About

THE BIRTH OF PASAR GLAMOUR

In 2017, long before Marie Kondo became a fad, three actresses – Janice Koh, Pam Oei and Petrina Kow – decided it was time to clear out their seriously overstuffed wardrobes. They thought it would be a good idea to hold a mini jumble sale to sell their pre-loved clothing at super affordable prices, and raise some funds for charity.

They called upon their fashionable girlfriends to donate gently-worn pieces from their wardrobes too. Everyone said yes! The Fabulous Baker Boy generously provided them a space in their cafe, and these three crazies hung and steamed a gazillion pieces of clothing, and dusted shoes, bags, and accessories. They assembled hanging racks loaned from theatre companies. And borrowed hangers from their neighbourhood dry cleaners. They decorated the space with lots of flowers to make the room look and smell nice. The response was overwhelming. They raised S$12,000 in two days.

And that’s how Pasar Glamour was born.

Our Evolution

Over the past three years, Pasar Glamour has grown in scale with the help and support of many volunteers, donors and partners from the art and fashion community. Today, the event has grown to become one of the most anticipated pre-loved clothing sales of the year, and raises funds for charitable organisations in Singapore that support women and children in vulnerable circumstances as well as the Arts. It’s beneficiaries have included the Emma Yong Fund, Arc Children’s Centre, AWARE, Wild Rice, Daughters of Tomorrow, Aidha and Playeum.

Pasar Glamour is a not-for-profit social enterprise run wholly by volunteers who work closely with clothing donors, many of whom are from the entertainment, media and fashion sectors. In addition, it partners established and emerging Singapore Fashion Labels who donate brand new sample pieces and out-of-season stock to the sale. Over the years, Pasar Glamour has attracted new partner organisations and individuals, who have come on board with pro bono services or provided resources in support of our cause. This includes the National Design Centre as our key venue partner since 2018. This close partnership with like-minded partners has allowed Pasar Glamour to keep event costs to a minimum.

Over the years, our annual monetary donation to the charitable sector has grown from S$12,000 in 2017 to $56,000 in 2018 to $166,000 in 2019.

In 2020, Pasar Glamour raised over S$138,000 on the crowdfunding platform, Ray of Hope, to support freelancers in the performing arts who have lost income due to the widespread shutdown of performing arts spaces during Covid-19. So far, the fund has distributed $108,000 to 216 individuals.

Pasar Glamour has been honoured to receive the Friend of the Arts award in 2019 and 2020 at the annual Patron of the Arts ceremony, in recognition of its contributions to the arts sector.

Janice Koh

Janice received a Masters with Distinction in Theatre Administration from Goldsmith’s College, under a Public Service Commission scholarship. A graduate of the NUS Theatre Studies programme, she is a respected actor and arts advocate, who also served as a Nominated Member of Parliament from 2012-2014, passionately championing the importance of culture, heritage, design and the Arts. Janice’s stage and screen experience has spanned almost three decades.

She won the Life! Theatre Award for Best Actress in 2003 and has received multiple Best Actress nominations for her work on stage. She has starred in over 30 television and film projects including Fighting Spiders. In 2010, she earned an Asian Television Awards nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role for her performance in The Pupil.

She most recently appeared as Felicity Young in Warner Brothers’ blockbuster hit Crazy Rich Asians directed by Jon M Chu. Janice currently serves on the boards of Wild Rice, the National Arts Council’s Public Art Trust, and the Victoria Advisory Committee. She is a proud co-founder of Pasar Glamour.

Petrina Kow

Petrina is a Voice, Accents and Presentation Coach. She is the first and only Singaporean certified with the Fitzmaurice Voicework® and the Knight Thompson Speechwork® training methods. Petrina has extensive experience working with people from diverse backgrounds and organisations. She organises and runs workshops on public speaking, voice-overs, accents and storytelling and is an adjunct voice teacher at LASALLE College of Arts and Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts.

She is a much sought after voice actor and voice-over director for animation and commercials.

Petrina started out her career on radio and was the co-host on various top morning shows. Accent and voice coaching credits in 2023 include, People, Places and Things (Pangdemonium); Doubt (Pangdemonium); Four Horse Road (The Theatre Practice); Cabaret (Sing Theatre); G*d is a Woman (Wild Rice), Boom by Jean Tay (Slanted Theatre Sydney).

Pam Oei

A veteran in the Singapore entertainment scene, Pam has been in over a hundred theatre, television and film productions, and is equally known for being a dramatic and comedic actor. Theatre acting credits include the critically acclaimed Hotel, Tartuffe, Faghag, Animal Farm, Everything But the Brain and Boeing Boeing. She is probably best known for being one third of Singapore’s favourite cabaret trio, the Dim Sum Dollies.

Her directing credits for Wild Rice theatre company are Psychobitch, Pinocchio, Mama White Snake, Boeing Boeing, The Emperor’s New Clothes and Hansel & Gretel.

This multi-hyphenate is also a seasoned, well sought-after emcee for events, and is currently the lead singer for her rock band, Ugly in the Morning.

She stands alongside Janice Koh and Petrina Kow as a proud founding member of the Pasar Glamour initiative.