SINGAPORE - She is an entrepreneur, a jewellery designer, a mother, a grandmother and a philanthropist.

But Esther Ho, 60, did not start out that way.

“I did not complete my secondary school education. In fact, I dropped out at Secondary 2 and got married at 22. He was a former schoolmate and an Indonesian. We were very young when we got married, and got married for the wrong reasons. He was returning to Indonesia so we tied the knot, but the marriage did not last,” she said.

In 1990, her husband left her, leaving her stranded and struggling to care for her young daughter on her own. Until the divorce, she had never worked a single day in her life.

“I was not even allowed to let others, my relatives included, know I was divorced because, at that time, it was considered a source of shame. I told myself that as long as I was willing to work hard, I could raise my daughter on my own.”

Ms Ho had stayed single since.

With a little mouth to feed, Ms Ho quickly found a job as a junior apprentice learning the ropes in sales and marketing.

“Back then, there weren’t any courses or degrees in this field. I had to learn everything on the job. The company I worked for was dealing with Japanese tourists, who were a major market for Singapore in the 1990s. Through sales interactions with them, I picked up the language,” she said.

Seeking to improve her situation, Ms Ho scanned the newspapers and saw a job posting for a buyer at Italian luxury brand Prada. It was 1992 and the brand was making its entry into the Singapore market.

“At the time, I had never even heard of the brand. I must have impressed them because I was hired not only as a buyer but also as the boutique manager,” she said.

“I was a dreamer then – I still am – and being a dreamer, I never did well in school. I was not even serious about school,” she said.