Generation Grit: Entrepreneur forges her own way in life

Since a near-death car crash at age 15, Ms Azurah Khalid has been unafraid to take the path less trodden. She chose not to go to polytechnic despite making the grade. Instead, she set up an eco-friendly cafe and pursued her two loves: rugby and silat. This is the latest in a series on millennials who inspire us.

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Ms Azurah Khalid was badly hurt in a car crash when she was a teenager. The incident changed her perception of life, prompting her to pursue her passions in rugby and silat wholeheartedly, and to create a create positive impact in whatever she does.
Ms Azurah Khalid at a rugby training session at Turf City last week. She has represented Singapore often in international women's rugby competitions, after recovering from a broken leg suffered during her first rugby game.
Ms Azurah Khalid at a rugby training session at Turf City last week. She has represented Singapore often in international women's rugby competitions, after recovering from a broken leg suffered during her first rugby game. ST PHOTO: ALPHONSUS CHERN

The last thing Ms Azurah Khalid remembered before the crash was her mother screaming her father's name.

Then everything went black.

When she came to, she felt "sharp pains" everywhere and was very uncomfortable.

A car had swerved out of its lane and crashed into the front of her family car on a narrow, two-lane Malaysian road.

"The world kind of stopped," she recounted of her accident at age 15, in Malaysia.

"That day lived on till today, it got me thinking that life's really too short. You never know what is going to happen the next day," said Ms Azurah, now 34.

Her spleen was ruptured and she was hospitalised for a few weeks.

She was the most severely injured among her family members who were returning to Singapore after visiting relatives in Malaysia.

Ms Azurah's two younger sisters, who were in the backseat with her, suffered huge bumps and bruises. Her father, who is a marine structure inspector, and her mother, an administrative executive, escaped with minor injuries.

"That accident was the turning point. I realised that I have only one life to live, and it defined how I think for the rest of my life," she said.

The accident in 1999 reinforced the determination of Ms Azurah - who says she is headstrong by nature - to pursue her passions.

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When told that year that she could take only home economics and art in school, instead of design and technology, she rebelled. "I love creating things with my hands and I couldn't understand why I couldn't take design and technology."

She wrote a letter of appeal, spoke to her school principal and even persuaded her mother to go down to the school to speak to the principal.

Her relentless efforts paid off, as her school, Fajar Secondary, opened the class to girls that year. She was one of the first few female students in the class, she said with a smile.

After finishing school, she gave up the chance to study for an engineering diploma at Singapore Polytechnic, as she wanted to learn other kinds of life skills.

"I don't know how and I don't know why, but I felt then that I could learn better while doing things outside or through the people that I meet outside of school."

Ms Azurah decided to work at a Starbucks coffee joint while pursuing her new love: rugby.

She had always loved watching the game in secondary school, and had joined a women's rugby club after finishing school.

But in her first rugby game, she broke her leg when a player from the opposing team tackled her to the ground. "I fell and, the next thing I knew, everyone around me was freaking out. But I couldn't feel any pain because the adrenaline was still running through my veins.

"A teammate later told me that half my leg was dangling when our coach lifted me up, since my bone had snapped into two," she said.

After her leg surgery, she had to use a wheelchair for six months and had to learn how to walk again."It took a lot of mental strength. I told myself, if I don't get through it today, I won't get through it the next day."

Despite the painful injury and months of hard work to get back on her feet, she could not stay away from the sport.

Two years later, in 2006, she returned to the sport, persuaded by the encouraging words of another woman rugby player.

"It felt like the universe was sending me all these little signs," she said with a laugh.

Since then, she has represented Singapore often in international women's rugby competitions.

Ms Azurah took another leap of faith in 2014, when she opened Wilder, an eco-friendly cafe, despite a lack of experience in business.

She had worked in a consulting firm and coached netball part time after her stint at Starbucks.

But she was inspired to set up the cafe after a trip to Nepal, where she witnessed how its people were able to live sustainably.

In 2017, she took up silat after participating in a variety show that required her to learn the sport. To her surprise, she excelled at it, and she has since been representing Singapore in international competitions.

Always ready for a challenge, she recently started an online media platform, Lokalfeed, to bring together women entrepreneurs and trailblazers to share their experiences and thoughts. "It was really because of my own experiences in Wilder. I had a lot of difficulties in setting up the shop and running it."

Many people also questioned whether she could make it work, she said.

She hopes the platform will empower women entrepreneurs as they share and learn from one another's ups and downs.

Her long-time friend Lim Li Yan, 35, who works in finance, said Ms Azurah never lets adversity hold her back. "She's shown many naysayers you should never let challenges hinder you from your goal."

Ms Azurah added: "I'm always working towards being a better version of myself. The most important thing... is to live life with intention; there are a lot of things in the world which we can help with or just do."

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on May 01, 2019, with the headline Generation Grit: Entrepreneur forges her own way in life . Subscribe