Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet a daily driver

Ms Nichol Ng was born into a food family.

Her late grandfather founded Ng Chye Mong, a food trading business, in 1939. Her late father was a foodie and introduced her to claypot civet cat as well as fine cognac.

She picked up cooking even before she started schooling, learning the recipes of her grandaunt and late grandmother.

In 2007, at just 29, the National University of Singapore economics graduate co-founded a restaurant supplies company with her brother.

As a young woman in a male-dominated business, she faced scepticism.

"People said I wouldn't last a year," she recalls. "But I won them over with my determination and hard work, as well as a heart for the people who worked with me."

Today, the 42-year-old mother of four heads X-Inc, a diversified group with businesses in food, plantation, logistics and property.

She is also active in charity work. She is president of One Singapore, a charity dedicated to eradicating poverty.

In 2012, she co-founded The Food Bank Singapore, which redistributes still-good-to-eat food to non-profit organisations. To mark World Food Day on Oct 16, it is engaging car clubs and willing drivers to deliver food items to the needy.

With that much on her plate, as well as having to raise three girls and a boy aged between 11 months and seven years old, Ms Ng says car journeys have become opportunities to bond with her children.

There are currently three cars at home: a Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet, a Porsche Cayenne sport utility vehicle (SUV) and a Mercedes-Benz Viano minivan.

• A child seat

• A pair of running shoes

• A pack of wet wipes

• Food items to be dropped off at The Food Bank Singapore

But it is the 911 Cabriolet, which she bought for $395,000 from its first owner in 2016, which gets the most attention. "It is a car where the kids and I can go crazy in with the top down, singing and waving our hands in the air," she says.

She has had a soft spot for soft-tops since her first, a Mercedes-Benz CLK Cabriolet, which she purchased in 2006.

The 911 Cabriolet is her daily commute when her husband, a 44-year-old flight attendant and event host, is away. She ferries her three older children to school in it and has even transported an office chair in it.

She also uses the car to get to the office, business meetings and the supermarket. "I see the car as an extension of my busy lifestyle. It's a great everyday sports car that's powerful, but also such an easy and comfortable drive."

When her husband is in town, he drives the 911 Cabriolet and takes over the school runs while she takes the back seat in the Viano, which is chauffeur-driven.

Nicknamed "The Magic School Bus", the Viano is able to accommodate the entire extended family of 10, including Ms Ng's mother, grandaunt and two helpers.

The Cayenne is driven primarily by her mother.

Ms Ng recently placed a deposit for a Jeep Gladiator Rubicon - a recently launched SUV-cum-flatbed truck.

"I have always wanted a rough and tough car," she says. "The Gladiator is a proper off-roader, yet comfortable enough. We can load it up with the kids' bikes and stuff."

Further down the road, the busy chief executive says she will go back to driving a convertible. But this time, a more regal one.

"The Bentley Continental GT Convertible will be my retirement car. Maybe in my 60s," she says.