KUCHING: On a sweltering February afternoon in 2012, a young Singaporean named Nah Wai Murn stepped off a plane in Kuching, ready to begin her married life in her husband’s hometown.
She was struck by the city’s modern skyline set against evergreen natural landscapes. Never in her wildest dream then, did she expect that this place would become the ground where she would pour her heart into helping young people and families in need.
Thirteen years later, Nah is known not just a wife or an entrepreneur, and for those she met and helped, she is a woman whose energy and kindness have touched their lives.
Her mission has been simple yet profound: to guide young people struggling with drugs toward second chances, to support mothers searching for independence, and to bring hope into kampung communities.
“I want to be happy, and I want people around me to be happy too,” she said, describing her philosophy with a smile.
Narrating her early days in Kuching, Nah said her husband, Lee Chia Soon, was already involved in volunteer work.
He would bring youths around his neighbourhood battling drug dependency to play basketball, share meals, and listen to their struggles. Nah joined him without hesitation.
“If this is the happiness my husband is seeking, then I as a wife have to be supportive,” she recalled.
Over time, support turned into a shared mission. The couple used their own salaries to fund activities, often stretching their resources to the limit.
“There were days when we both ran out of money and didn’t know where to turn,” Nah recalled. Yet, despite the challenges, she spoke with no regrets.
“The true reward is seeing a young person walk away from drugs, or a mother finding the confidence to stand on her own. That is more valuable than dollar and cents.”
When Lee joined the Squad Anti Dadah in 2014, Nah’s role deepened. The couple threw themselves into research, learning about the substances circulating among local youth, the challenges of relapse, the ‘know-how’ to deal with them and realised the importance of halfway homes.
“Relapse is not failure,” she explained. What truly helps is patience, encouragement, and family support. Care and understanding give them the strength to continue moving forward.”
To supplement their income, Nah created Crafter’s Studio in 2018, a social enterprise producing handmade, chemical-free goods while also empowering women and families.
She became an educator and mentor, teaching skills from cooking to soap-making and passing them on to recovering addicts, single mothers, and kampung communities. Each workshop, she believed, would help those attending the skills, dignity and confidence.
Despite all she has done, Nah is not a name many people know. She has always kept a low profile, content simply to help in her own ways without seeking recognition.
What matters to her is seeing lives rebuilt, mothers gaining independence, and children choosing brighter paths.
This November 2025, Crafter’s Studio will return to Singapore, where Nah plans to continue her work in sustainability and social impact.
She will conduct workshops through the Singapore Culture Pass and collaborate with national agencies to promote heritage crafts while still championing women’s empowerment and social causes there.
Leaving Sarawak is bittersweet. “There are many things here I still want to do despite being here for thirteen years, but it’s time to let go first,” she said.
“I hope to open a women’s halfway house here still. My dream thirteen years ago has never changed.”
For now, her focus will be on building the next chapter in Singapore. But Nah’s story with Sarawak is not over.
One day, she intends to return, to keep her promise and finally bring to life the halfway home she and her husband dreamed of for so long.
By Connie Chieng