Cynthia Koh on teenage bullying and dealing with public backlash

SINGAPORE — Negative comments are perhaps a necessary evil for celebrities. From lifestyle choices to personal viewpoints, actors like Cynthia Koh brave public opinions on a daily basis. How do these famous people cope?

Over a phone call with Yahoo Southeast Asia, the veteran actress recounted her secondary-school bullying experience, how it helped her deal with public backlash, and why self-healing is important.

Publicly shamed at 15 and dealing with healing practices backlash

Koh appeared on the cover of Teenage Magazine at the age of 15, when she participated in the magazine's beauty pageant out of fun, and attained first runner-up.

However, she was later shamed on the school's public address system during recess, as students from another class commented, "Wow, that b**** thinks she is very pretty appearing on the cover of Teenage Magazine? She's all that now?"

Koh cried after the incident and did not eat during recess for many months. Her close secondary-school friends did not also offer any help during the challenging period.

In a recent revelation from a meditation circle session, Koh was able to draw parallels from being bullied at the age of 15 to her recent struggles with some friends who were unreceptive to her healing practices.

"We will face people who are not going to view this healing journey in a positive context, they will associate healing with religion," she explained.

"What I'm doing is helping people who want to be healthy, it is obviously not for people who are criticising it. This is what I love doing and it has helped me. I'm sure it will help someone out there, and I'm going to continue to march to the beat of my own drum."

Koh remains unbothered by comments from netizens and negative responses from friends who do not understand her practices. She feels sad for people who have chosen to adopt a victim mindset and points fingers at what is wrong with the work she does.

"Sometimes we may not do things that others will agree with, but you have to own it. You have to stand your ground," she said.

The actress aspires to be like Oprah Winfrey and Gwyneth Paltrow, both of whom are in the entertainment industry, and actively using their influence for good.

Guiding others as a conduit

In her healing work with clients, Koh pointed out the importance of intention, of which she has noticed some professionals who do not do so.

"I am not here to convince people that you need a session or healing. I always believe that the universe has enough clients for everyone. If you are doing good work, the universe will bless you."

Her work involves helping clients surface unconscious emotions, acknowledging and guiding them in understanding their pain points and prescribing suitable remedies. She also iterates that the healing work she does has nothing to do with religion, but helps clients balance their nervous system, alter bodily vibrations and get to the root cause of personal issues.

Koh recognises the vulnerable position she holds in providing healing services, and how it can potentially become a form of manipulation if not managed well.

"It can be easy to manipulate a person or client because they're so desperate," she said, but Koh's intent is to approach her clients as a helpful guide rather than from the need to sell.

Why she feels healing practices are important

Koh reflects that her personal healing journey has allowed her to have more consciousness about her unconscious mind at a faster pace.

"Life constantly gives you choices. You can be unconscious, or conscious and do the inner work. I choose to be conscious because I think it is more fun," she said.

"I am discovering things that are wrong with me, or that I can be jealous at times, and have a good laugh about myself. The more you know about yourself, the more self appreciation, awareness, validation and self-worth you can give to yourself. This can help you offload your burden, and feel lighter on your life journey."

She believes the prevalence of auto-immune diseases in modern society is due to the depletion of nitric oxide in our bodies, of which help with blood circulation, rejuvenation and evolution of our immune system.

It is also one of the few chemical compounds that help our sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system to balance itself.

Nitric oxide depletes with age and when one encounters stress. It is attained from food and exercise, or produced with the use of healing practices such as tuning fork therapy. The tuning forks vibrate to break our bodily cells, and wake them up to produce Nitric oxide.

Lastly, Koh hopes that concrete buildings will not overtake green spaces in Singapore, which would allow her to continue her practice of going someplace quiet to decompress before coming back to work and life afresh.