Modernising a young nation: Fighting social norms to pursue her passion

Dancing with a man was frowned on by conservative parents back in the 1970s.

Singapore society's attitude was no more enlightened, recalled choreographer Low Mei Yoke, 63, of her teen years when she was pursuing Chinese dance.

Friends and her employers thought she was dancing at nightclubs. "Some would look at me in a weird way. Others would ask: Too much free time on your hands? What kind of dance? Can you dance for me now?" she recounted to The Straits Times.

Her parents, who were hawkers, did not care that the youngest of their 10 children was passionate about dance.

Ms Low remembers vividly appearing on a TV variety show called Sharp Night - at a time when all programmes were in black and white.

She was watching it with her mother and was thrilled at the sight of her dancing with a male partner. "Back then, being on TV was a big deal and I was so excited," she said.

But she sat quietly, suppressing her excitement. "If she knew I was in such close contact with a guy, she would not have allowed me to continue dancing as she was conservative. Thankfully, she did not recognise me," she said, relating the challenges she faced in going on a path hardly taken by Singaporeans in the country's early years.

Her passion to be a dancer was inspired by a ballet dancer she saw at a street performance. She was in the then Kallang Government Chinese Primary and on weekends, would help her parents at their yong tau foo stall in Geylang.

"I knew my parents could not afford ballet lessons. I had just one set of school uniform that was a hand-me-down from my sister.

"We didn't even have enough to eat, so we understood and did not ask our parents for money for such activities."

At age 17, after completing her O levels, she joined the People's Association cultural troupe as a part-time performer in open-air shows, held one a month. She would rush to rehearsals after her full-time work in a textile company, which paid her $600 a month.

It took her almost five years to save $3,000 and she flew to Hong Kong for three months of dance lessons, including ballet, Chinese folk and classical dances.

She was 21 years old.

On her return, she taught dance at schools in the afternoon, and aerobics and children ballet at community centres in the evening, ploughing back what she saved into more courses and workshops.After several years, she felt she could go no further in Singapore, where resources for Chinese dance were almost non-existent.

Ms Low turned to contemporary dance, "which is free-spirited because it need not be tied to any one tradition, like Chinese dance".

In 1991, she co-founded contemporary dance company Frontier Danceland with her husband, Mr Tan Chong Poh, 64, an engineer.

The company has six full-time dancers and stages up to four productions a year. She is also resident choreographer of modern dance groups in Nanyang Girls' High School, Raffles Girls' Secondary School and Raffles Institution.

Reflecting on her career, Ms Low said: "You have to persevere. It might have been a long, tiring journey, but I knew if I gave up, I would regret it."