Colourless Sora Ma and her years of pilgrimage

Sora Ma isn’t the sort of actress who hogs the headlines or attracts controversy. She might not even be the one you notice first in a line-up of artistes because of her calm demeanour and her penchant for wearing sleek, understated, white or black outfits 
at events.

In fact, as she declared to us: “There’s nothing very interesting about me.”

Even her diet is, quite literally, colourless (“I eat the same thing every week — banmian — up to three times a week, and chicken rice”) and when it comes to her showbiz career, which is five years old, she said: “I don’t think I am the kind who shoots to success. I put one step in front 
of another.”

That’s why it’s surprising that her favourite hobby is covering canvases with riots of colour. The 31-year-old’s love of painting germinated during her secondary school days in Kedah, but her mother persuaded her to further her studies in something that would “make money”, so she got a degree in commerce. In 2010, she joined Star Search, made it to the top five and moved 
to Singapore.

It wasn’t until three years ago that she started to paint again. “I like to create colour. I like to put colours on things — although not on myself! I don’t suit things that are too flowery,” she said.

“But I like giving. I like to bring people joy — I like to smile; I like telling lame jokes that aren’t funny. I put all these things into my paintings, but when it comes to myself, I like to keep it simple. Perhaps I look too much to simplicity, so painting is my way of throwing out all the complicated stuff. I’m not the kind of person who throws tantrums or takes things out on the people around me. Painting is my outlet. I’m very happy when I’m 
painting.”

Can colour come from monochrome? Well, when you think about it, it’s a black brush on a white canvas that allows for vibrant works 
of art.

PAINTING THROUGH THE PAIN

More than just a hobby, it was painting that helped Ma get over the lowest period of her life: Playing an unpopular, reclusive character in 2012’s Yours Fatefully, which had affected her deeply. “In the show, nobody liked me. In real life, I felt that when I talked, no one was listening. I locked myself up at home for two or three months and I would cry at night. The only person I talked to was my helper,” 
she recounted.

“When you have a negative mindset, you attract negativity. I felt that people didn’t like me, I had no confidence and I agreed with those who said I couldn’t act. I didn’t dare speak much because I was afraid I would say the wrong things.”

According to Ma, people often misunderstood her intentions “because I was too blunt”. “So I tried to hide myself. I used to hate being interviewed, and at every press conference, I would try to find a place to hide,” she said. “I think I had depression. So I went back to painting.”

What she painted was a pair of hands releasing a dove. “I tried to tell myself that I should let go — it’s just a feeling that will pass.”

Her second painting — of a dancer in a red dress — reflected her newfound passion for acting, she said. It had never occurred to her to become an actress until she accidentally stumbled into the Star Search audition room. It happened to be right next door to the Singapore Airlines interview she was attending. In spite of her protestations that she had “no talent”, her god-brother coaxed her to give it 
a shot.

In her quirky way, she sang “a sad song in a happy manner” — and the rest 
is history.

Five years on, things are very different. “I find a lot of happiness in acting. I think it’s something I never even knew I had been waiting for 20 years (to do),” she said. “I didn’t know that what I had were actually talents — for example, I used to love organising surprise parties and I was very good at hiding things from my friends. That’s a talent, too!”

EXPANDING 
HER PALETTE

Ma’s latest painting is a massive one of 
Mediacorp’s Caldecott campus — an attempt to preserve the memories of her developing career in the face of the company’s move to a new building.

“Painting stimulates my creativity and when I’m preparing for a new role, it helps a lot. When I start painting, a lot of ideas come in. And, if I have anger or a lot of emotions and I don’t know how to handle them, I paint,” she said.

Another thing that helped her get out of her shell was becoming involved in charity work. Back in Malaysia, Ma had worked with children and at old folks’ homes. But in Singapore, she felt she wasn’t giving back to society. “I was just taking. It was not a normal kind of circulation — when we take, we have to give, as well,” 
she said.

So, with some friends, Ma started a charity project called Heartworks. This year, she’s taking her charity work to new heights. She is writing and staging a play for the Singapore Association of the Visually 
Handicapped.

“It’s a story about blind people and what they face in their daily lives. Our aim is to let people know that there are a lot of things blind people can do, to find employment opportunities for them and to raise funds for skills training,” she said.

Ma is still in the process of scripting the play and securing a venue. It hasn’t been easy, but she hopes to be able to stage it in July or August. That’s why she doesn’t want to be low-profile, subtle or colourless any longer.

“In the past, I was too focused on myself and I didn’t look at the bigger picture. Now, I have bigger dreams. I hope to be an artiste who can influence others,” she said.

She’s going to do that step by step, no matter what it takes. “I can see myself growing a lot with each passing year. I might not be growing as fast as others but I’m growing very steadily,” said Ma. “I also set very high 
expectations for myself (and) I want to improve. For example, I want to improve my English. You have to be a bilingual artist. Since I chose to start my career in Singapore, I have to respect the culture (here). I really love Singapore, so I’m very happy to assimilate and learn.

“I’m not afraid of people laughing at me when I try to speak English. If I don’t try, I’ll be stuck in one place forever,” she said.

Catch Sora Ma in House Of Fortune, weekdays at 9pm on MediaCorp TV Channel 8.