Sophia Pang (born 1972) is a Singaporean adventurer. She is the first woman from Singapore to reach the South Pole.

Sophia Pang
Born1972 (age 51–52)
Alma materNanyang Business School
OccupationAdventurer
Known forFirst woman from Singapore to reach South Pole

Biography

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Pang graduated from Nanyang Business School in 1994.[1] Before Pang left on her Antarctic expedition, she used to teach classes as a freelance fitness instructor.[2]

In August 2008, she found an online application for women to represent their country in Antarctica and she decided to apply.[3] She eventually beat out 70 other applicants to take the spot to travel to the South Pole.[3] She joined a team, that was later funded by Kaspersky Lab, called the Kaspersky Commonwealth Antarctic Expedition, and which included women from New Zealand, Jamaica, India, United Kingdom, Cyprus, Ghana and Brunei.[4][5] Pang was the person who secured the Kaspersky sponsorship for the team by contacting their Singapore distributor.[4]

Pang underwent a five-month training program to get ready for the trip.[1] The expedition left on 22 November 2009 from Messner Start, which is around 900 kilometers from the pole.[6][1] Pang and her team reached the South Pole at around 10 am, Singapore Time, on 30 December 2009.[7]

Pang was inducted into the Singapore Women's Hall of Fame in 2014.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Sophia Pang". Singapore Women's Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2017-11-13.
  2. ^ Chong, April (28 January 2010). "Fresh from Her South Pole Expedition, Mother-of-Three Sophia Pang Has Dreams of Conquering the North Pole, Too, One Day". The Straits Times. Retrieved 11 November 2017 – via LexisNexis.
  3. ^ a b Teo, Wan Gek (7 June 2009). "Mum of Three Sets Her Sights on South Pole". The Straits Times. Retrieved 11 November 2017 – via LexisNexis.
  4. ^ a b Chua, Grace (21 September 2009). "South Pole Team Clears Funding Hurdle". The Straits Times. Retrieved 11 November 2017 – via LexisNexis.
  5. ^ "Pakistan: Eight intrepid women to set out on Antarctic expedition". Daily the Pak Banker. 3 October 2009. Retrieved 13 November 2017 – via LexisNexis.
  6. ^ "First Cypriot to reach the South Pole" Archived 2010-01-02 at the Wayback Machine, Cyprus Mail, January 1, 2010
  7. ^ Chua, Grace (31 December 2009). "First S'pore woman to reach South Pole".