By day, Ben Ng-Wai Shing is better known as a GP at Wakefield Health Centre, but away from the clinic his creative talent has earned him a place as a World of WearableArt finalist for the fourth time.
His latest creation is still under wraps while judging is completed and ahead of its reveal at this year’s WOW show season. His previous finalist entries have ranged from a circus tent-inspired bra in 2018 to the playful Potatoes Po-Tatas in 2023, and last year’s Underneath It All, inspired by his work as a doctor.
As a child, he remembers watching WOW on TV with his mother and knowing he wanted to be part of it one day. He’d always enjoyed making things – “tinkering” as he puts it - and later, as a junior doctor, decided it was time to give WOW a go.
“I had just finished a 16-hour shift at Middlemore Hospital and was driving home and saw this Weber Bros twin peak circus tent with the candy stripes and thought, ooh, that could be a bra.”
His creation last year, Underneath It All, used vacuum tubing and was a more powerful, meaningful piece that grew out of his role as a GP working alongside patients.
“It represents the unseen trauma that people carry with them, and I really wanted with the vacuum tubing just to show the chaos and the weight of that trauma. Particularly childhood trauma that people in our community carry and is often not seen or heard but comes out in people’s actions. They have higher risk of unhelpful behaviours like alcohol, drugs, increased physical health issues and reduced life expectancy.
“You might see somebody and make a judgement on their behaviour or health, but when we pare it back, often there are things that were completely outside their control that happened to them, that has led them to where they are.”
Under the vacuum tubes, he fashioned an armoured breast with a flowing river pattern to represent neuroplasticity in the brain and the mind’s ability to change, which provides the foundation for hope.
“While things happened to you and were beyond your control, you are still able to change where things are today.”
Creating WOW garments has given him a creative outlet alongside his work as a GP, which now also includes a teaching role.
“Being a GP is very rewarding but also very challenging, so I think it is really important to be able to fill your cup up outside of work, and it’s making the time to do it.
“We know we are at high risk of burnout and when we burn out the first thing that goes is our compassion, which in a caring profession is really hard.”
The other aspect he really enjoys about WOW is that everyday people can enter – the piece and the story speak for themselves.
Ben is one of several Nelson-Tasman designers named as finalists this year. Their garments will be unveiled during the World of WearableArt Show at Wellington's TSB Arena from 17 September to 4 October.
