She even founded her own humanitarian project, Water for Living, Books for Learning, to build libraries and provide water-filter systems to poor children in Cambodia, Laos and Kalimantan in Indonesia – which she started with MP Ong Kian Min in 2006.
Despite her achievements and social work projects, Eunice stresses that she’s just like any Singaporean, and that star power or intellect isn’t a prerequisite to being able to make a positive contribution to society.
She says with a laugh: "I have always been very mediocre in my studies because I didn’t study really hard. But we should not underestimate the amount of help we can give to another individual. Everyone has the ability to help someone else, especially Singaporeans who are privileged to receive an education."
Eunice is a pro at leveraging on her talents to help those in need. Her celebrity status and political involvement, she explains, is simply a platform for social work.
“In whatever I do, what’s important is finding a common thread that binds everything together. I use politics as a platform to speak up for people I work with in my community work, and the entertainment industry as a platform to create awareness for issues,” she says.
So it’s easy for skeptics to wonder if she’s for real.
But if fame and glory are what she’s after, she wouldn’t have agreed to be the lounge pianist at the newly opened Terminal 3 in January this year.
Eunice is also not so self-conscious about her looks as to avoid wearing her retainers to the interview. Halfway through, she stops mid-sentence to say: “Sorry, I’m lisping. I can remove my retainers if you can’t hear me clearly.”
The feisty beauty would have you know that despite being in politics for close to four years, she still gets nervous rubbing shoulders with our nation’s leaders. “Before speaking to them, I make sure I know what I want to say as ministers are very busy people. And at parliamentary sittings, I still get butterflies in my stomach every single time! It’s the preparation that gets to me more than speaking in parliament itself.
“I have to do a lot of work and it takes me awhile because I’m not exactly the brightest bulb in the box,” says Eunice self-deprecatingly.
One might think that a young woman in politics would aspire to a position of power one day, but Eunice begs to differ.
“I’d hardly qualify! I think of politics as an extension of my volunteer work, to try to be the voice of people who don’t have a voice. I think with everything in life, the right motivation is paramount.
“I hope to do more regular hands-on volunteering in Singapore this year because that’s what keeps me going. It’s addictive because you keep wanting to take on more projects and you can’t say ‘no’. I think volunteers will discover this along the way,” Eunice adds with a smile.
Although the multi-hyphenate hopes to eventually read a Master’s degree overseas in social activism, public policy or administration, she says music and community work are things she will always hold dear.
“Music will always be a big part of my life, as will community work. These are two things I don’t think I will ever give up.”
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