2.4km run in secondary school, Esther Tan sure has come a long way. She’s now one of Singapore’s top female endurance athletes, clearing 10-day expedition races in the desert and over the mountains for hundreds of kilometres at a stretch. For fun.
The best part is that this 31-year-old juggles her almost fanatical obsession with adventure racing, a multi-sport endurance race that’s not for the lily-livered, with a career that isn’t your everyday 9-to-5 desk job. Esther, Her World’s Young Woman Achiever for 2006, has also made history as Singapore’s first female naval diver with the elite Naval Diving Unit of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF), in a job that involves search-and-rescue operations and explosive ordnance disposal.
No wonder she’s been dubbed Singapore’s GI Jane. And in case you were wondering, yes, Esther can do one-armed push-ups without hardly breaking into a sweat.
But looking at her quiet demeanour and diminutive frame (all of 1.58m and 48 kg) you would never guess that Esther is both a super-athlete and a top-notch military officer promoted to the rank of Major last year. The only tiny clue to her athleticism when she arrives for our interview at an ice-cream shop in Sunset Way is her PT kit with the word “Navy” emblazoned on the back.
She sits down and you notice her hands, criss-crossed with bulging veins that look like they could crush more than just cockroaches. She puts it best: “I think of myself as an all-round competitor. I enjoy motivating myself to do my best when I’m racing and when I’m at work.”
And she really means all-round. Not for her the garden-variety marathons and triathlons. Instead, over the last five years and in between, detonating bombs underwater, she’s trekked, abseiled, kayaked and mountain-biked over hostile terrain in places like Fiji and China, battling fatigue, sub-zero temperatures and injuries to complete adventure-laden races like the fearsome Eco Challenge. Each year, she takes part in about 30 endurance races, each lasting anything from hours to 10 days or longer, she says with a shrug.
Her resume of races plots many firsts for Singapore, like the gruelling six-day 470km New Zealand Southern Traverse race in 2002, where she was part of Team Endorphin Junkies, the first Singaporean team to finish. Her most recent was last year’s XPD Tasmania, covering 700km of remote wilderness – hers was the only Asian team – and finishing a respectable 32nd out of 47 teams in nine days and 14 hours. Now, she’s gearing up for the 500km Adventure Racing World Championship in Scotland in May, all with a massive backpack on her back and an even wider smile on her face.
But a day in Esther’s life is not just about her awe-inspiring physical feats – like somersaults underwater with her hands and legs bound – most ordinary women (and men) can’t even fathom. It’s also about how she’s giving back to the community, by spurring young women and athletes, and giving talks to secondary school students on adventure sports.
As a teacher of sorts to three athletes from Temasek Junior College as part of its mentor programme, she gets “great satisfaction knowing I’ve made a contribution to others”. Esther, who would have been a physics teacher otherwise, shares with her young charges just one piece of advice: Find out what motivates you, then work towards that passion.
NOTHING STANDS IN HER WAY
It’s pretty easy to see the effects this adrenalin junkie has on others. Over bowls of mocha ice cream, she invited me to go jogging at MacRitchie Reservoir on the weekend (I decline politely, citing the meeting time of 7am as seven hours too early a start for any activity), then eggs me on to join the gym, even whipping out exercise-class pamphlets to show how easy it is to get started.
Her close friend Jasmine Wong, 31, a physiotherapist with the SAF, is someone who can fully attest to being inspired by her. Friends since they first took part in an SAF swimming meet seven years ago, the pair caught up again two years ago after Jasmine came back from her postgrad studies in Australia, by heading to MacRitchie for a 15km run. “It gave new meaning to our ‘catch-up session’! I nearly died; she had run so far ahead of me, I couldn’t keep up!” exclaims Jasmine.
Yet, she quickly became a convert to the sport. Last July, Jasmine took part in a 250km, seven-day ultramarathon across Chile’s Atacama Desert, known as the driest place on earth. She was placed 80th out of the 135 participants. “I would never have believed that I’d do something like that two years ago! She made me see that I could discover myself if I put my heart and mind to it,” says Jasmine with a grin.
It’s a lesson in sheer grit that Esther, who ventured into endurance sports at Nanyang Technological University while studying electrical and electronic engineering on a Navy scholarship, has taught well. She’s the same woman who ran up craggy rocks and hills with a bloody, ingrown toenail at last year’s Action Asia Challenge in Macau, the day after she had it operated on. Her team also had just one hour’s worth of sleep before the race started.
They came in second place. Esther tells me matter-of-factly: “I got the doctor to make the smallest cut possible then bandaged my toe as tight as I could. It was really tough. I was limping and almost couldn’t finish because of the pain and that awful sensation in my big toe. But I refused to let it get the better of me. I shut out the pain by talking to my team-mates about life, work, everything.”
To Esther, who trains eight hours a week on top of 12-hour workdays, the real challenge for competitions is all in the mind, despite the excruciating pain.
She says, her voice steady: “If I can build up my physical strength, I can also work on my mental strength. A lot of discipline is needed, so I listen to my heart and mind, not the body.”
Her kayaking coach, former national rower Ong Qixiang, 40, says that what differentiates her from other people is this incredible sense of self-discipline. “Whatever she sets her mind to, she achieves it. Everyone can learn the skills, but it’s very rare for people like her to keep on trying and never give up, compared to even the men.”
COME HELL OR HIGH WATER
Yet when I ask what’s it like being a woman in an all-male testosterone-driven work environment, Esther, who’s now reading James F. Dunnigan’s The Perfect Soldier about special operations forces, hesitates before answering. “Gender isn’t an issue,” she tells me. “What’s more important is your ability.” In other words, anything that men can do, she can do too, even better, if she puts her mind to it. She has told me previously that “privacy and preservation of dignity” are still important, citing the need for more female-only toilets.
As for being Singapore’s first female naval diver, she says she “chose to be a naval diver”. “I was following my heart. There was nothing more that I could ask for in a job that required both mental and mettle, with a strong emphasis on teamwork and professionalism. Till today, I still feel that it’s one of the best choices I’ve made. It just so happened that I was the first female diver. When it comes to work, what I think about is getting the job done well.”
As for how she holds her own among the 36 men who report to her, she says: “Yes I need to prove that I can do the job as well as anyone in the team. But don’t we all? It’s the same everywhere. Male or female, we have to prove that we’re competent before we can be entrusted with greater responsibility. Of course, there are times when some may not be convinced that I can do it, but all I have to do is focus on the job, be professional and win them over.”
And she has managed to win their support. Her naval diving supervisor, Master Sergeant Loh Cheng Kiat, 35, says approvingly that she “always tries to get involved as much as she can”. “She’s a fast learner, patient and of course, very adventurous.”
My guess is you have to be. Naval divers have to go through nearly a year of rigorous training, including three months of basic military training, a diving course and one week of non-stop physical exercises with very little sleep, popularly known as “hell week”. Only the very best make the cut.
The job involves sometimes dangerous work. While Esther says there are many safety checks to minimise the risks involved, there are times when her adrenalin really gets pumping, like when she has to clear live ordnances “where the risks of an accidental detonation are real”.
Despite the harrowing aspects, this tough cookie is “married to my job”. Single and loving it, her work still gives her a huge thrill, and adds that her life is “like one big adventure race”.
Her family couldn’t be more proud, like her sister June, 28, who remembers how Esther became a mother figure to her and their younger brother, Andrew, 26, after their mother died of cancer 11 years ago. Their 60-year-old father works with the Urban Redevelopment Authority.
June recalls how Esther helped support her financially with her university fees. Over the phone, the pride in her voice is obvious. She says: “I never expected that she would go to such extremes because her character is very soft-natured and shy. But I’m so proud of her and her accomplishments. She’s outstanding—she never, ever gives up.”
Asked where she sees herself 10 years from now, Esther says little will change: She will be serving the navy and taking part in adventure races. How could she be so sure? She says: “When you find something you’re passionate about, you wouldn’t want to stop, would you?” HW
Khoo Teh Lynn
Singapore’s first female fighter pilot
Khoo Teh Lynn is Singapore’s first female jet fighter pilot. She began flying while still in Junior College and she joined the air force at 18 years old. Now a Staff Officer in the Singapore Armed Forces’ Air Intelligence Department, she flies the F-16 fighter jet, having been always fascinated by powerful planes.
Lynn’s love of flying began in 1998 when she joined the Youth Flying Club during her first year of studying at Raffles Junior College. One year later, she succeeded in getting her private pilot’s license. As soon as she left Junior College she signed up to join the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF).
"I wanted to fly high-performance aircraft," she told PIONEER, Mindef’s official publication. The F-16 is one of the most sophisticated and advanced fighter planes in the world. Its equipment includes sophisticated radar, advanced avionics, a precision navigation system and a wide range of ordnance. Said Lynn, “It's satisfying to be able to handle such aircraft, employ its weapons effectively, and carry out successful missions."
Her training included stints in Western Australia, where she achieved her basic wings at the Flying Training Institute, and in France, where she secured her fighter wings in 2003. She then joined the RSAF fighter fleet, starting off as a wingman. She was promoted to captain in 2007. That same year, she enrolled in the University of Southern California and in 2010 she graduated magna cum laude with a double major in international relations and history.
Flying a jet as powerful as the F-16 requires dedication and a certain level of physical strength and fitness. She attributes her success as a fighter pilot to having good reflexes, the ability to multi-task and cope with dynamic situations, as well as having an aptitude for making quick and accurate decisions.
As to whether she feels being a woman makes any difference to her being a fighter pilot, she told PIONEER: "I don't feel any different. In this professional organisation, first and foremost in the fighter squadron, you are a fighter pilot. There is no gender prefix to it."
In 2011 Lynn married an RSAF colleague, a transport pilot, and their first child is due in April 2014.
Singapore’s first female fighter pilot
Khoo Teh Lynn is Singapore’s first female jet fighter pilot. She began flying while still in Junior College and she joined the air force at 18 years old. Now a Staff Officer in the Singapore Armed Forces’ Air Intelligence Department, she flies the F-16 fighter jet, having been always fascinated by powerful planes.
Lynn’s love of flying began in 1998 when she joined the Youth Flying Club during her first year of studying at Raffles Junior College. One year later, she succeeded in getting her private pilot’s license. As soon as she left Junior College she signed up to join the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF).
"I wanted to fly high-performance aircraft," she told PIONEER, Mindef’s official publication. The F-16 is one of the most sophisticated and advanced fighter planes in the world. Its equipment includes sophisticated radar, advanced avionics, a precision navigation system and a wide range of ordnance. Said Lynn, “It's satisfying to be able to handle such aircraft, employ its weapons effectively, and carry out successful missions."
Her training included stints in Western Australia, where she achieved her basic wings at the Flying Training Institute, and in France, where she secured her fighter wings in 2003. She then joined the RSAF fighter fleet, starting off as a wingman. She was promoted to captain in 2007. That same year, she enrolled in the University of Southern California and in 2010 she graduated magna cum laude with a double major in international relations and history.
Flying a jet as powerful as the F-16 requires dedication and a certain level of physical strength and fitness. She attributes her success as a fighter pilot to having good reflexes, the ability to multi-task and cope with dynamic situations, as well as having an aptitude for making quick and accurate decisions.
As to whether she feels being a woman makes any difference to her being a fighter pilot, she told PIONEER: "I don't feel any different. In this professional organisation, first and foremost in the fighter squadron, you are a fighter pilot. There is no gender prefix to it."
In 2011 Lynn married an RSAF colleague, a transport pilot, and their first child is due in April 2014.
Khoo Teh Lynn
Singapore’s first female fighter pilot
Khoo Teh Lynn is Singapore’s first female jet fighter pilot. She began flying while still in Junior College and she joined the air force at 18 years old. Now a Staff Officer in the Singapore Armed Forces’ Air Intelligence Department, she flies the F-16 fighter jet, having been always fascinated by powerful planes.
Lynn’s love of flying began in 1998 when she joined the Youth Flying Club during her first year of studying at Raffles Junior College. One year later, she succeeded in getting her private pilot’s license. As soon as she left Junior College she signed up to join the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF).
"I wanted to fly high-performance aircraft," she told PIONEER, Mindef’s official publication. The F-16 is one of the most sophisticated and advanced fighter planes in the world. Its equipment includes sophisticated radar, advanced avionics, a precision navigation system and a wide range of ordnance. Said Lynn, “It's satisfying to be able to handle such aircraft, employ its weapons effectively, and carry out successful missions."
Her training included stints in Western Australia, where she achieved her basic wings at the Flying Training Institute, and in France, where she secured her fighter wings in 2003. She then joined the RSAF fighter fleet, starting off as a wingman. She was promoted to captain in 2007. That same year, she enrolled in the University of Southern California and in 2010 she graduated magna cum laude with a double major in international relations and history.
Flying a jet as powerful as the F-16 requires dedication and a certain level of physical strength and fitness. She attributes her success as a fighter pilot to having good reflexes, the ability to multi-task and cope with dynamic situations, as well as having an aptitude for making quick and accurate decisions.
As to whether she feels being a woman makes any difference to her being a fighter pilot, she told PIONEER: "I don't feel any different. In this professional organisation, first and foremost in the fighter squadron, you are a fighter pilot. There is no gender prefix to it."
In 2011 Lynn married an RSAF colleague, a transport pilot, and their first child is due in April 2014.
serious question: Can you fly when you are on hour period?
WTF is on hour period? You should ask the pilots these type of questions. I'm sure they will be willing to tell you all.
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