Ah, the August issue. Where every magazine in Singapore dedicates its pages to heartwarming themes to commemorate yet another year of this nation’s independence. Here at ELLE Singapore, this saw us gravitate to a topic that every member of the team feels strongly about: Family and the importance of human connection.
A rather important and relevant question that the team asked ourselves as we were putting together the issue was how we would present a subject that has been thoroughly explored and examined in a fresh, new light. The answer? By photographing a never-before-done spread and telling a never-been-told story, of course! And that’s how we came to have celebrity couple Joanne Peh and Qi Yuwu and their two children grace our issue.
In all honesty, when I first approached them, I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to convince them to agree with the idea that I had. Which was to have their lovely family photographed by the media for the first time ever. After all, Joanne and Yuwu are famously private and protective over the identities of their nine-year-old daughter (whose birthday falls a couple of days before National Day) and seven-year-old son. But as luck would have it, the couple saw it as an opportunity to commemorate their 10th anniversary next month—and we couldn’t be more thrilled that our August issue will be a sweet memento that they’ll have of the celebration.
What was equally surprising was how candid Joanne and Yuwu were about “that time” in their lives when their relationship was being whispered, gossiped and insinuated about in the most unflattering terms. (TL;DR: When news broke that they had started dating, one of the many things that was said was that it was a publicity stunt to score points before the upcoming Star Awards that year.) Well, a decade on, the couple has proved their naysayers wrong. Read their untold side of the story and discover how they navigate as a family unit through the vagaries of fame. You won’t regret it. As Joanne says at one point: “This is the first time we've done an interview where we’ve talked about our love story so extensively.”
For a love story of another kind, turn to our “Fashioning Hope’s Legacy” feature, in which sexagenarian model Yan Ong shares how personal tragedy led to her launching Fashion for Cancer, a non-profit event that aims to raise funds and awareness for cancer research and patient support. You’ll also get to meet some of the inspiring cancer survivors who are volunteering their time to walk the runway for the admirable cause. Because, as Benjamin Kheng sings for this year’s National Day song “Not Alone”: If we just look to each other, then this house will feel like home.
We couldn’t agree more.
Photographed by JOEL LOW
Styled by JEFFREY YAN
Make-up Artist for Joanne: SHA SHAMSI using CHANEL BEAUTY
Hairstylist for Joanne: RYAN YAP/Passion Hair Salon
Make-up Artist for Yuwu: CHRIS SIOW
Hairstylist for Yuwu: BEN LEONG/Passion Hair Salon
Photographer’s Assistant: EDDIE TEO