Beckie Liu, 24
The surfer connects others like her through a surf camp community in Singapore.
I’m very happy that Haikini is more than just a swimwear line because it has brought so many people together with their love for surfing.
Inever imagined that my passion for surfing could turn into a business opportunity – and bring aspiring female surfers together – when I first picked up the water sport eight years ago, while on a holiday in Phuket.
I started an ethically made bikini line Haikini, after I graduated in 2018 with a Bachelor of Arts from the National University of Singapore. Then, I realised there weren’t many stylish swimsuits that could hold up in rough water sports, and that I could create affordably priced, multi-functional bikinis for female surfers. I thought, this could also help fund my regular surf trips to Bali.
I’m a one-woman show at Haikini, cutting out the middleman so I can liaise directly with the production house in Bali and pay a fair wage to the bikini makers.
Each piece is handmade by local housewives, and we remove unnecessary plastic packaging by using leftover fabric from our production to make swimwear pouches.
One thing led to another after
I launched the online bikini store. I formed Singapore’s female-only surf camp community, Haikini Seasterhood, when my customers expressed a strong interest in surfing.
So far, I have organised and coached 15 surf camps for women aged between 20 and 30, who pay a flat rate of $698 ( hotel and food included) for a fiveday surfing workshop in Bali.
Last year, the Singapore Surfing Association (SSF) asked me to join their team after they “found” me on Instagram. That led me to surfing competitively for the first time – and with the national team at the 2019 South-east Asian Games in the Philippines. These days, I spend most of my time in Bali training and coaching.
I must say that the best outcome of surfing are my surf camps. This is where new friendships are formed. I tear up a little each time I see my surf camp participants organising meet-ups in Singapore.
I’m very happy that Haikini is more than just a swimwear line because it has brought so many people together with their love for surfing.