All three women came to the CNA Women interview without a trace of makeup. None of them were models or ever wanted to be one.
There was 26-year-old Chong Hui Min, who lives with a 34cm metal implant in her left leg where much of her leg bone had been removed along with a fist-sized tumour 10 years ago. She had a rare bone cancer, osteosarcoma.
There was also 38-year-old mother-of-two Faith Lim, who lost her right breast to cancer, reconstructed it with tissue from her abdomen, and has three scars on her breast and abdomen to show for it.
And there was 49-year-old mother-of-three Chua Gek San, who had leukaemia. Her weakened immune system left her vulnerable to a severe fungal infection that ate into the bone in her nose. Doctors had to remove her nose bone entirely.
These cancer warriors will be walking for the annual Fashion For Cancer charity event, on Sep 13, 2025, at The Westin Singapore. Proceeds for tickets will fund cancer research and patient support.
GIRL INTERRUPTED: CHONG HUI MIN, 26
Chong was only in secondary school in 2015 when her left knee started to swell and hurt. “I was part of The Girls’ Brigade, and thought it was the marching and drills,” she said.
The pain was crippling and Chong bounced from doctor to doctor seeking answers. Finally, she was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a rare and aggressive bone cancer that affects only around 20 people in Singapore each year.
“I was your typical 16-year-old – self-conscious, vain,” said Chong. “Before cancer, my hair was really long, and I had side swept bangs, and I liked to roll up my skirts [at the waist] and show off my legs.”
Suddenly, the teenager was thrust into chemotherapy, and shaved her beautiful hair. Then, three days before she turned 16, she underwent limb-salvage surgery in her left leg to insert a mega prosthesis, a large artificial implant used to replace an entire segment of bone.
“They had to drill holes into my thigh bone to hollow it out, fix a rod inside, and stabilise it with bone cement,” she told CNA Women.
