SHE might not consider herself an extraordinary woman, but the 10,000 women who visit Ms Molly Lee’s website to follow her battle with cancer and share their experiences with one other would probably beg to differ.

Diagnosed with ovarian cancer two years ago while planning for her wedding, Ms Lee started a website last year for women with cancer to come together and support one other by sharing their knowledge and experiences.

For creating and becoming a source of comfort to women even while battling cancer herself, Ms Lee, a home-maker, was chosen out of eight finalists to receive the inaugural Singapore Woman Award yesterday evening.

“I think women find a lot of comfort in knowing that they are not alone and reading about how other people deal with what is happening to them,” said Ms Lee, 32, who is now battling her second relapse.

“It gives them a lot of encouragement,” added the woman who had gone for her chemotherapy session before heading to the Pan Pacific Hotel for the ceremony.

Organised by Vanilla magazine as part of MediaCorp’s “MediaCorp Celebrates Women” initiative, the award was created to honour the heroic efforts of ordinary women.

Judging committee chairwoman and International Women’s Forum president Laura Hwang said: “When you look at these ordinary women and what they have done, you feel inspired and you might think: ‘I can do it, too.’ That was something we kept in mind when we were doing the judging.”

Such awards help to draw the public’s attention to their achievements, said MediaCorp deputy chief executive officer (News, Print and Radio) Shaun Seow. “We can inspire and get people to do even better by showing them what others have managed to do.”

For Ms Lee, the unexpected benefit of starting an online support group was the personal support she received from the women who visit her website.
“I was shy about sharing my own experiences, but in order to get women to share, I had to come out and share my own experiences first. And then, I find so much encouragement from all these women,” she said. “Now, apart from my husband and family, I know I have a whole group of wonder women who are behind me, too.”

Her husband Josef Lee, who nominated her for the award, said: “She has gone through a lot, but she still makes the effort to help others. Many people have told us how inspired they were by her.”

Also honoured yesterday evening was Heart to Heart Community Service’s Ms Teresa Hsu, who received a special Lifetime Achievement Award.

TODAY