1st Singaporean woman to reach South Pole

(Photo: Unk Dicko's photo archives )

Sophia Pang becomes first S'porean woman to reach South PoleBy Imelda Saad, Channel NewsAsia Posted: 30 December 2009 1929 hrs

SINGAPORE: Singaporean Sophia Pang, a mother of three, has become the first woman here to reach the South Pole. She joined six other participants from Commonwealth countries - Cyprus, Ghana, India, Brunei, New Zealand, and United Kingdom - to complete the gruelling journey. The group had set off from the Antarctic coast on November 19. They met their target to reach the South Pole on New Year's Day. The triumphant team faced biting temperatures of up to minus 40 degrees Celsius, as they skied 900 kilometres to the South Pole. The expedition marks the 60th anniversary of the Commonwealth. - CNA/sc

2009, A Fantastic Year for S'pore Women...Cabinet,EVEREST, Antarctica !

What a fantastic year 2009 has been for Singapore and especially for the ladies of Singapore in the world of adventurism!

In May, 5 out of 6 members of Singapore's Women Mount Everest Expedition made spectacular and awesome history when they stepped on the summit of the highest point in the world....Mt Everest. I remember proudly calling D2 to break the news to her as soon as I found out. As a member of Singapore's 1st Gunung Tahan Expedition team 1969, unk Dicko and certainly other fellow members, share a great sense of pride, joy and satisfaction with the success of this women team. Our heartiest Congratulations!

And in March this year, in a brave and bold move, the Singapore Cabinet appointed our first full woman Minister in the person of Mrs Lim Hwee Hua, MP for Serangoon Gardens. Previous to this, she was a Senior Minister of State, holding two portfolios. It has taken nearly 50 years to see this 'psychological barrier' broken. As a result of this, more and more women will be able to step forward confidently and take up new challenges that once were thought unthinkable. I had blogged about this historic breakthrough appointment. You can read it HERE.

And one person, one super lady who has stepped forward confidently to 'take up a completely new and unimaginable CHALLENGE' is the subject of this blogpost...SOPHIA PANG, S'pore's team representative to this all women polar expedition. Having met and spoken with her, Unk Dicko is confident that come 1st January 2010, SOPHIA will go into the history book as the first Singapore woman to have conquered the South Pole.

Let us all as fellow Singaporeans wish her and her team "a Safe and Successful expedition". Between now and her return, you can read up interesting details about the expedition on their official website which is "live" with tweeter etc.

Those of you who might be wondering about how they would cope in those harsh and extreme conditions with regards to their food, water, health, sleep, hygiene, toilet, communication, direction finding, travel, pulling sleds ( 80 kg! ) etc..., just click on the link to their website below. There are lots of photos too.

http://www.kasperskycommonwealthexpedition.com/

I hope readers will send their good wishes or messages in the comment box.
Sophia is aware that I will be blogging about her journey and we will keep in touch.

Singaporean aiming for South Pole history!

Photo: map of the South Pole

There are 3 extreme points on our planet which have always beckoned to be conquered...the North Pole, the South Pole and Mt Everest - the highest mountain on earth. The geographical North Pole actually lies over a portion of frozen ocean ice that can shift. The South Pole lies about 93o km from the Ross Ice Shelf in the heart of Antartica itself.
All 3 extreme points have been first conquered by bold men who have since left their footprints in history.
Everest, earth's highest point was first scaled by SirEdmund Hillary(New Zealand) and Tenzing Norgay(Nepal) on 29 May 1953.
The North Pole was by American Navy engineer Robert Peary, Matthew Henson and 4 Inuit men on 6 April 1909..although some disputed this, the event has mainly remained.
About two years later, the race to be the first to conquer the South Pole began with 2 different teams...one from Norway and the other from Britain that would result in fame for the history-making team and great tragedy for the other.
The polar expedition to the South Pole led by Roald Amundsen and 4 other fellow Norwegians reached their objective on 14 December 1911.
Photo: The Norway team and the flag they planted in 1911.

The British expedition led by Robert Falcon Scott managed to reach the South Pole...34 days after Amundsen. They were greatly disappointed to see the Norway flag and Amundsen's tent fluttering at the spot. While Amundsen and his team made it back safely to a hero's welcome, it was not to be for Captain Scott and his 4 other team members. They perished in the return leg, caught up by blizzards, extreme weariness, the bitter cold, lack of food and all their horses had died. Yes, they made the fatal mistake of using horses which were not suited to the extreme cold and conditions. Amundsen used polar dogs.
However, the irony remains that in their tragic South Pole trek, Robert Scott and his ill-fated team became even more famous and well-known than the survivors..to the world at large. Unk Dicko remembers reading that famous book ' Captain Scott's Last Expedition' from end to end several times.

Photo: Captain Scott and his men...

Oates, Wilson, Evans and Henry Bowers who took the picture. The tent belonged to Amundsen's team with the Norway flag fluttering.





Photo: Captain Scott and his team after planting the British flag.

Photo: The London Herald announced the death of Scott and his expedition members in February 1913.

The news of the tragedy was kept under wraps from the public for certain reasons in 1912.


In the years since then, many adventurers have landed at the south pole...including our very own from Singapore -intrepid Khoo Swee Chiow in 1999 and followed by Edwin Siew and Robert Goh in 2000.

The Antartica is no ordinary adventure playground!

It requires a tremendous amount of preparation, skill

and funding to launch an expedition to the pole.

So...WHO is this latest SINGAPOREAN aiming to be the first Singaporean (-----) to reach one of the three ultimate geographical spots on earth?

To find out ,don't miss my next blogpost with many photos of this most truly inspiring and remarkable adventurer newbie! First person report and pics by Unk Dicko.