ABOUT THE FARMERS

Mrs. Ivy Singh-Lim may not be your ordinary Singapore idol, but she is certainly one of the republic’s most vocal and colourful personalities. In a place where most people avoid controversial issues and try to be polite publicly, Ivy has never been shy about making controversial remarks. As immediate past president of Netball Singapore, she is remembered for her stinging observations about the state of sporting affairs here.

She has a softer side, though; she has been a member (now vice-president) of the Singapore Gardening Society for 25 years, and she loves nature’s small and big gifts, from monsoon rains to each of her nine dogs. To her friends, she is a daring and fun-loving person, always a live wire at parties.

Now, even in retirement, Ivy is making the news. Together with her husband Lim Ho Seng (former CEO of NTUC Fairprice), she has become a farmer-entrepreneur living on a 10-acre farm in Kranji. A farmer? That is right - the outspoken woman has been promoting and rallying support for a life of sustainability in the countryside, in Singapore.

How did this power-duo choose to continue living their high life, but in the backwaters of Singapore?

"Ho Seng and I have been very fortunate. We got married quite late in our lives and were very busy the first 15 to 20 years of our lives together. We have worked very hard and we knew that when we retired, we wanted to go to the countryside," explains Ivy.

“Ho Seng and I hardly had a courtship before we got married. We met and decided to get married soon after. Our first honeymoon was in Brighton, England and then we went to Perth. We discovered that we both had a great love for the countryside and gardening,” she continues. The intention was to spend more time in Perth after Ho Seng retired from Fairprice in 1997, but the death of Ivy’s best friend’s husband halted those plans, and as Ivy stood by her grieving friend, she realised that true friendship is priceless.

So, Ivy and Ho Seng took the decision to remain in Singapore in their stride, and now run a picturesque farm where they grow vegetables and fruit trees, complete with fishponds, a lovely spice garden and a peaceful sanctuary. Ivy is often questioned about her decision to remain in a country she has so often criticised before, and to that, she perceptively responds, “They’re missing the point when they say, ‘If you don’t like your country, just leave.’ Yes exactly, it’s my country and I can shape it.”