Diana Ser seems like one of those women who will remain upbeat no matter what obstacle life throws their way. But even she started feeling down when faced with the constant negativity surrounding the COVID-19 outbreak.

So the 48-year-old decided to do something about it by setting up a crowdfunding project to raise S$250K for The Invictus Fund. The fund was started by the Community Chest to enable social service agencies to continue delivering critical services to the vulnerable during these uncertain times.

“I’m holding up,” Diana said when 8days.sg caught up with her over the phone earlier this week. “Given the new announcement [on the extension of the circuit breaker period] yesterday, there’s a bit of uncertainty. It’ll take a few days for people to wrap their heads around what we can and can’t do. I think the key word is ‘adjustment’. We just have to make changes to what we’re used to.”

8 DAYS: With the circuit breaker extended and the June holidays brought forward, have you planned a schedule for your kids? [Ed: She and James have three kids, Jake, 14, Christy, 12, and Jaymee, 9]
DIANA SER: It’s a work in progress. Under normal circumstances, younger children need a lot of outdoor time a day. They have recess, physical education classes and they run around the campus, but right now, we’re living in extraordinary circumstances and I think them being able to go out even once every two days will be a blessing.

We’ve been moving things around so that they can catch the sun as much as possible. For example, I’d put their study desks near the window, and although it can’t compare to being out in the sun, it’s a start.

Have they become restless from being cooped up at home?
My kids are not that young. If they were younger, I would have a bit more of a challenge making them stay in the house. They’re able to understand why they have to stay home and they appreciate what’s going on, and that I’m trying to keep things normal as much as possible.

They’ve been on home-based learning for about two weeks now. How's that working out?
The kids are more tech savvy than I am. (laughs) They’ve been helping me with Zoom and all the things that I need for work. They love troubleshooting IT stuff, so I leave them alone in that aspect. As far as their work is concerned, I get the siblings to help one another, which I think has helped them grow closer too.

Your crowdfunding campaign has surpassed your S$250,000 target in less than seven days. Congrats!
(Laughs) If I’m being completely honest, it’s more than what we expected to be able to raise. On the night we launched the campaign, the donations were a little slow in coming in and I couldn’t sleep. I spent all night just staring at the ceiling, thinking to myself, ‘What have I done? I don’t have S$250K lying around to top up the crowdfund with!’ (Sighs)

We originally aimed to raise $20K in total, but we took a look around and realised that we should set the bar higher. It was challenging because there are a lot of people fund raising at the same time. Some of the celebs whom we spoke to told us that we were the 10th person who’s going to them with a proposal like this. But it’s good to see everyone doing something positive.

What made you want to start the campaign?
I work in the media so I feel a bit closer to the entire issue. I was starting to feel miserable when seeing the people in the media defiantly flouting the law. It does no one any good, and it brings you down when you think about it. You feel terrible about yourself and the whole world in general. At one point, I told myself that the only way to get through this is to be constructive and do something positive.

I read an article about how to get through a crisis. I was very happy to find out that psychologists shared that doing things like this is very helpful. Every kind act that you do for someone, even if it’s for the cleaner at your block or for your neighbour, is a form of positivity for you and the other party.

Why did you choose The Invictus Fund?
I managed to get in touch with the Community Chest through a friend. I don’t know the social service sector that well, so I would have an incredibly hard time trying to pick just one beneficiary. What I think is that the best way to do it is to direct the money to a huge fund that disperses to smaller agencies that needs it. It all dovetailed very nicely because the Community Chest was just about to launch The Invictus Fund. There will also be people who feel that the entire process will be more transparent since it’s a government agency that’s handling the money.

You’ve got huge names like Stefanie Sun, Tanya Chua, Kit Chan, Fann Wong, Christopher Lee — the list really goes on — on board with your project. How did you reach out so many people in such a short amount of time?
They’re big names, but they also have big hearts. I believe that they said yes so readily because the cause is worthy. I’m also very heartened because a lot of them asked good questions about who the beneficiaries are, along with other questions that are close to their hearts. They ask questions because they care, which I think is so important. The cause itself is one that a lot of people find is worth supporting.

For the influencers that I don’t know, I just decided to send them messages out of the blue. (Laughs) I think I’m a bit thick-skinned. Quite a number did agree and I’m really really happy. Names like Kim Lim, Yoyo Cao and Jamie Chua participated, and I’m very grateful to every single person because they’re very big names in their own fields.

Speaking of support, your husband James [Lye] also filmed a shout-out with you on the day the crowdfund was launched. How did that happen?
(Chuckles) He wasn’t part of the planning, but he was part of the content. He’s very busy at work but I got him to come back home early to help. I told him, ‘I don’t care, you have to help!’ and he really came back early because he knows it’s important to me.

But after we filmed the video, we looked through it and I told him that I wouldn’t post the video if he wasn’t comfortable with it. After all, he hasn’t been speaking in public like this since he left [showbiz in 2000]. He said he’s fine [with it], and that I could go ahead. So this is like his ‘comeback’ of sorts. (laughs)

While we’re on the topic, is he working from home now?
Yes! For all these years, he’s been away in the office and his hours are very long. Maybe that’s why there was a little bit of friction when he first started working from home. He was working in the common area and he would suddenly ask, ‘Why is this like that?’ I’d tell him that it’s been like that for the longest time, and that I’d get to it. There are priorities at home too, you know! (laughs)

What was it about?
I can’t even remember, honestly! After a few days, he wisely retreated into his room to do his work and we’re all good now. My helper and I are the workhorses at home, so we have to space things out.

Photos: Diana Ser's Instagram