Quenyee Wong (better known as Quen Wong) is a transwoman freelance film director, writer and producer.

A graduate of the University of California, Santa Barbara and the University of Bristol, she has worked as a producer at Mediacorp, the National Geographic Channel and Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific.

Notable projects she has written and directed include Power and Piety: The Hellfire Nation, a one-hour documentary about Christian evangelism in American politics broadcast by Channel NewsAsia and hosted by BAFTA-winner Mobeen Azhar[1].

In 2018, Wong co-directed “Building Bridges”, one of the three emotional campaign videos for Pink Dot 10. It revolved around the mother-daughter team of Dolly and Sam who had been Pink Dot volunteers for years. The short film started off with Dolly reminiscing about the time when one of her nieces ran away from home because her family could not accept her being lesbian. The pair went on to talk about why they felt volunteering at Pink Dot year after year was important to them and the mindset of the older generation towards the LGBT community. It ended with Dolly's hopeful message to see her estranged niece again someday. It was important for them to make a stand then, more than ever, to be a more open-minded and inclusive society, and to let everyone know that “We Are Ready”, a resounding message that hoped to embrace and normalise diversity in Singapore to the fullest, and to finally celebrate equality and inclusion.

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Pink_Dot_10-_Building_Bridges — Pink Dot 10- Building Bridges

Wong has a penchant for acting and comedy. In 2013, she played a grandmother in “Just A Bad Day”, a play about violence against women. It was part of the We Can! forum theatre workshop[3].

In late 2018, she presented a humorous improvised PowerPoint slideshow news report on stolen "choped" tissue paper at hawker centres[4].

PowerPoint_Karaoke_Singapore_with_Quen_Wong — PowerPoint Karaoke Singapore with Quen Wong

On Friday, 26 June 2020, she performed a skit from home via a Zoom live stream with three other female comediennes including Stephanie Chan in a ticketed, all-woman comedy show on Discover online by Circles.Life called Lady Laughs[5]. The event was hosted by openly gay comedian Sam See.

In 2021, Wong produced her first feature documentary Some Women, tracing her own trajectory from 'living in stealth' to finding pride, love and communityhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ie3rz7u1HB8]. Her film touched with bracing honesty upon her journey as a transgender woman in Singapore - from her days as a teenage boy coming out to her uncommonly supportive family, to the present as a woman about to marry the love of her life. Locating herself within the local trans community, the documentary also weaved in interviews with different generations of trans women including ‘Anita’, a former legend of Bugis Street, a world-famous stomping ground for trans women from the 1950s to the 1980s, and Lune Loh, a trans youth activist. The movie was awarded the Tan Ean Kiam Foundation-SGIFF Southeast Asian-Documentary Grant (SEA-DOC Grant) and featured in the 32nd Singapore International Film Festival in November 2021.

Wong also enjoys volunteering with TransBefrienders, a peer support service for transgender youths.

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This article was written by Roy Tan.

Quen Wong

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