Victoria Hoo is only 21 this year, but she owns three successful clothing stores. This is due to her mother's support for her over the years, including working a part-time job just to take over a store for her then 16-year-old daughter to run.

"I don’t know where to start to begin describing to you how my mum loves me or how much she loves me. You’ve asked for an entry to include her love, devotion, care and sacrifices.

"Truth is 1000 words, or 10,000 or 1,000,000 words will not be enough to describe to you what she has done for me, not enough words for me to thank her for all that she has done and sure enough too little for a mum like mine. I’m not sure how much I can write of her which will ever be enough for you to understand the love my mum has for me.

"My mum was not born in a rich family, neither did she have a very glamourous life. She was however, very, very hardworking. She had managed to excel in the areas she was talented in and enjoyed very much what she was doing. She brought home a salary worth of high praises and respect from everyone who knew her. At that peak of her career was when she met my dad. And at that time, her salary was at least five times that of my dad’s.

"The story goes on and they had their first child, me. Earning a lot more than others and a lot more than my dad, she made a noble decision I can never see myself making. She had decided to quit her job just so she could devote all of her time to me.

"She became a full-time housewife and that to me is the greatest, most selfless thing a person can do. I remember her being at home all the time. And throughout all those years, I think the only luxury she had were those rare haircuts she got from a neighborhood nearby salon.

"But because of that, I had the privilege of experiencing what most kids today experience with their domestic helper. I had the privilege of having my mum with me throughout my childhood and throughout my growing up.

"She made sure I had breakfast every morning, made sure I was well-fed and healthy. Made sure I was provided for and I was protected in school. Though my family isn’t rich, I remember celebrating every single one of my birthday with a party. Above all, my mom made sure I was happy.

"I wasn’t exactly a model student or the kid that excelled in academics. Having fun and talking to my friends were like my first priority when I was in school. Looking at most Singaporean parents nowadays, I think many would think my mum wasn’t being a good mum when she didn’t force me to study or didn’t sign me up for endless tuition classes or make sure I did well in school. My mum had always encouraged me and throughout my childhood, my only goal was to ‘just do the best I can’.

"I have never had the fear of bringing back test papers or report books and have never had the fear of a parent-teacher meeting. Instead of forcing me to study, my mum allowed me to explore my talents and creativity and through it all encouraged what she had always believed in me."

Continue reading to find out how Victoria's mum helped her with her successful business.

"Now that I am older, I am even more grateful that she had allowed me to express my talents at my own pace. She had recognized my gift in the fashion area and my flair for business at the tender age of 16 and decided to take up a part time job to earn enough money to take over a small store at Bugis street for me to run.

"I don’t understand how she could have seen what I was worth at that age. Even I myself was unsure of what I would do and what I would have become.

"After graduating from secondary school, I had applied to the Retail Management course facilitated by Temasek Polytechnic. I was then rejected because my grades weren’t good enough for me to get into the course.

"Besides my interest in fashion and business, I also had a knack for acting. I then went to pursue a diploma in Theatre studies in Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts. When I broke the news to my ‘traditional’ extended family that I was accepted into the school, they all congratulated me. But even as they congratulated me, deep inside I could feel that they weren’t exactly proud of me. I guess it was because going towards the arts scene in Singapore seemed worthless and of a dull future to them. But I wasn’t at all affected because my parents were proud of me.

"But soon after completing two out of three years of the course, I decided to leave the school and not waste another year in something that I thought couldn’t contribute to my future. Although I had learnt a lot and was doing average in the school, I decided to take a chance and use that one year to focus on my business.

"I was aware that my parents had to set aside a lot of money for me to enter into the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts. I knew how hard it was for both my parents to work extra hard just so I could go to school. I remember taking a long time to finally decide to tell my mum that I wanted to quit school. All I could remember was I never felt better because I had expected my mum to disagree but instead she encouraged me even further and never lost faith in me. She even convinced my dad to allow me to quit.

"Because of my mum’s support, I was allowed to focus and concentrate more on my business. And because of my mum’s continual guidance and faith in me, today I can stand tall and proud with a bad O-level cert, because I own 3 successful stores, two located at Haji Lane and one at Bugis street.

"I am 20 going on 21 years old and I can be confident and know that what I have accomplished in life is already so much more than some even older than me have. I owe all these and more to my mum.

"And because of my mum, people can recognise my talent all over in the media. I am proud to say that my store has been featured on the National Geographic channel, Singapore Kris flyer magazine, various tour guide books of Singapore sold in Korea. It has constantly been on Mediacorp TV channels and all over local and international magazines every month.

"On the side note, I was contacted my Temasek Polytechnic, the school which rejected me, to give talks to their students who are the same age as me. I was also invited to help assess final year students in their final year project presentations.

"I can never thank my mum enough. For without her, I wouldn’t be what I am today, I wouldn’t have a career started out as what many would say is a young age. I wouldn’t have what I have today if it weren’t for my mum. I can never thank her enough for giving up her whole life just for me the moment I was born.

"She deserves the award because she shares all her clothes, accessories, shoes and bags with me. She deserves the award because she is smart and pretty even at 47 years old. She deserves the award because she is funny and tells jokes that are all kinds of weird. She deserves the award because she makes all other mums seem hard to live with.

"She deserves the award because she always believes in me and never gives up on me. She deserves the award for all her patience and all the time she spent on nurturing me. She deserves the award because she loves me with all that she can and doesn’t stop loving me. She deserves the award because I am proud to have her as my mum.

"She deserves the award because if winning means an Apple Macbook Air Laptop, I’m sure she would go out of her ways to get one for me."

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