Sim Yi Hui, Co-Leader of the Singapore Women’s Everest Team, shares her adventure to conquer the world’s highest peak

The human race is literally in a human race. Everybody is racing forward to better themselves. However, if progress means taking the effort to overcome barriers and challenges, why do we still want to progress?

The quest for progress is an investment for a specific return. The more challenges you put yourself through, the more yields you expect in return. As such, what sort of challenges would you want to put yourself through to improve?

Extreme environments and dramatic landscapes have always fascinated and inspired Sim Yi Hui. This inspiration stemmed from reading stories of early explorers like Freya Stark and Mildred Cable. They stirred her appetite for adventure by their sense of purpose in what they set out to do in harsh environments.

In 2009, Yi Hui and her team decided to challenge themselves—to climb the daunting Mount Everest, which stands at 8,848 metres in height.

Even after much training, Everest still proved to be very demanding. Besides the extreme cold temperatures which could plunge to -40ºC, they had to face the risks of threatening avalanches and deep crevasses.

As the team neared the summit, Yi Hui met with a huge setback. She suddenly developed a chest condition which could prove fatal higher up the mountain. This was where she had to make one of the most difficult decisions of her life—whether to continue the journey or not. Going on meant putting her team at increased risk. Turning back meant not reaching the summit after five years of training. Moreover, getting help or rescue could endanger the lives of the people who would come to her rescue.

“This was where she had to make one of the most difficult decisions of her life — whether to continue the journey or not. Going on meant putting her team at increased risk. Turning back meant not reaching the summit after five years of training.”

After much deliberation, Yi Hui decided to stay back. She waited in both agony and anticipation till finally, she received news that the rest of the Singapore Women’s Everest Team had summited Everest. This was a significant moment. Not only did they beat the odds and accomplished huge personal achievements, it also marked a proud moment for Singapore. They were the first group of Singaporean women who conquered the peak. While Yi Hui felt extremely happy with the team’s success, she had to reconcile that with her own personal disappointment.

Was she considered a failure? What did success really mean to her? After some reflection, Yi Hui recalled that her team agreed that to have just one of the members standing on the summit would mean success for the team. In her decision to stay back, she put the team before herself and that, was true teamwork in action.

Back from Everest, Yi Hui is now working in the Raffles Institute of Experiential Learning, where she feels is an authentic platform to help young people understand themselves, experience the world and make decisions that have real life consequences. Through sports and outdoor activities, she sees that there are a lot of leadership traits that can be honed, such as resilience and the ability to operate in the unknown.

This is not a story commonly heard. We celebrate the success of the six women who made their way to the peak. We salute Yi Hui for the courage to place others before her, so her team and Singapore wins. We believe her story and work now have much to contribute towards building young leaders.