When Dawn Tan was 21, she was arrested and sent to prison for nine months for drug offences. Though she was “very scared”, it did not stop her from re-offending not once but twice.

In the first part of Dawn’s story, she had an encounter with God in prison. While serving her third prison sentence, she heard a Hokkien Christian song while in solitary confinement. Compelled by its lyrics – “Though this path is difficult, with the Lord’s presence, I am not afraid” – Dawn asked to attend Christian counselling.

In one of its sessions, she was asked to forgive those who had hurt her. As she wept, she saw a vision of Jesus who told her: “Your sins are forgiven. Your guilt I have forgiven. Your shame I have forgiven. You have a new life now.”

She became a Christian after that, served out her three-and-a-half-year sentence and came out of prison determined to live this new life. But day-to-day demands soon distracted her.

“I started to lose myself”

After being released from prison in 2008, Dawn, now 46, became a real estate agent at the encouragement of her brother who was also one.

“At first, I told him: ‘I don’t even know how to speak properly to people. You want me to do this?’ But it worked out and I found I have a passion for this. God is so amazing.”

For three years, Dawn kept her nose clean and went to church regularly. But gradually, life took over.

Her real estate business took off and work, especially on weekends, piled up. She met someone and got married. Her husband, Jeff Hoo, now 54, worked as a cargo officer and was often on board a ship for up to a month.

Jeff and Dawn were old friends who reconnected in 2011.

“I wanted him to go to church with me. But when he didn’t go, I didn’t go either,” Dawn told Salt&Light.

Then their application for a BTO flat was rejected. So husband and wife decided to move to Johor Bahru because housing was much cheaper in Malaysia.

“That was when I started to lose myself. I couldn’t go back to Singapore to visit my family as often.

“I lost out to agents in Singapore because I had to factor in travel time. So I had to depend on my husband for money and I couldn’t give my mum an allowance.”

The years rolled by and with nothing more than her pet dogs to occupy her, Dawn’s world shrank.

“All my focus became on my husband. I start to question him: ‘Who are you on the call with? Why are you looking at Facebook?’ I gave him no life and I also had no life.

“I didn’t like the way I behaved and I started to hate myself.”

Tipping point

Soon, Dawn realised that her marriage was on the rocks. More than that, her sobriety was under threat.

“In the past if there were problems, I would turn to alcohol or to drugs. I did try to stop but there was one time when I quarrelled with my husband and it triggered me. I went back to drugs.” 

The difference this time around was the gentle voice of the Holy Spirit.

“There would be this prompting within me: ‘Don’t do this.’ It was a soft sound. Every time I took it, I would have this sound in my heart.

“I realised that I would go back to drugs when I was triggered. I thought I was okay after so many years.

“It was my husband who had the capacity to trigger me. Sometimes Satan uses the person closest to us to attack us. Satan was using my husband to make me fall.”

Dawn decided to turn to God. She began listening to sermons online and looked for a church in Malaysia. Within three months, the Pastor in her new church asked her to lead worship.

Dawn leading worship at Kingdom Life City Church in Johor Bahru, Malaysia which she now attends regularly.

“First time I said: ‘No, lah.’ The second time he asked, something in me said: ‘Go lah, go lah. Anything I can do to glorify God, I will do.’”

Dawn started leading worship in July 2023.

A new purpose

That ministry led to another opportunity to serve.

When Dawn posted her experience on social media, a friend she had made in prison in 2003 saw the post.

“We were in the same cell. We ate together, slept together. In the cell, we would sing together with me using our toiletry box as a drum.”

That friend, Hannah Chun was in prison because of drugs, too. After her release, she started ministering to women ex-offenders. After seeing Dawn’s post, she invited Dawn to join her.

Dawn (left) and Hannah were once prison cell mates. Now they are ministry partners, ministering to women ex-offenders whom they call “overcomers”.

“Eighteen years ago, she had asked me to submit my testimony to her so I could share it. I wrote half-way and never submitted it to her because I got so busy with my work.”

The renewed invitation awoke in Dawn an old desire to minister to women in prison. She readily agreed to join Hannah.

It began with Dawn sharing her testimony in a church. Then there was regular training with Hannah. Just this year, Dawn received her prison pass allowing her to do counselling in prison.

Dawn (left) with Hannah Chun whom she met in prison and who brought Dawn into the ministry with women ex-offenders.

“We used to sing together in prison. Now we lead worship together on stage, not in a cell,” marvelled Dawn.

Dawn leading worship at a women’s fellowship.

Volunteering with Hannah opened up other opportunities for Dawn. In November 2025, she went with Hannah on a mission trip to Jakarta, Indonesia.

“I protected your husband”  

Then something miraculous happened the next month. Dawn’s husband agreed to go to a church in Singapore with her.

“He is not a guy who would want to come with me to church. He would be like, ‘Don’t ask me.’

“But that day he told me: ‘Maybe.’”

He ended up attending a service with Dawn, her sister’s family and her niece. After that, they went to Dawn’s brother house. It was there that Jeff suffered a seizure.

Dawn and Jeff the day he visited Trinity Christian Centre at Paya Lebar.

Said Dawn: “The ambulance came in just seven minutes. If we had been in JB, it would have taken an hour. Then how?”

Jeff required an operation to remove a clot in his brain. While recovering from the procedure, he had a stroke. His entire right side became paralysed.

Dawn told Salt&Light: “I told God, ‘All these years nothing happened, when I stepped out to go to Jakarta, why did this happen?

“God replied: ‘I protected your husband.’”

Dawn (right) leading worship in Jakarta.

Upon reflection, Dawn realised it was true. Because Jeff was in Singapore when he collapsed, he could get treated in Singapore and receive excellent medical care. God’s providence was not lost on Jeff either.

“I asked him: ‘Do you see God is the one protecting you?’ He said, ‘Of course. If not, then who?’”

180-degree change

Their marriage also “changed 180 degrees” though the transformation was gradual. Jeff now shows concern for Dawn in ways he had never done before.

Dawn and Jeff in 2025. Despite a initially dismal prognosis, Jeff is now able to walk and feed himself after his stroke.

“He would call me and ask if I am coming back to eat. When I have period cramps, he will make tea for me. Now we can sit down and talk about things. Last time, the minute we talked we would quarrel. I was so insecure.

“Now I tell God: ‘I am coming out to serve and do Your work. I believe You will take care of my house and this marriage.’ I refuse to start thinking that the minute that I step out of the house, he will be unfaithful to me.”

The focus on God has also strengthened Dawn.

“Last time, I think the problem is so big. Now I think: God, You are so big. I can do everything through Christ. When things happen, I pray.”

These are lessons she readily shares with the women with whom she ministers.

Dawn (left) volunteers at The Turning Point as well, ministering to women who want to stay clean of drugs.

“These 18 years have been like a training ground. All that had happened to me, the 13 years in JB, so I can relate more to women in the same situation.

Dawn sharing her testimony in Segamat, Malaysia.

“I encourage women: Focus on God. When we focus on Him, the atmosphere in the home will change.

“Every time I share my testimony, I am ministering to myself and I emerge a stronger person.”

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