National Young Leaders’ Day 2011 with Yam Ah Mee (People’s association), Lee Min Xuan (PlayMoolah), Kuik Shiao-Yin (The Thought Collective) and Emily Teng (Blessings in a Bag)

We see some things right before our eyes, and other things, well – they require a leap of faith. When I decided to volunteer for Halogen, it was one of those “leap of faith” things. I was afraid of letting people down, and I was not entirely sure if I would be confident and proficient in carrying out the tasks that might be ahead. However, I wanted to try something new and challenge myself by stepping out of my comfort zone.

Following the wisdom of Nike (a well-suited name, since in greek Mythology, Nike is the goddess of victory), I just did it. At National Young Leaders’ Day, I was tasked to prepare and guide the students who would thank each speaker and present them with a token of appreciation, as well as keep time for each of the four speakers.

That morning, over 330 participants from 11 schools gathered to learn the art of leadership from people who have already begun journeying down that road. This same road is ahead of these students now, and I wanted very much to be part of the process that guided them through it.

Enter Mr Yam Ah Mee, our Guest-of-Honour. His day job is as Chief Executive Director of People’s Association. But make no mistake about this man who catapulted to fame after techno remixes of his speeches led him to be a YouTube sensation. His part-time job is trying to appease his adorning fans from screaming school girls, to National Servicemen, to coffee-shop uncles to bus-stop aunties.in his classic poise, he shared his pearls of wisdom on what it takes to be a catalyst of change. Catalysts of change are less ego-centric and more community driven. His idea was simple: Take care of your community, and it will take care of you.

“Take care of your community, and it will take care of you.” – Mr Yam Ah Mee, Chief Executive Director of the People’s Association

Next in line were young leaders who have taken up leadership roles to give back to the community. One was Lee Min Xuan, a former Halogen volunteer who had been inspired to set up the company PlayMoolah which teaches children financial literacy. She shared that discovering what to do holds true when we create a meaningful relationship between our passion, our strengths and what the world needs.

The next question that the audience had to wrestle with was changing our “What-ifs” into “What-is”, as expounded by Kuik Shiao-yin from The Thought Collective. Her questions probed into our personal narratives – the story of our lives – and what it meant to play out this “movie”. At the end, what will drive us is this: Do what you truly love and want to see in this world.

Power 98 DJ, Emily Teng, founded a community project known as Blessings-in-a-Bag which gives to underprivileged, abused and medically-ill children across Asia. When Emily was young and living  in Jakarta,  she  had  her  first  encounter  and understanding of seeing children who had everything, and those with barely anything. Fuelled by this compassion, she began a project asking friends to contribute unused clothings. What began in her humble wardrobe expanded, and today, blesses thousands! She encouraged us to give ourselves the permission to take things which we dislike and turn them around; to “live for what you love”.

Listening to the four speakers share their stories was inspiring; but how do we turn inspiration to action? This year, we introduced workshops to arm our students with a dynamic hands-on experience. Besides learning the basics of team management and overcoming challenges, they also found out what it means to use social media to do social good.

We must be able to turn thoughts to acts, and while dreaming about the future, to also make it happen in a real world. As Shiao-yin said, it was about doing good with practicality in mind; it was about balancing idealism and pragmatism: “The key is to hold that creative tension between those two.”

Our everyday choices can change our lives. I know my decision to find out more about Halogen did; National Young Leaders’ Day gave me a much-needed jolt to my own self-drive and self-recognition. We can all give a part of ourselves; and I was glad I did. When you least expect, you might just get back a hundred fold. The universe has its little ways of thanking those who give.

—
Article by Merrill D’Cruz

National Young Leaders’ Day is an event created for secondary and tertiary level students with the aim to inspire mindset transformations and impart leadership lessons from the real world. In 2011, break-out workshops were added to provide an avenue