When his youngest son Lars was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) at age three, Thorkil Sonne and his wife were devastated.

“As parents we want all our children to have good opportunities in life, but the diagnosis meant that Lars would never have the same chances as his siblings and peers,” he says.

But the father of three (Lars is now 14, with two older brothers aged 19 and 22) saw something special beyond the stigma and perceived limitations of the disorder. “To us, Lars is this great, skilled child. But society does not see that. Maybe it is society that has the problem,” says the 51-year-old. “So I thought I’d like to try and change that.”

He founded Specialisterne in 2004, a company that employs people with autism (or “specialist” people) to test software and process data for multi-national corporations such as IBM and Deloitte.

Having worked in IT for many years, Thorkil saw that the industry needs people who are able to do detailed, repetitive tasks that require a high level or accuracy and compliance. This knack for perfection is something his specialists do with instinctual flair.

“At least five per cent of business tasks can be better done with our specialists, and with about one per cent of the [world's] population diagnosed with autism, there is plenty of scope for specialists in the workforce.

“I wanted not only to establish a company that could help Lars and others like him to find work, but also change the way society views their abilities which are applicable not just in sheltered work environments and low skilled jobs, but which can be harnessed to do work that values and maximises their special skills,” he explains.

Specialisterne now employs 33 consultants with ASD and 20 employees with “normal” abilities.

In 2008, Thorkil sold the company to set up and run the Specialist People Foundation, with the vision of enabling one million jobs for specialist people with autism and similar challenges on a global scale.

A keynote speaker at the Singapore International Foundation’s (SIF) Ideas for a Better World Forum in July this year, Thorkil’s emphasis on the importance of embracing diversity and changing social perceptions reflects the vision of the Ashoka Foundation, of which he is one of the 2,500 Fellows across more than 70 countries.

The SIF has signed a three-year memorandum of understanding with the Ashoka Foundation that will comprise mutual exchanges between Ashoka Fellows and Singapore.

Thorkil is also a participant of the Ashoka Globalizer programme which aims to help identify social entrepreneurs with the greatest potential for catalysing global systems, and to further refine their social innovations so as to adapt their strategies for accelerated global spread.

Ultimately, says Thorkil, the idea is to change the mindsets and in doing so drive innovation and maximise the human potential — a vision illustrated by his Specialist People Foundation’s logo of a dandelion seed.

A dandelion is also regarded as a herb, and is one of the most valuable plants in Denmark, where Thorkil and his family live. “[A plant like the dandelion is] a weed in an unwanted place. If you take the weed and place it in a wanted place, it becomes a herb,” he says.

Thorkil Sonne was a keynote speaker at the SIF’s fourth Ideas for a Better World Forum in July this year.

The forum is a platform for global thought leaders to share their ideas to inspire action for good. Key areas explored through the forum include health, education, environment arts and culture, and livelihood and business.

On 27 October 2011, John Elkington, Founder Partner and Executive Chairman of Volans will deliver a keynote address at the fifth Ideas for a Better World Forum, which will field discussions on revolutionising current sustainability practices.

Dr Tanatat Puttasuwan shares his expertise

Poverty, says Dr Tanatat Puttasuwan, is “without a doubt” the biggest challenge facing developing countries. And he should know; Dr Puttasuwan heads Population and Development International (PDI), an organisation that takes the fight against poverty to the ground.

“It is the root cause for many other social and environmental ills, such as poor health, poor education, lack of social mobility, and environmental degradation,” says PDI’s Executive Director and President.

The way to tackle poverty is to first work with rural communities on community and economic empowerment, he says. This makes it possible to address other problems that people are facing.

“By following a path of self-help rather than fostering dependency, poverty can slowly but surely be eradicated.”

PDI’s primary programme to eradicate poverty and improve quality of life is the Village Development Partnership. This initiative organises villagers into local committees which own and operate a micro-credit fund called the Village Development Bank. This helps them escape the cycle of poverty through small enterprise creation and micro-loans.

Dr Puttasuwan was in Singapore in March when PDI signed a memorandum of understanding with the Singapore International Foundation, enabling the exchange of ideas and cooperation between the two organisations in social entrepreneurship and volunteer-driven development.

“It will provide a mutually beneficial partnership between Singaporeans and Thais. Singapore is way ahead in terms of marketing strategy, IT, and identifying investment opportunities. These are three things the villagers we work with have indicated that they want to improve on,” he explains.“The benefits for Singaporeans are that they can learn about rural cultures and agriculture.”

Headquartered in the United States and Thailand – and with an affiliate in Cambodia – PDI is staffed entirely by volunteers. It was founded in 1983 by its current Chairman Mechai Viravaidya, together with some associates. Besides helping villagers achieve economic self-sufficiency, PDI also strives to improve health education by working with villagers through its Barefoot MPH Program; MPH stands for Masters in Public Health. The villagers do not receive formal education in the subject, but practical training. Each village is supported by a sponsor, which can be a company, foundation, or an individual.

The projects I supervise allow me to be an operator on the ground.

Dr Tanatat Puttasuwan

“It is vital to engage local institutions and local staff when working with rural communities in Southeast Asia,” Dr Puttasuwan says.

“Besides language barriers, going into communities like a ‘white knight’ will often be met with skepticism from locals.

“Prior to working in a community, we discuss with them their needs and long-term goals. After that, we work with them to develop a long-term plan.”

In this way, the villagers are part of every step of the process as opposed to PDI coming in and dictating what is going to happen, he explains.

Dr Puttasuwan received his PhD in Financial Economics from the University of Southern California, and has worked for international banks in New York and Los Angeles, as well as the World Bank. Since 2000, he has served as a Trustee of Population and Community Development Association (PDA), a Thai NGO that promotes family planning in rural areas.

When he joined PDA full-time in October 2008, he was also appointed to his current position at PDI. Of the latter appointment, the 50-year-old Thai national says, “The work I do is exciting. Instead of sitting in a stuffy office writing dull reports, the projects I supervise allow me to be an operator on the ground.”

“I’m most passionate about the Village Development Bank. It’s very encouraging that people with only a primary education are able to manage a complex savings and loans programme,” says the Bangkok-based Dr Puttasuwan.

He is certainly proud of the role that PDI’s programmes have played in empowering the villagers. “After a visit from a group of donors, we had a partner from a major accounting firm in Bangkok say that the accountant at one of our banks was more knowledgeable than some of his Certified Public Accountants!”

Having a hearing impairment doesn’t mean you can’t push boundaries, as performer Ramesh Meyyappan shows. BY ANITA YEE

Getting his work accepted as mainstream is a challenge Ramesh faces.


Singapore-born, but now based in Glasgow, Scotland, Ramesh Meyyappan is a multi-faceted performer. Not one to allow his hearing impairment to deter him from pushing boundaries, the last decade or more has seen him develop performances—solo and collaborative—in a range of visual and physical styles.

“Language and having to explore how people communicate has influenced me greatly, and the desire to be able to communicate in a universally accessible way has always been the challenge that keeps me going,” he says.

Ramesh, who started his arts and theatre career in Singapore, left in 2000 for England, where he obtained a First Class degree from the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts. He discovered then, and still observes now, that regardless of the country or culture, “work by a deaf person can be pigeon-holed”; that often work by deaf artists is considered less good than that of those who can hear.

This has spurred him on, together with his desire to reach a wider audience —and not because he has something to prove; Ramesh says his biggest challenge today is making work that can be viewed as mainstream. That means ensuring he is able to reach and attract a wider audience while challenging those who perceive theatre created by a deaf person as less than adequate.

He goes on to say that he has been steadily pushing himself as he develops his “skill levels and builds an extensive visual vocabulary”.

I just want to create work that audiences will want to see.

The 36-year-old received the Singapore International Foundation’s (SIF) Singapore Internationale grant in 2010. Of this he says, “The SIF has always been very generous and supportive of my work. Without them, Snails & Ketchup and Gin & Tonic & Passing Trains would have taken longer to get started. I appreciate their faith in my work.”

Singapore Internationale is an arts and culture grant that supports the presentation of Singapore’s creative works overseas.

Of his current production Snails & Ketchup, which is inspired by Italian journalist and writer Italo Calvino’s The Baron in the Trees, and in which he plays all the characters, Ramesh says, “It’s a work in progress… It’s a simple story but I was inspired by the setting and the characters.

“As the boy in the story lives in trees, I’ve been engaged in intensive training to develop aerial skills; a great deal of the performance is above ground and on a rope!”

The first performance of the fully developed Snails & Ketchup will be showcased in Paris from 8 to 11 June. There is also a possibility that it will be performed in Singapore in July before Ramesh takes it to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August.

He is hard-pressed to pick a favourite production. “I think each solo piece I’ve created has provided a different experience for me. However, Mistero Buffo was quite significant as it was my first full-length solo performance, and my first time adapting a text to develop a purely visual narrative.”

Among the awards he picked up for his interpretation of Italian playwright and director Dario Fo’s piece was the Best Actor award at The Straits Times Life! Theatre Awards in 2003.

Mistero Buffo is memorable for him because through it, he became more aware of the difficulties communicating a full narrative in a visual way. The process involved in bringing it together left him “with much food for thought”, making him aware that he has much more to learn and areas to develop.

Of his future plans, he says simply, “I just want to create work that audiences will want to see.”

Geraldine (front, second from left), with some members of her team at Dan Run

It was an opportunity that presented itself, and Geraldine D’Cotta did not let it pass her by.

The investment advisor at Deutsche Bank had been considering volunteer work, so when her employer asked for staff volunteers for the Water for Life project in Cambodia, she did not hesitate to sign up.

(more…)

Alvan (third from right) and students taking a photo break from lessons

It’s difficult to say how many students I have on a regular basis. On good days, more than a dozen turn up. But it does not matter, any number is a happy number.

On a perfect day, when the roads are not submerged by downpours, when their families can spare the 10 to 20 centavos (about $0.15 to $0.25 cents) for bus fare, or when nobody loses interest in what the mestre from Singapore can offer, the perfect number is 23.

So far, it has always been far from perfect. But even with half that number, it was, initially, a mighty struggle to teach them effectively or coherently. The hearing impaired students are a disparate lot. Most are in their 20s with a few in their late teens. The oldest is a 40-year-old woman and the youngest, a pair of nine-year-old girls. (more…)

For most people there is little to love about the wave of humidity that greets one when stepping out from
the cool confines of Changi Airport. But for Shirley, it was a moment of amusement and astonishment. “I remember holding a piece of paper as I left the airport and it ‘melted’ in my hands. The ink and paper vaporised with the humidity,” she said, recalling her fi rst encounter with the island’s climate. “I love how crazy humid and hot Singapore is!”

The 28-year-old Canadian-Chinese who works in the fi nancial sector had fi rst visited Asia in 2007 for a week-long work meeting in Kuala Lumpur, taking the opportunity while in the region to visit Thailand and Cambodia. Singapore had been just a one-night stopover before she headed home. “During the few hours that I had in Singapore, I fell in love with the bright lights and sounds of Chinatown and Little India!” Shirley said. “I remember I rode the MRT for the fi rst time, got a facial in Chinatown, went shopping at OG and explored the area near my hotel in Little India. Those few precious hours when I saw two of the most colourful neighbourhoods was when I made up my mind that I must return one day.”

Now, as a host of Singapore Discovered!, Shirley takes her exploration of Singapore to another level, charged with tasks that include fi nding out just how good $38 chicken rice is compared to the cheaper hawker fare.

“Singapore Discovered! is about exploring Singapore through the eyes of a foreigner who has lived here for awhile. We visit some of the island’s little-known gems, explore the vast culture of Singapore, eat and chat with local chefs and also meet various Singapore icons,” she explained. “I was very excited to find out about the show … None of my friends are surprised that I am part of a show that talks about how unique and wonderful Singapore is – I rave about how awesome Singapore is all the time!”

Shirley makes the most of her Singapore life, exploring the city and the region as well as taking up classes in tap dancing, acrylic painting and Chinese painting. These days, Shirley also spends time with her toy poodle Alphy, a present from her fiancé Todd.

“Those few precious hours when I saw two of the most colourful neighbourhoods was when I made up my mind that I must return one day.”

There’s something about Singapore’s dual identity that appeals to her. “I love the fact that Singapore is an Asian country but with extremely strong western influences. It’s thrilling that I can practise my rusty Mandarin or quickly switch to English,” she said. “I like how convenient and easy it is to live here. I love the public transportation system and how easy it is to get around – to the malls, food and clubs … I feel very comfortable here.”

While it was not much of a problem acclimatising to the culture and weather, certain things did take some getting used to. “I remember holding a red Christmas Starbucks cup in December 2008 while wearing a dress, sandals and no jacket!” she told Singapore. “It felt very weird that there was no sign of winter, since back home it would be freezing and my wardrobe would have been so different.”