SINGAPORE: After Malaysian actress, Michelle Yeoh’s groundbreaking Oscar award win, Minister for Communications and Information Josephine Teo congratulated her in a Facebook post.
Ms Teo called her award “an inspiration and a source of encouragement to us all,” and noted that the character Ms Yeoh had played in Everything Everywhere All at Once, Evelyn Wang, “is highly relatable” and added, “Isn’t there an Evelyn in all of us?”
She also posted a photo of herself with Ms Yeoh, whom she had met five years ago at an International Women’s Day event. Also in the photo, which is from the SCCCI Career Women’s Group, are Dr Hwang Yee Cheau and Ms Stephanie Choo. At the time the photo was taken, Dr Hwang was the group’s chairperson. Ms Choo is the founder of the Singaporean jewellery brand Eden + Elie. The event in question was a March 4, 2018 celebration called ‘She is Global.’
Ms Teo also noted that “Evelyn Wang is overworked and overloaded, but cannot free herself from constantly feeling underachieved and undervalued. Isn’t there an Evelyn in all of us?
Many women in Asia, like Michelle, fight daily battles to shine. Their ‘performances’ may not reach global audiences but are no less laudable or impactful to the people and communities they serve,” Ms Teo noted.
The Minister also wrote that when she met Ms Yeoh, they talked about how much progress Asian women have made, as well as the hurdles that are still present.
Ms Teo noted that “Behind the glitz and glamour, her journey to the top of her profession could not have been easy. I have no doubt this is a result of her work ethic, as much as talent.”
Ms Yeoh is the first woman from Asia to have won an Academy Award for best actress.
In January, she won the Golden Globe Best Actress award and thanked “my King and Queen, PM & leaders of Malaysia” for the outpouring of love she received. /TISG
Michelle Yeoh on her lead role in ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’