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Seeing the Good in the Bad
Sunitha Pillay shares the importance of spreading positivity despite her struggles during the COVID-19 period.
By Phylicia Law
Sunitha Pillay, 27, is the founder of NISWARA and shares about her challenges and successes. Photo by: Karnan Krishnan
When COVID-19 hit Singapore and non-essential businesses were being shut down, Ms Sunitha Pillay, 27, was at one of the lowest points in her life.
The Circuit Breaker was soon implemented in Singapore, Ms Pillay’s business suffered a huge blow and she practically lost her income.
“During the Circuit Breaker period, everything was shut down, and I couldn’t work or do anything,” Ms Pillay says. “Even if I sew clothes, no one is going to buy because everyone is in a difficult state.”
What made this harder for Ms Pillay was that her whole adult life revolved around her business and that it made her very uneasy to stop doing what she was passionate about.
Ms Pillay’s challenges with her online fashion and events business, NISWARA, during the Circuit Breaker period is a common one among businesses. According to Channel News Asia (CNA), a study consisting of 200 local small-and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) found that 47 per cent of respondents foresee a decrease in revenue in 2020 due to the coronavirus.
Even though Ms Pillay struggled during the Circuit Breaker period, she discovered a silver lining to this situation.
She started The Designa Swag on Instagram during this Circuit Breaker period, where she creates and posts illustrations that relate to her everyday life. “Without typing or talking, I make my artwork speak of the current situation that I am in, so I felt that that really motivated me and that really kept me sane,” Ms Pillay said.
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During the Circuit Breaker, she found a group of followers and they started checking in with one another regularly.
Ms Shanthi D/o Arumugam, 38, is a part of this group of followers. She has been a friend and client of Ms Pillay since 2016, continues to support Ms Pillay by reviewing and promoting Ms Pillay’s products on her Instagram platform. “I need to support a young person with bright ideas. Young minds need to be assured and encouraged at least that's how I feel!” says Ms Arumugam.
While Ms Pillay’s followers were usually the ones supporting her, Ms Pillay took on the role of the supporter by inspiring her followers to continue doing what they enjoy doing despite going through a tough time right now. “I felt that we need to support one another,” she says.
It was not easy for Ms Pillay to be a young entrepreneur, one reason being her parents not supporting the idea of her running a business. “We were worried that she would not be able to get a stable income and have a successful career. We were also concerned if she would be able to run a business all by herself,” says Mr A Suresh Pillay, her father. Even till now, he and his wife would rather Ms Pillay have a stable job and income even though they feel that her happiness is the most important to them.
Ms Pillay expressed that being a woman of a minority race in Singapore is also a big challenge for her because she has to work harder to be recognized. “Being a minority was definitely tough in a sense of being judged or slimmer opportunities compared to being a majority in the community,” she says. However, Ms Pillay received a confidence boost when she was awarded one of the Top Ten Young Entrepreneurs in Singapore in 2018 by the Top 10 of Asia magazine.
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Ms Pillay organised a “Let’s Inspire” event last year which brought different groups of people together to share their aspirations and struggles. She remembered meeting a young man who was studying engineering even though he was interested in baking and was pressured by the fact that it was unconventional for boys to bake. After supporting this young man by providing words of encouragement, Ms Pillay realized how gestures and opportunities like these will really keep people going because people will realise that they are not the only one facing similar struggles, which she felt was her biggest achievement from this event.
Ms Pillay’s journey has been fraught with difficulty but she wouldn’t have wanted it any other way and she advises others not to give up on their dreams. “If you don’t struggle, you will not succeed… because if you don’t struggle to get something that you want and get it very easily, you are going to take things for granted and it is not going to last,” Ms Pillay says.
13 July 2020
About the Author
Phylicia Law
Phylicia is a passionate writer who loves learning more about others and sharing their stories. She actively seeks out new story ideas and is always excited to share them with the world.
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