She shopped and partied like there was no tomorrow … until a near-drowning in Krabi woke her up

Jasmine Tuan had a coveted job as a multimedia designer at an iconic Singapore club that played the world’s freshest dance music. Then she started her own multi-label store that quickly became a favourite among fashion lovers. She was constantly in the magazines and on TV for her style – and her walk-in wardrobe that […] The post She shopped and partied like there was no tomorrow … until a near-drowning in Krabi woke her up appeared first on Salt&Light.

Religion Jan 12, 2026 0 0 Add to Reading List

She shopped and partied like there was no tomorrow … until a near-drowning in Krabi woke her up

Jasmine Tuan had a coveted job as a multimedia designer at an iconic Singapore club that played the world’s freshest dance music. Then she started her own multi-label store that quickly became a favourite among fashion lovers.

She was constantly in the magazines and on TV for her style – and her walk-in wardrobe that overflowed with clothes, bags, shoes and accessories.

Publications like Time Out (left) and Juice Singapore were just two of many who spotlighted the fashionista.

“Whether it was online, offline, high end, high street, first hand, secondhand, vintage, limited edition … I would buy them all,” said Jasmine, now in her 40s, who had grown up in a home that didn’t have much.

She was on the guest list for the coolest parties and events, and she lived by the unspoken rule: “Never be caught wearing the same outfit twice.”

Jasmine, “a shopaholic and maximalist” consumed fashion to the point that she had to convert one room at home into a walk-in wardrobe.

Jasmine partied almost every night, “from Tuesday to Sunday, resting on Monday”.

On the outside, she looked like she was living the dream.

“But inside, I was empty and lost,” she said. “I was trying to numb the pain of back-to-back heartbreaks and the pressure of running a business.”

One night, surrounded by partygoers at a packed nightclub, she couldn’t stop the tears from rolling down her face. Nobody noticed.

“I used to think depression was a hoax. I had always been a super positive, can-do person. Inside, I was crumbling.”

Friends suggested a “retreat” of partying and drinking in Krabi to cheer her up.

There, she nearly drowned.

A 180° change

Jasmine reckons she must have passed out on the beach near the water.

As the sand shifted beneath her, the water started covering her cheeks and her nose.

“I remember seeing myself like a newborn about to be baptised. I saw a bright light and felt like I was floating, when I was actually drowning,” she recalled. “I wasn’t afraid.”

Just then, their boatman – who was not supposed to be anchored near that part of the beach – saw her and pulled her out.

“There were too many coincidences. I knew it wasn’t just chance. God saved me.”

After the vision, Jasmine put distance between herself and the party lifestyle she had led for years.

“The words from Mark 8:36 described my old life perfectly: What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, but loses his soul?

“I had everything outside – but nothing inside.”

Someone she hadn’t met in years invited her to church. There, Jasmine felt an unexpected peace. She went back again and again, and cried through almost every service.

As she started reading the Bible to learn more about Jesus, she realised that God had been reaching out to her long before she ever understood it.

The Bible had actually been given to her years ago, at a house church a friend had taken her to. She recalled feeling moved during that service and opening her heart to Jesus, though life swept her along and she soon forgot about it.

One verse struck her: “I am the way, the truth and life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)

“I prayed to God to show me the truth, and He did.

“I learned that faith is a relationship with God, and being led by His Spirit.

“Things I used to attribute to luck, I began to see as God’s work,” she said.

Her new faith surprised many people around her.

A peace that made no sense

Shortly after, Jasmine’s fashion business folded because she could not afford the rent when it nearly doubled.

“The shop had been my baby, something I had poured my blood and soul into.

Feature by L’Officiel Singapore in November 2009.

“Yet to my surprise, I felt no anxiety, only the “peace that surpasses all understanding”. (Philippians 4:7).

“Jesus was my peace. He and the Bible were all I needed.”

Psalm 23:1 became especially meaningful to her: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”

“Deep down, I knew the shop’s closure was ultimately for my own good. I knew that God was working in my life.

“Aside from being a shopaholic, I was also a workaholic. Now stripped of both work and shopping, I had a lot of time to think about my life.”

“Would my grave only say: Jasmine was a Great Shopper?”

Jasmine felt a nudge to ask herself: “Is my life really just about shopping and collecting things? Is life just about working hard, then spending harder to buy things I hardly ever wear?”

She realised she wore only 20% of what she owned, 80% of the time.

“I often caught myself staring at this room full of clothes thinking: ‘I have nothing to wear!’

A feature in Women’s Weekly.

“Ironic, isn’t it? To be staring at a room full of clothes yet having nothing to wear?

“I later learned that this is called ‘decision fatigue’. When you have too many choices – or too many decisions to make – you end up not making any.

“This creates a false sense of lack. Because ‘I have nothing to wear’ therefore I need to buy more clothes!

“When you have too many choices, you end up not making any. This creates a false sense of lack.”

“I realised my shopping habit was unsustainable – not just for the planet, but also my pocket.

“I also realised that I can’t bring my favourite things with me when I die. Why was I spending so much money, time and energy to manage and maintain them?

“When I leave this world, will the plaque on my grave read: ‘Jasmine was a Great Shopper’, the end?

“Surely life is more than that.”

For years, Jasmine had tied her identity to the clothes she wore and the things she could afford to buy.

In that moment, all she could think about was selling the clothes she owned in order to survive.

Letting go and feeling lighter

In 2015, an opportunity to live and work in Malaysia opened up.

“This was an answer to a prayer for change I was looking for.”

With a deadline to move out of Singapore, she began clearing out her things – ”actively selling on apps, at flea markets, organising home garage sales, passing on to my family and friends”.

“I even left items outside my house for my neighbours to take, and donated the rest to a charity organisation,” said Jasmine.

Clearing out the clothes enabled Jasmine to rent out her room while she was away.

“I felt light immediately. Even the room felt light!”

Swapping became her new shopping

But in Malaysia, the favourable currency exchange rate got Jasmine excited about shopping again.

“Soon, my one rack of clothes became a wardrobe that was filled to the brim. And I needed to spring clean, sell at the flea market, pass it on or donate to charity. I was sucked right back into the vicious cycle I just got out of.”

Her turning point came in 2017 when she met the Zero Waste Malaysia community and learned how she was “guilty for contributing to overconsumption and overproduction of fashion” that was affecting both people and the planet. (See end of story)

“What an eye-opener to be surrounded by a bunch of ‘crazy’ people who inconvenience their lives for the betterment of our planet,” said Jasmine of the first Zero Waste Fest in Kuala Lumpur.

It was the first time she heard about the term “zero waste” and US-based environmental activist Bea Johnson’s 5R principles to sustainable living:

Refuse, Reduce, Reuse what we already have. Recycle what we cannot Refuse, Reduce or Reuse. Finally, Rot or compost the rest.

“I had been going straight to recycling thinking I am an eco-friendly person. I knew I could do better than that.

“I added one more R in front – Rethink – as I believe change starts with the mindset. I needed to rethink my consumption habits,” she said.

Her zero waste mantra became: “Think before I buy. Think before I throw.”

Inspired by the community and kampung spirit at the event, Jasmine embarked on a zero waste journey in 2018, which included “zero fashion shopping”.

“Pretty challenging for a shopaholic, but I did it.

“I knew this was the radical change I had been looking for.”

Jasmine was ready to wear the same clothes for the rest of her life – until she went to two swap events.

Jasmine (right) at a clothes swap party in KL. Each attendee brought five fashion items (in good condition) that they no longer used – and exchanged them for new styles they would wear.

“I was hooked. Swapping became my new shopping.”

“Sell second-hand from your wardrobe”

While documenting her zero waste journey live on Instagram during the COVID pandemic in Singapore, Jasmine realised she was spending an inordinate amount of time behind the computer.

“So I prayed: ‘God, I know I can do more. Show me how I can do more.’

“Shortly after, while waiting for the bus, I heard a Voice telling me: ‘Sell second-hand from your wardrobe.’”

By then Jasmine’s wardrobe was down to a single rack of clothes.

She had no more clothes to sell as she had already downsized her wardrobe. Did she hear correctly from God?

“I prayed: ‘God, if this is what You want me to do, You bring in the right partners, and You open all the right doors.'”

Jasmine even asked Him for a sign: That He would help her sell a heavy wooden bed in her walk-in wardrobe – the room that she had rented out. She was certain it would not sell. But when she listed it on Carousell, she got a buyer who even came to dismantle it.

Taking it as a sign to proceed, she made arrangements to collect a bag of free second-hand clothes. Through this, she met two women who were involved in a freecycling project. The three shared the same heart: To reduce fashion waste in an effort to care for the world God created.

Jasmine (right) partnered with Tan Yin Ling (left) and Sindy Ong to form Cloop. Sindy was only involved for a season, and Cloop has developed with her blessing.

God also brought along a designer who helped them articulate what they were trying to do.

And so Cloop – which stands for “close the loop for fashion for good” – was born. (Cloop is not to be mistaken for the travel booking platform Klook.)

Cloop is a circular fashion social enterprise with a mission to reduce overconsumption and waste by collecting, curating and circulating fashion items within the community.

They held their first Fashion Swap in October 2020 at City Sprouts in Henderson, where each participant brought five items in mint condition to swap, and got to bring home up to 10 items for a nominal fee.

In an effort to satisfy Singapore’s national hobby for shopping and to reduce the number of items (even branded and brand new ones) that are being thrown away, Cloop introduced a number of creative, sustainable shopping alternatives.

These include thrift store popups – known as Open Wardrobe – where every item costs S$10 each. It works on an honour system for payment.

Bag It! is a new thrift experience by Cloop. Choose from three bag sizes, then pick anything you like from the mountains of clothes, and simply bag it.

Then there’s the Curated Bag – Cloop’s take on a personal shopper experience.

Bag It! is a new thrift experience by Cloop. Choose from three bag sizes, then pick anything you like from the mountains of clothes, and simply bag it.

Cloop turned four last October. They’ve hosted about 80 popup events, successfully rehomed over 23,000 items through Fashion Swap alone, and raised S$21,000 for 26 beneficiaries.

A pop-up celebrating Earth Day and Fashion Revolution Week in April 2024. Premium pieces are available for swap with a top-up, or purchase at marked prices.

In July 2022, they partnered with an ISO-accredited recycling partner to launch their first textile recycling bin in Singapore.

Today, Cloop has more than 450 bins nationwide and together with their recycling partner, have collected and diverted more than 5,000 tons of textile waste from the incinerator and landfills.

Materials are given a second life, whether through export for resale, downcycling into cleaning cloths, or, as a last resort, used as PEF (Processed Engineered Fuel) in cement production. They are also channelled into fashion initiatives with partners and charities.

“God indeed opened doors, and provided. We never needed to do cold calls,” Jasmine said.

From walk-in wardrobe to positive impact

She downsized her own walk-in wardrobe to a single rack, and now Jasmine manages a community wardrobe.

Looking back, she sees God’s hand in transforming her shopping addiction into a circular fashion social enterprise that allows her to use her “gifts” to do something meaningful and purposeful for the community.

“As 1 Peter 4:10 reminds us: Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.”

Jasmine’s wardrobe remains a single rack, though she admits that she spends what she has saved on supporting homegrown brands in food, fashion and beauty, buying only limited editions or handmade, small batch items.

“Buy less, choose better. Make it last,” said Jasmine quoting the late designer Vivienne Westwood.

Showing the scale of used clothes that recycling partner Life Line Clothing collects, sorts and processes.

“I learned that, whether I shop or swap, it’s really about practicing self-control – the fruit of God’s Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). It’s also about being mindful of what I allow into my home, my wardrobe and my life.”

This story first appeared on Stories of Hope. Parts of this article were adapted from Jasmine’s sharing at the Creation Care Conference 2025 organised by Our Father’s World in September.

How fast fashion is killing the earth

Chile’s Atacama Desert. The United Nations has called the effects of fast fashion “an environmental and social emergency”. Photo from depositphotos.com.

The Atacama Desert is one of the world’s fast-growing dumps of discarded clothes, no thanks to the rapid mass production of inexpensive clothes.

“We end up buying far more clothes than what we actually need, often at the expense of our planet. Remember when 11.11 was the only double-digit sales? Now every month has a double-digit discount,” said Jasmine at the Creation Care Conference 2025. She was part of the breakout panel that discussed the topic “From Waste to Worship”.

“According to a statistic popularised by Patrick Grant, judge of reality series The Great British Sewing Bee and champion of sustainable fashion: ‘There are enough clothes on the planet to dress the next six generations of the human race.’ And yet, each year, we consume over 100 billion new garments worldwide.

“Every time we buy something new, we’re sending a clear signal to manufacturers: ‘Make more’. It’s the classic cycle of demand and supply, but with devastating consequences.

“The rise of fast fashion and ultra-fast fashion has pushed us to deplete our finite resources at an alarming rate. The result? Disposable clothes churned out at the cost of our environment,” she said.

(In his book The Day the World Stops Shopping, Canadian environmentalist JB MacKinnon explores how sustainable consumption could benefit the environment and add to quality of life without causing mass unemployment or economic hardship.

In an interview, MacKinnon said: “Certainly, clean, green technologies and energy are important in reducing the impact of our consumption, but they are undermined by the scale of our consumption.”)

Another panellist at the Creation Care Conference, Joshua Foong of PIER71 @ NUS Enterprise highlighted how unsold fashion and brand new items are often exported directly from store shelves to dumping grounds in places like South East Asia and Chile’s Atacama Desert.

Joshua also showed a video interview with waste workers that drove home the bigger point of how waste adversely affects the health, livelihood and dignity of these individuals who “provide a degree of care for us” and the communities that live around waste.

According to the United Nations, more than a billion people live in slums or informal settlements without proper waste management, leading to severe health risks. Unregulated dumping and poor waste disposal practices are exacerbating pollution and biodiversity loss worldwide.

An environmental and social emergency

The United Nations has highlighted the severe environmental and social consequences of the fast fashion industry – “one of the world’s most polluting sectors”, responsible for up to 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions. It consumes vast amounts of water – equivalent to 86 million Olympic-sized swimming pools a year – and relies on thousands of chemicals, many harmful to human health and ecosystems.

Despite these staggering figures, clothing is being produced and discarded at an unprecedented rate, driven by business models that prioritise speed and disposability over sustainability. The UN has established initiatives, such as the UN Alliance for Sustainable Fashion, to coordinate efforts among its agencies to address these challenges and transition the industry towards a more sustainable path.

Can my small choice make a difference?

While some may argue that individual actions may seem insignificant against corporate inaction, Jasmine said at the conference: “Don’t undermine how big or small your actions are. All I did was stop shopping, but look at what that has become.

“Cloop’s capacity is limited, but with the community we can do so much together. Through partnership, we managed to roll out our fashion recycling bins. So really it is about collaboration and don’t feel that you are alone.”

Jasmine at the Creation Care Conference 2025 with (from left) Leow Foon Lee of Enerpower, Joshua Foong of PIER71 @ NUS Enterprise, and moderator Rodney Chan of Temasek Foundation.

Joshua Foong of PIER 17 @ NUS Enterprise said: “I think the impact of individual actions are like drops of water. When you collect them together, they form rivers and flow into the sea, and become the sea.

“An individual action can shape outcome because it shapes the values and at the end of the day, will change things in a bigger way. A lot of changes usually happen at the margins – not major quantum changes. If you can change at the margin, you can change the whole future. And corporations will step in to change.”

He gave an example of how many restaurants no longer offer shark’s fin soup today. (Editor’s note: One man led a campaign, with thousands joining in, to stop Asian airlines from serving sharksfin soup. Read about it here and here.)

“Why? Because when demand drops, change happens.”