This year’s bold reinvention of the new Tiffany & Co T collection—the Tiffany T1 —seeks to celebrate the first and deepest connection which we experience, that with our truest selves. Its transformative design by the brand’s chief artistic officer Reed Krakoff looks to represent courage, strength and optimism – much like the women who wear it. This next chapter of the fabled Tiffany T collection from the 80s combines clean lines and graphic forms with feminine proportions, elevated by expertly set diamonds.
Here, we spotlight personalities whose personal and professional ventures reflect their own indomitable spirit; where glass ceilings are shattered, and new paths paved for the women that are yet to come.
Dr Anjhula Mya Singh Bais
International Psychology Trauma Specialist
Founder and Director, Fourth Dimension Consultancy
Director, Amnesty International
The career of Dr Anjhula Mya Singh Bais is marked by the highs of appearing on the glossiest of glossy magazines across the world like Vogue India (which labelled her a supermodel), and then into a markedly different arc as a psychologist specialising in trauma. Her inclusion on the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders list of visionary leaders sees her joining a select group of alumni including New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Ma, CNN’s Anderson Cooper, Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Human Rights lawyer Amal Clooney and Hollywood powerhouse Charlize Theron. Her recent response to Covid-19 saw her pivoting her psychology practice to providing virtual public material to help those affected psychologically, as well as conducting pro bono therapy sessions for frontline Malaysian doctors and nurses. Together with her husband, she procured 1,200 personal protective equipment and five ventilators which were donated to rural hospitals in Borneo and Papua Indonesia.
In your trailblazing path, you have faced continual challenges and perceived limits. What keeps you motivated?
One of the biggest challenges for me is actually gender. Being female. There are a couple of things which have kept me motivated. The first are the people that have come before, have blazed a path in their own right and have made it so much easier. I think everyone needs to have a personal philosophy to which they can turn when things become hard and dark, trust that it will. It could be a grounding practice, it could be meditation, it could be yoga, it could be your favourite philosopher, but have something you turn to on a regular basis.
Why have you chosen trauma management as a speciality and was there a catalyst which made this a calling for you?
In human rights language, we speak about things called micro-aggressions. So going to school abroad people would say things like, “oh you speak English pretty well”. My thought was “of course I speak English well – how do you think about Asian people?” The colour of my skin for example offering me the opportunity to endorse a very lucrative modelling campaign for Fair and Lovely which is a whitening cream. I turned it down even though I was a student and had student loans, it struck me as bizarre, unnatural, and colourist. Like I mentioned earlier about gender, there is a lot to be said about toxic masculinity and male entitlement. I have had discriminatory in laws, have been threatened violence for not marrying within royalty, and held at gunpoint with my husband on the last day of our wedding. In sum, lots of people actually experience trauma and my main take away is that you can actually get through it with a proper thought process and practice. I sit here today and I can actually say there is hardly any trauma.
With the Covid-19 situation – you moved quickly to support the rural hospitals and to provide pro bono therapy for Malaysian frontliners. What were some of the factors which enabled such a speedy mobilisation from thought to action?
Respectfully, I noticed in my education experiences across the world, many times people don’t know what they are doing or talking about. It can be countries, the leaders within those countries, it can be the population itself. I have learnt to think very independently, critically, and most of all, I really trust myself. So why wait for other people – that’s a sort of group psychology or group think. I think every individual can make a ripple difference, so my husband and I, we teamed up and immediately we were able to provide ventilators to rural hospitals, we procured properly the right material for personal protective gear (PPE) and I tend to ask the questions that no one is asking or wants to ask. In the case of Covid-19, the people we tend to take for granted i.e. our doctors and that they are going to be there for us, but who are there for the doctors? The kind of stress and trauma they are going through to uphold their medical oath is on another level. I count myself as having many doctors as colleagues and friends. It’s unbelievable that every time they entered a hospital, they were putting themselves and their families at great risk to treat the citizens of Malaysia with dwindling supplies if at all. The least I can do is listen. And obviously I’m not going to charge for that.
How has the Amnesty International appointment factored in your everyday – with this responsibility, and being the rare psychologist in the movement – what do you hope to bring to the table?
When you start understanding human rights, your life, it will never be the same. So there is a lens in which you view the world and hopefully treat every human being with dignity and respect. In so many ways our artificially created differences around race, ethnicity, religion, what we use to discriminate against, that hopefully falls away. I put in the hours at Amnesty as if it were another full time job. It is a volunteer position but one that I take quite seriously as the Global Assembly (multiple countries) have put their faith in us. Every day is a study in human rights and how to think about it in a rapidly changing world. As a psychologist I hope to contribute to the wellbeing movement and strategy at Amnesty.
What has been the most valuable life lesson on this journey in life from your early years up till this point?
I think the biggest lesson I have imbibed is through archiving old modelling photos and photos from the past, when I was doing my degrees etc. There was a sense of worry, I wouldn’t say anxiety, but a worry if everything will be okay, will I land on my feet. And you know, my message, especially to young people is that you will land on your feet. I think the message from parents and this is passed down inter-generationally is “the world is an unsafe place, everyone is out to get you, it’s a dog-eat-dog world,” and no wonder people are afraid. But actually my message and I review it up till today, is that there is enough space for everyone to shine. And it doesn’t need to be cut throat, everybody has a place under the sun. So if you can carry on in life with that sort of outlook, you can save yourself years of wondering if everything is going to be okay. It’s actually always okay. No matter what happens, and believe me, I’ve seen a lot. Someday I’ll write a book. But it doesn’t keep me down. Because nothing is an end until you actually die. There’s always a way to come back from it based on how you think.
What do you like about the Tiffany T T1 Collection?
Fashion is something seasonal – but style is eternal. And what I really like about the jewellery I was wearing today is that I find yellow gold too bling-bling and brash – but rose gold is absolute femininity and still packs power. I’m practical because I have a lot on my plate, so this is something I can wear to a human rights board meeting, it’s something I can to talk to my therapy clients with, and it’s something I can go catch a drink with my husband with. So it accompanies a woman all throughout the day which is just beautiful. It’s neither too less nor too much, it is balanced.
On Dr Anjhula:
Tiffany T T1 wide diamond ring in 18k rose gold, T T1 narrow diamond hinged bangle in 18k rose gold, Tiffany HardWear link pendant in sterling silver.
Videography: Felix Khu/Shepherd Studios
Art Direction & Styling: Wee Chee
Hair: Bibian Leong and Keith Ong
Makeup: DECORTÉ Malaysia
Location courtesy of: EQ Kuala Lumpur
