Her World Singapore – September 2019

majorinmathematics

withaminorin

entrepreneurship,

completinghermodules

inoverthreeyears

insteadoffour.

Abookwormshewas

not.Sheparticipatedin

musicaltheatreasan

undergraduate,taking

danceandsinging

lessons.Shelater

wentonanexchange

programmeatthe

UniversityofCalifornia,

LosAngeles(UCLA)

formorethan 10

weekstostudymethod

acting,harbouring

aspirationsatone

pointtobeaBroadway

musicalperformer.

Annabelleenthuses:

“Theexchangetrip

toUCLAgavemea

deeperunderstandingof

Americanculture.Ihad

thegreatestfunsinging

1.Annabelle

exploringthe

Saharain2018.

2.Presenting

herideas

inHawaiiin

January 2019 to

helptheObama

Foundation

designits

futureLeaders

programme.

3.Atthe 2018

USartevent

BurningMan

atBlackRock

City.

4.Checkingout

theresearch

attheInstitute

forMedia

Innovation

atNTU.

5.InDubaiin

2017.

6.Volunteering

withfriendsfor

Make-a-Wish

Singaporein

2012.

TheSoundofMusic

withanunonthehillin

Berkeley,dancingwith

localsI’djustmetatthe

ChicagoBluesFestival,

andmakinglifelong

friends.”

Raisedasan

expressivechild,

Annabelleremembers:

“Mymumletmeargue

anddebatewithher,so

mymindwouldstart

toquestionthings,like

‘whycan’tIdothis?’,

andallthewhynots.”

Ithonedherrazor-

sharpabilitytoanalyse

asituation,breakit

apart,andunderstand

therationalebehindit–

andhelpedherdevelop

anintellectualrange

andconfidencebelying

herage.

Today,Annabelle

putsitintopractice:“If

youlookatanysystem

whichallowshigh-

performingsecondary

schoolstudentstoskip

theOlevelsandproceed

tojuniorcollegeforthe

Alevels.

AtTJC,shestudied

softwareprogramming.

Itwastherethatshe

pulledherfirst“stunt”.

“Iwenttoschool

andtheyblockedmy

Neopets!”Annabelle

says,recoilinginhorror

assherecountshow

shewasbarredfrom

accessingthevirtual-

petwebsite.Shestarted

lookingforwaysto

bypassthefirewall,

searchingforsolutions

onlineandspeakingto

anothertechieclassmate

beforecrackingit.

FromTJC,

Annabellewentonto

NanyangTechnological

University(NTU)to

anddon’tagreewithit,

therearewaystooppose

it:Activelyrebelor

createaparallelsystem

andgoyourownway.

Thereisalwaysanother

paththatyoucantry.”

SAVVY

KICK-

STARTER

Annabelle’sapproach

• technicalbut
  thoughtful,youthful
  butsophisticated–has
  resonatedamongthe
  “coolunclesofhardware

1

4

2

5

3

6

PHOTOS 1 & 3-6

ANNABELLE KWOK

PHOTO 2

OBAMA FOUNDATION

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