Every Saturday morning, at 7.30am – when the Sun is properly up, but before it gets really hot –around 30 paddlers gather outside the OCBC Arena.
They do push-ups, dips, lunges, toe taps, rows, bicep curls, and an agility circuit, before picking up their paddles, putting on their life vests, and purposefully making their way to the Kallang Dragon Boat Nursery.
By 9am, they’ve hit the water in the Kallang Basin. They undergo two hours of sprints, endurance laps and technical training.
This is not an unusual sight at the water sports hotspot.
What is unusual about this troop is that they are clad tip to toe in pink – salmon, flamingo, bubble-gum, all the way to hot, Barbiecore pink.
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These are the members of the BCF (Breast Cancer Foundation) Paddlers in the Pink, Asia’s first and oldest dragon boat team made only of people who’ve encountered the disease in one way or another.
Most of the team are breast cancer survivors who’ve recently conquered the disease, or from as far back as 2003 when the team was first founded.
Some are still battling the disease. Others are supporters from the Breast Cancer Foundation, sons, husbands, and in some cases, widowers.
SilverStreak speaks to the team on a sunny Saturday morning ahead of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which falls every October and seeks to improve support and screening for the disease.
Paddling for hope
"Pink, of course, represents breast cancer, which is the most commonly occurring cancer among women in Singapore."
According to the Singapore Cancer Society, every year, over 2,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer, and more than 400 will die from the disease.
Anyone whose “lives have been touched in some way by breast cancer” are free to join the BCF Paddlers in the Pink, says the breast cancer survivor, as long as they’ve been certified fit by their doctors.
The team travels overseas regularly to participate in non-competitive dragon boat regattas.
The Paddlers in the Pink’s last trip was just earlier this year, when they flew over to New Zealand to participate at the International Breast Cancer Paddlers’ Commission (IBCPC) Dragon Boat Festival.
The sport of dragon boating has had associations with breast cancer survivors since the late ’90s for several reasons.
Apart from enabling vigorous exercise in a pleasant environment, it also requires a good deal of teamwork – akin to the support network one needs when battling the disease.
Silver streaks in the pink
Most women who are diagnosed with breast cancer are in their 40s and up. Naturally, this means that the BCF Paddlers in the Pink have a good portion of silvers in their midst – from the 50s, all the way to the 60s and 70s.
One of the oldest members is Esther Sim, 73, who continues to paddle despite nagging pains in her knees and arms. She has survived breast cancer three times – first in 2004, then again in 2006 and 2008.
Veteran paddler Anusuya Chia, 69, has been with the team since it was first founded. “I joined as part of the pioneer batch after spotting an advertisement and never looked back. The team has become lifelong friends. We ride the ups and downs of life together.”
Pushing limits
Although the sport demands a lot from one’s arms, shoulders, back and cardiovascular system, the Paddlers in the Pink tell us that dragon boating remains accessible. Anyone can join once they’ve been given an all-clear by their oncologist.
Anasuya recalls an earlier study conducted in the early days of Paddlers in the Pink that found no significant link between the paddling and the development or progression of lymphedema, a localised swelling caused by the build-up of lymph fluid as a side effect of cancer treatment.
Members who are still battling breast cancer can join the group, provided they get an all-clear from their oncologist.
Intan Ramli, 50, was diagnosed with breast cancer in April 2021. She joined the group in 2022, while still battling the disease.
Entrepreneur Zac Amir, 55, whose breast cancer has spread to her spine, agrees. “I want to see how far I can go in the sport without injuring my spine. And for me, it’s also gratifying that I know I have the discipline to wake up so early every Saturday morning (laughs).”
A floating support group
For the women, the social aspect of the sport is just as vital as the physical aspect. Retiree Katherine Goh, 55, calls the Paddlers in the Pink her “floating support group”.
This includes supporters who are not women or breast cancer survivors themselves. Low Sie Cheong, a 60-year-old still working in the field of corporate consultancy, has been a part of the team since 2008.
He joined the BCF Paddlers in the Pink with his wife, who passed on in 2015. He has kept coming every Saturday since.
"Train together, cry together, and laugh together."
The team wraps up for the day, wheeling their pink dragon boats back to the Kallang Dragon Boat nursery and heading for the showers. They will be back next Saturday, and the one after.
Irene says, “For many in the team, this is a way to train not just our physical health, but our emotional, mental and social health.
"It’s proof that we can do anything we want to. Don’t forget many of us still have full-time jobs. So any role we have here is voluntary – so the women here are workers, volunteers, mothers, survivors and paddlers."
BCF Paddlers in the Pink
Website: https://www.bcf.org.sg/our-services/healing-through-the-arts-2
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BCFPIP/
