Ho Lye Toh

Ho Lye Toh (born 1923) is a Singaporean retired weightlifter and a three times former Miss Singapore.[1][2][3][4]
Biography
[edit]Toh's father was Ho Peng Khoen, a school teacher and Malayan weightlifting champion. He encouraged Ho to weightlift in order to build up her strength, rewarding her with small gifts as she lifted greater weights. Eventually she mastered the snatch-lift.
Ho also entered beauty pageants winning several times but was forced to stop following the Japanese invasion of Singapore during World War II. She tried again after the war but her boyfriend asked her to stop as she was too successful.
Ho married a photographer at the age of 28, and give birth to her first child at 29. Her husband died at the age of 59.[3]
Ho has spoken out in favour of dementia-related causes, and supported the Enabling Festival in 2018.[5]
References
[edit]- ^ The weight lifter and three-time Miss Singapore great-grandma. Alyssa Woo, contented, 20 April 2015. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
- ^ Singapore's 1940s teenage weightlifting beauty queen. Heather Chen, BBC News, 7 August 2015. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
- ^ a b Varma, Ankita (9 August 2015). "Singapore's Golden Girls". The Straits Times. Retrieved 3 February 2025.
- ^ ""Miss Singapore" For 2nd Time". The Straits Times. 30 June 1947. p. 2. Retrieved 3 February 2025.
- ^ "Thank You Ho Lye Toh (The Enabling Festival 2018)". Enable Asia on YouTube. 17 August 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2025.