Judith Yong and Esme Baptista: The Journalists Who Shaped Singapore’s Fashion Reportage

Jul 11

By Eldrick Cheong

In the world of fashion, the spotlight is often cast on the designers, makers, creative directors and models, leaving little to no space for fashion reporters. But in Singapore, two fashion reporters, Judith Yong and Esme Baptista, serve as the lens through which we glean fashion.

Introduction

In the world of fashion, attention is often spared on the designers, makers, creative directors and models, leaving little to no space for fashion reporters. Although this is largely due to the fact that said reporters are the ones casting the spotlight on the fashion entities, the fact of the matter is that no one would have heard of the latest fashion, less people of the upper echelons privy to the inner workings of fashion, if not for the fashion reporters toiling laboriously for updates on the latest trends. Reportage in magazines and newspapers by fashion editors and reporters brings the world of fashion to the world. In an age bereft of the internet and social media, the role played by these fashion reporters were presumably indispensable. In the case of Singapore from the 1950s to the 1970s, this was certainly the case, as can be seen in the works of journalists, Judith Yong and Esme Baptista. Singapore in the later half of the 20th century was marked by upheavals, beginning with the Maria Hertogh riots in 1950, the separation from Malaysia in 1965, as well as alleged communist insurrections in Operation Coldstore and Operation Spectrum subsequently. Against this backdrop, fashion continued to flourish, evidenced by the myriad of newspaper reports in The Straits Times and The Singapore Free Press.

Esme Baptiste

Figure 1. Photograph of Esme Baptista, 1960 (Taken from: NAS)

A columnist for newspaper publishing company, The Straits Times, Esme Baptista wrote primarily on fashion, including features from the latest trend that struck the coast of Singapore to interviews with figures engaged in fashion in one way or the other. A few of such latest trends included the brushed-up hair (coiffures) of women and the latest “craze on the beach” with fisherman handbags and gay hats in the 1950s. Within such articles, Baptista also infused her own take on the latest fashion, advising women not to blindly follow them but rather adopt them in accordance with their own physique. Some of the factors that she thought women should consider included the shape of one’s head, the width of one’s forehead, the length of one’s face and naturally, one’s body size, depending on the type of clothing it is. Meanwhile, interviews with business managers like Mr G.E.Verall of Shiro China, drew attention to ways women could enhance the looks of their face through the wonders of make-up, in particular, eye make-up.

Her interview series was diverse, as seen in the range of interviewees, from civilian figures to personalities directly involved with the fashion scene. The feature of Grandma Roberts as the “Dior of Singapore’s Little Girls” spotlighted the conscientious and dedicated efforts of individuals in Singapore for fashion. This also attests to the diverse and all-rounded nature of fashion within Singapore, where both adult wear and kids wear have a part to play in the local fashion scene. Here, fashion is shown not to be merely the locus of a few high-flying figures. Instead, it can also serve as the domain through which seemingly ordinary denizens of Singapore display their talents and passion for their own cut-and-sewn pieces. Baptista’s reportage, in this case, democratises the role of fashion by demonstrating that fashion is everyone’s and anyone’s domain. Models such as Violet Neo and Kisane Davis are also featured where they talk about their then-current life plans. Neo was interviewed for being the first girl to learn flying with the Singapore General Aviation Services in Seletar, while Davis was featured for leaving for Australia so as to find better full-time modelling gigs. The hustle and bustle of these popular figures within the fashion world, when placed alongside individuals who casually dabble in fashion, lowers fashion’s status from its ivory tower. This is done not just by bringing fashion forward for the readers of Singapore, but also showing that it is possible to partake in fashion, regardless of who you are. Granted, these articles were not necessarily placed next to one another, chronologically speaking.

But, taken together as editorial outputs of Baptista, we can see just how she has managed to broaden the landscape of fashion from being an exclusive and inaccessible domain to one that is accessible and inclusive. As seen in the article titled, “They’ve given the Sari glamour…”, Baptista elevates the Sari – a traditional Indian garment (Lynton, 1995) – from ordinary Indian wear to a piece of high fashion that (although conventionally designed for the few) can be enjoyed by many. She explicitly states at the start of the article, “The Sari, though strict in its graceful flowing lines, is becoming more glamorous.”

Judith Yong

Alongside Baptista, and also working on the coast of Singapore was journalist Judith Yong. The comparison of the two reporters cannot be any starker. Not one to mince her words, Yong is a fiery reporter who is unafraid of bringing her mind across. In “Legs – and how not to wear them”, she asserts her opinion, from the outset, on the dismal state of Singaporean ladies in every international beauty contest, claiming that the reason lies in their legs. It’s worth quoting her in full:

Not that Singapore girls are not beautiful. On this score they are more than all right. They have pretty faces and shapely figures.
But when it comes to legs, they are just not in the pictures.

As such, while Baptista’s articles are mostly centred on descriptive reportage of the state of fashion in Singapore, Yong’s article extends further to include the state of her mind, which makes her articles pretty fun to read. As a result, more than a journalist, Yong also strikes one as a public intellectual in the domain of fashion. It is perhaps for this reason that she takes up the heavy duty of advising women on how to look their best. For instance, changing skin-care routines is necessary as one’s skin profile changes as one ages. Furthermore, not falling for passing fads was also seen as a way of keeping out of fashionable items that the producers entice you to consume. Here, Yong warns us “daft deluded little babies” of falling for the new transparent blouse that is making waves in the Parisian fashion circle in 1968.

Yong also takes a patriotic stab at people who guffaw at the idea of Singapore becoming the centre of fashion in an affirmatively titled piece “Yes, we could be the centre of high style”. Listing the increasing numbers of made-in-Singapore items, in conjunction with the Italian Fortnight (a fashion show exhibiting Italian pieces), as well as a 60-outfit collection by a local fashion house that was flown to Hong Kong for a series of shows, Yong stakes her claim that Singapore, more than an industrial city, can become a fashion-powered city. Whether or not this is true or has become true, her willingness to stand by her conviction showcases not only a sense of self-assuredness, but also remarkable prescience in such a time as the 1960s.

Given that the fashion designer, Christian Dior, was extremely popular in the 20th century, it is no surprise that Yong also wrote a piece on Dior. However, hers was no Grandma Roberts (though this is not to insinuate that Grandma Roberts is any less significant). Led by an employee of Dior in Paris, Yong walks us through the House of Dior, through its Haute Couture section to its colifichets section, then to its ready-to-wear, men’s counter and cradle section. She transports us to the fashion capital of the world through her reportage. Towards the end, she casually but assertively states her own opinion on the fashion capital, “And you will then see why the label ‘Fashion Capital of the World’ is the tag for this city”.

Perhaps the differences between both Yong and Baptista can be seen along organisational lines, but such a differentiation would make for a boring comparison. After all, there are some common features tied to organisational requirements. For instance, both had a dedicated column for women only – Baptista’s “Esme Baptista presents a page of news for women” and Yong’s “Women, Home and Fashion”. Hence, it is worthwhile pushing forth a viewpoint that goes beyond comparing differences along organisational lines and here, I suggest that both reporters carried the torch of democratising fashion. This can be seen in a twofold manner: their reportage made fashion more accessible for the general public, considering that laymen who have access to the news, thereby know the latest trends of fashion.

They also make fashion seem less of a domain catered to the select few, whether this was done through interviews on regular residents of Singapore with their foot in fashion or through the fact that as reporters, they were able to input their own opinions (in their own distinct manner) on the state of fashion. The latter suggests that as reporters, their responsibility in writing and penning articles could be extended to being information carriers, particularly for women who lacked access to information given their dominant roles as caregivers in the 1950s through the 1970s.

At the same time, they literally put Singapore on the map. Be it articles on Singaporean models, fashion designers, or the hosting of fashion shows in Singapore, both Yong and Baptista brought the little red dot to the world of fashion. Such reports have the potential to influence the way people see Singapore, not just as an industrial and utilitarian state, but also one with the capacity for such endeavours as fashion. Even if such an opinion of Singapore could not be cultivated during those times, a retrospective and unitary look certainly allows one to view Singapore in a new light – one that goes beyond epithets like ‘Garden City’.

Concluding Remarks

After the 1970s, fashion columns like the ones by Baptista and Yong became less prevalent in newspapers. Instead, fashion reportage in newspapers during the 1980s was characterised by a focus on consumption, but also a collective sense of ‘self’ which has its governing principles of consuming within “decent, modest and productive” constructs. This possibly meant that the personal voices of reporters like Baptista and Yong had to be curtailed in order to provide a more homogenous front for newspaper companies. While fashion continued to be featured, albeit in disparate articles written by a few reporters, the sense of cohesion found in the articles written by Yong and Baptista themselves could no longer be seen. This was most evident in the disappearance of dedicated fashion columns like the aforementioned Baptista’s “Esme Baptista presents a page of news for women” and Yong’s “Women, Home and Fashion”. Nevertheless, their reportage will leave an everlasting mark as being one of the first few articles to open up the milieu of fashion to others and make it less exclusive and inaccessible to many.