She was Singapore's badminton star of the 1950s and was the youngest winner of the Malaysia Open women's singles and doubles titles when she won it at the age of 15.

[10] In late 1947, Helen entered into the seniors competition for the first time at the Singapore Open and performed amicably, beating former women's singles champion, Alice Pennefather on route to the final.

[12] Sensing that Helen could go on to greater heights, her father and uncle started to trained her more systematically with sparing sessions against them to gauge her progression.

[2] Later that year, Helen took part in her second Singapore Open and once again reached the women's singles final but was defeated by veteran and former champion, Ong Siew Eng in a three sets battle.

[13] She then partnered Ong Siew Eng to win her first Singapore Open women's doubles title when they defeated the Eurasian pair of Eunice de Souza and Alice Pennefather, 7–15, 18–14, 15–11.

Besides her success in Singapore, she also managed to defend her Malaysia Open crown in 1949 by upsetting the tournament favorite, Cecilia Samuel (née Chan), who was unbeaten in Malaya since 1939, in the women's singles final, in two sets.