After 15 years of marriage she discovered her husband had taken a concubine, at which point she had contemplated suicide.
[2][1] Beginning in her forties, Hiong entered into social work, dedicating herself to women's advocacy programs.
She later stated she was strongly influenced by her Baháʼí Faith, which promotes equality of all people.
[3] In 1952 she met activist Shirin Fozdar, and together they, along with Checha Davies, founded the Singapore Council of Women on 4 April 1952.
[4] Throughout the 1950s, Hiong and Fozdar worked to criminalize polygamy, advocate for child care and safer conditions in the workplace, and pressed the government to begin reforms to prostitution law.