For people like the young Ms Khong, struggling with mental health challenges was often perceived as a sign of personal weakness.<\/p>\n
She ended up cutting herself, going to the extent of trying to inscribe words onto her arm.<\/p>\n
\u201cLooking back, I realised it was a coping mechanism, but at that time I didn\u2019t know. I just wanted to feel something. I just needed to feel something,\u201d she told The Straits Times.<\/p>\n
She became gregarious and reckless, driven by a desire to live fast and die young.<\/p>\n
\u201cI became quite the adrenaline junkie. I went skydiving three times, bungee-jumped five times, and would also hold the mobile phone out to record a whole roller-coaster ride just because the thrill was not intense enough for me,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Ms Khong learnt from and performed with her father and became a well-known illusionist and magician herself. She would perform daring acts like hanging 6m above a pair of metal jaws while suspended from a burning rope.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn one minute, the fire would burn up the rope, causing me to fall into the jaws that would snap shut,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/d763c02fb09e34220b273d0d7c55c4e89ef018dcdd09c2201f4e6653040e10f0.webp\")
<\/p>\n
The plays Ms Priscilla Khong\u2019s Gateway Arts stages at Gateway Theatre often focus on mental health. Many audience members are deeply moved, staying back to discuss what they have seen.<\/p>\n
ST PHOTO: BRIAN TEO<\/p>\n
The first of four children, Ms Khong said she often felt that her parents were very strict.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted my freedom, but at the same time, because I am filial, I would never run away,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
In fact, when she got pregnant at 20, she came home and told her parents.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mum\u2019s reaction was \u2018Oh, I\u2019m so sorry, you are going to have to grow up so quickly\u2019. My dad had wanted to kick me out of the house,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt took him almost a day to be able to tell me that he was very disappointed with me, \u2018yet I choose to love you just as Jesus loves me\u2019, he said. That broke me,\u201d she said, tears brimming in her eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore that, I always believed my friends would be the ones I could rely on no matter what. I had expected to be kicked out of the house, but when it didn\u2019t happen, it made me feel God\u2019s love through my parents,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Ms Khong had her baby out of wedlock in 2003, but 10 years later, the matter drew significant public attention and debate after her father dismissed a pregnant, married staff member at his church over an adulterous affair.<\/p>\n
Ms Khong said her son, who is now 23, is the reason she chose \u201cto remain present and not check out early\u201d.<\/p>\n
In the years after having her son, she married, had a daughter and went through a divorce before the Covid-19 pandemic hit.<\/p>\n
The divorce and pandemic were very challenging times in her life, leading to \u201cbig bouts of depression\u201d. \u201cIf not for the fact I had to do things for my daughter, I would not even move. I would just lie in bed, and that weight, that heaviness came down on me, I just couldn\u2019t move,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s why I am thankful that my daughter became one of the reasons I was able to pull myself out of my struggles. She was that something I simply had to be present for.\u201d<\/p>\n
By then, her son was already an adult and leading his own life.<\/p>\n
Her first breakthrough came when a friend suggested she see a professional therapist and paid for the session.<\/p>\n
It was then that Ms Khong realised that one of the great challenges for people struggling with mental issues is finding the courage to open up.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce you start opening up, the healing process begins. It doesn\u2019t mean it goes away totally, but it starts that journey,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/3788c300698bbada83ef506e8b609be795fe1dfe04bb785b61a3381f2afd21f4.webp\")
<\/p>\n
Priscilla, the executive director of Gateway Arts, at the Gateway Theatre on April 1.<\/p>\n
ST PHOTO: BRIAN TEO<\/p>\n
Having performed on stage and, at times, even conceptualised the shows, Ms Khong decided to turn to the arts and theatre to promote mental health, especially among the young. Gateway Theatre, of which she is the director, officially opened to the public in July 2017.<\/p>\n
It was in September 2024 that her theatre company Gateway Arts staged Every Brilliant Thing, a monologue about suicide and depression, written by English playwright Duncan Macmillan. It was performed by local actress Sharon Sum.<\/p>\n
Each performance was followed by a post-show discussion led by Samaritans of Singapore.<\/p>\n
During one of the 10 performances, Ms Khong met a group of teenagers sharing their thoughts about the show. While the boys in the group dismissed the lead\u2019s performance as overly dramatic, she noticed a girl who seemed unsettled by their remarks.<\/p>\n
She then shared her experience of self-harm as a teen with them.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was my first time talking about what I did to a group of young people. The girl actually thanked me later,\u201d Ms Khong said.<\/p>\n
At that very show, she noticed a young man who seemed visibly uncomfortable during the play. By the time it ended, he was unable to leave his seat.<\/p>\n
\u201cI sat with him and told him it was okay to stay as long as he needed. I found out later that he was going to go home and take his own life that night. I managed to call his social worker, who sent him back safely to his mother,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
She told ST she would not go so far as to say she had saved a life, but in that moment, the theatre had given her the chance to step in and make a difference.<\/p>\n
With that focus, Gateway Arts continues to stage plays centred on mental health, followed by post-show discussions facilitated by counsellors.<\/p>\n
In May, Gateway Theatre is staging Scaredy Kat Presents, a multimedia theatre production that gives voice to the anxious inner world of a child and later opens the floor for meaningful conversations with the children in the audience.<\/p>\n
\u201cOurs was a generation that struggled to articulate our feelings. But the Gen Alphas are different. However, this doesn\u2019t mean they know how to manage those feelings. Plays like Scaredy Kat Presents can help young people transition from emotional awareness to developing emotional regulation,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The play ends its run on May 31.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SINGAPORE \u2013 After turning 16, Ms Priscilla Khong wanted to end it all. \u201cI grew up in a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":455996,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[163,85,46,522,523],"class_list":["post-455995","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mental-health","tag-health","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-mental-health","tag-mentalhealth"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/455995","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=455995"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/455995\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/455996"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=455995"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=455995"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=455995"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}