The Wedding Photo That Became National News in Singapore

Her wedding portrait appeared on an outdoor stage in Singapore, faces cut out, as a Hari Raya decoration. She never agreed to it. She spoke up, and it became a national story. Most people saw the headlines. They did not see what came after: the harassment, the smear campaign, the friends who disappeared. Sarah Bagharib has never told that part in full until now. She has spent her whole life being told which box she belongs in. She grew up wanting to be Malay. On paper, she is filed under “Others.” So what do you do when no box fits? She decided to build her own. Now a mother of two, she is raising a daughter who asks questions most adults avoid. Some parents have opinions on how Sarah answers them. Press play for the version of the story the news never ran. It will stay with you long after bedtime. About the Guest Sarah Bagharib is a storyteller, TEDx speaker, emcee and coach. She is the founder of women’s platform Crazy Cat and host of the podcast Nusantara Women Conversations. She calls herself a minority within a minority (Arab, Javanese and Minangkabau roots in a Malay-majority community), and she now teaches women to own their stories before anyone else writes them. Links: Instagram: @sarahbagharib Crazy Cat: @hellocrazycat Nusantara Women Conversations: YouTube, Spotify What You’ll Take Away What a wedding portrait has to do with Hari Raya, and why the answer is the whole problem Why the use of her wedding portrait was not the part that hurt most The police report she wanted to make, and the reason she never filed it What choosing a co-founder for Crazy Cat revealed about what she had absorbed without realising The word she would ban from every introduction of her What happens to family dinner plans when a seven-year-old runs the “boycott police” The question people should stop asking minority women (and what to do instead) IN THIS EPISODE: 00:00 Teaser 01:01 Meet Sarah Bagharib: Storytelling, Identity & Belonging 02:33 What It Means to Be a Minority Within a Minority 02:58 Growing Up Desperate to Belong 03:52 Heritage, Identity & Being Put in the “Others” Box 05:47 Why Do Minorities Get the Qualified Compliment? 07:13 The Wedding Photo That Changed Everything 10:41 What Happened After Sarah Spoke Up 19:01 Building Crazy Cat & Refusing to Stay in One Box 22:12 Why So Many Women Think Their Stories Don’t Matter 23:25 Finding Belonging Through the Nusantara Podcast 27:07 Faith, Palestine & Choosing to Speak Up 31:00 How Sarah Talks to Her Kids About the World 34:19 Motherhood, People-Pleasing & Healing Through Her Daughter 38:25 Rapid Fire: Identity, Labels & What People Should Stop Asking 40:07 Faz’s Top Three Takeaways Connect with Growing Pains Growing Pains is HoneyKids Asia’s podcast for the conversations you want to have after the kids go to bed. YouTube: @growingpains.honeykids Instagram: @honeykidsasia Website: honeykidsasia.com Hit subscribe so you don’t miss an episode. If this one resonated, share it with a parent who needs it. Growing Pains is produced in partnership with Poddster, Singapore’s podcast studio.