Tan Wai Jia — currently serving her residency at one of Singapore’s largest multidisciplinary hospitals, Tan Tock Seng Hospital — is on her feet 80 hours a week at work.

But this year alone, she has found the time to write her third book and go on two volunteer aid trips.

To date, she has been on 13 such trips, most recently to Myanmar in July for a five-day programme that saw her teaching children at an orphanage. It sounds like a lifetime’s work, but Wai Jia is only 24.

It’s little wonder then that the Orchid Jayceettes of Singapore — a non-profit organisation that recognises and awards Singapore individuals committed to humanitarian efforts — honoured her as a Young Outstanding Singaporean (YOS) in January this year.

Despite the impressive accolades under her belt, or scrubs in her case, the National University of Singapore graduate maintains that she is “an ordinary person”, and asks to be referred to by her first name instead of ‘Dr Tan’.

At a café in the hospital after coming off a 12-hour shift, the sprightly young doctor says talking to Singapore is like coming full circle.

“My first humanitarian trip was to Cambodia in 2004 as part of the Youth Expedition Programme organised by the Singapore International Foundation [publishers of Singapore],” she says. Wai Jia was 17 then and in her first year at junior college.

The trip marked a turning point for her.

“I had been brought up in a sheltered, middle-class family. Until [my trip to Cambodia], I had never been to a village, visited the poor, or realised how much we have to be grateful for,” she recalls.

“The trip made me realise how much we can learn from the poor, and about our social responsibility to help the less fortunate.”

My greatest testimony is that you don’t have to be someone remarkable to do something remarkable
Tan Wai Jia

This desire to contribute to developing communities was further ignited by her own spiritual awakening.

“I decided to reach out to the poor around the same time I accepted Christianity,” explains Wai Jia.

“I saw how blessed I was, and wanted to do something meaningful with my life.”

So while her friends were off on their holidays after their A-Level exams, Wai Jia set off alone on her first volunteer trip to Nepal in December 2005.

The six-week trip, during which she visited an orphanage called Sophia’s Home in the country’s capital of Kathmandu, was a life-changing experience.

The biggest heartache, she says, was finding out that the children had to move every couple of months because the orphanage could not afford the rents.

“The children shared with me their dreams — the kind I had when I was a kid, only I had the privilege to pursue them,” Wai Jia says.

Driven to give the orphanage a fixed premises, she wrote her first book, Kitesong, about a child’s journey as she chases after a runaway kite. It’s a story about having faith and following your dreams, says Wai Jia, who also illustrated it.

Within six months of its release in August 2006, she had raised $110,000 from its sales — enough to purchase a four-storey building for Sophia’s Home.

“All I did was come up with the idea for the book. That is why my greatest testimony is that you don’t have to be someone remarkable to do something remarkable,” she says.

A Higher Calling
In May this year,Wai Jia went on a three week trip to help underprivileged children in Mozambique.

In preparing for her trip, which took place shortly after her 24th birthday, she asked her friends and family not to give her birthday presents, but to instead bring donations and items for the orphanage she was visiting in the port city of Pemba.

She raised $2,000 in donations and collected a seven-seater carload of children’s clothes, shoes, stationery and sports items.

These proved useful, but at the orphanage, Wai Jia was faced with a challenge she hadn’t expected: extreme hunger.

“[The children] squatted on the floor and shoved fistfuls of food into their mouths, and even snatched food from others. I had never been so heartbroken in my life.”

Having witnessed their plight, Wai Jia is now determined to set up a fund for a feeding programme for children.

Now four months into her residency, Wai Jia is not able to take very long breaks, but plans to go to developing countries to do humanitarian work at every opportunity.

Her next trip is in October to Surabaya, Indonesia where, with a disaster relief team from her church, she will provide medical care to children and destitute women.

High on her list of priorities is a visit to Kolkata, India, where Missionaries of Charity — founded by the late MotherTeresa — operates.

“One of her maxims, to do small things with great love, has inspired me to live life with humility and gratitude,” Wai Jia reflects.

Inspired Living
Being recognised for her efforts is something that Wai Jia neither expects nor yearns for.

“I don’t want to put myself on a pedestal. I’ve met many people who are far more amazing, yet unknown. I only hope my YOS award encourages others,” she says, citing the example of Dr Tan Lai Yong, a Singaporean medical humanitarian aid worker who is one of her heroes.

Her parents, both of whom work in the financial industry, have become increasingly supportive, says Wai Jia.

“On one hand, they always knew it was good work and would be touched by the photos and stories I brought back, but all these trips kept them on the edge of their seats! At first, they would try to dissuade me from making these trips out of concern for my safety, but in time they became more supportive,” she says. In fact, they sponsored her ‘graduation trip’ to Mozambique.

Wai Jia is grateful for the support, as besides helping her provide aid to those who need it, it helps her grow.

“The poor inspire me — their diligence, reverence for humanity and respect for one another. Every time I go on volunteer trips, I meet brilliant people who have given their lives to serve the poor. If they can do it, I can do it too.”

Wai Jia also seeks to inspire others through her writing.

Her second book A Taste of Rainbow — released earlier this year — was prompted by her own battle with depression and anorexia.

It is distributed for free as part of a public education drive to promote healthy self-esteem. The book is also helping to raise funds for her feeding programme, as some people who have read it make contributions to her aid work.

Her third book, I Love You, is a story about learning to say those three special words.

“We don’t do it enough. That’s the source of many of our problems,” she explains.

A release date has yet to be announced. “One thing at a time,” Wai Jia says with a smile.

“I tend to amplify the things I do,” says N. Sivasothi or Siva, as he introduces himself. The university lecturer, however, wears so many hats, it is quite impossible to label him. His passions span zoology, ecology, technology and cycling. He is also ready in an instant to discuss deeply – politics, religion, rugby and a plethora of other topics, footnotes and references included.

The St. Andrew’s alumnus -“12 years” – first gained a reputation in Singapore’s environmentalist circles when he joined the fight to save Tanjung Chek Jawa in 2001. Though the inter-tidal area in Pulau Ubin where six different ecosystems thrive is a rarity in Singapore, it had been identified for reclamation for military purposes.

Chek Jawa’s plight came to the attention of Siva – then a research officer at the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research – who started bringing groups of people to observe the area’s wonders which include otters, hornbills, junglefowl and wild boars. Many Singaporeans wrote in to the press, passionately fighting for Chek Jawa. As a result, reclamation plans were diverted, and today, Siva still gives tours of this haven.

After graduating from the National University of Singapore (NUS) with an honours degree in zoology, he went on to pursue his master’s degree in the same discipline from 1992 to 1996. His area of research was otters, which are part of the mangrove ecosystem, and studying the lives of these creatures has become a lifelong passion for him. This pursuit has led to the moniker ‘Otterman’ which Siva uses for his blog (http://otterman.wordpress.com/).

“I am still in the International Union for Conservation of Nature [IUCN] Species Survival Commission Otter Specialist Group, providing input about the species in Southeast Asia,” says Siva.

According to him, the region is home to four of the world’s 13 species of otters, and one species, the Hairy-nosed Otter, is endemic to the region, meaning it is not found anywhere else. All the region’s species are under threat from habitat loss and pollution. Singapore has two species of otters: the Small-clawed Otter and the Smooth-coated Otter. The latter is more common.

After attaining his Master’s degree, Siva worked for the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research for 10 years, where he continued his research into terrestrial, freshwater and marine environments.

The ever-curious lecturer

Out of his mangrove research came a book, A Guidebook to the Mangroves of Singapore, which he co-wrote. Siva also began bringing “visitors” into mangroves and nature reserves. These tours grew rapidly in popularity because Siva and his fellow guides would, as he says, “tell stories, with characters and all, of what is actually going on in these environments”. This birthed the Habitat Group, a group of biology graduates who conduct entertaining educational tours.

At present, Siva is busy preparing for the Singapore celebrations of the 20th anniversary of the International Coastal Cleanup in September. Not surprisingly, he heads the local arm, having been involved since 1997. Clearly, the man has a talent for turning a ripple of a notion into a maelstrom; he’s a born aggregator of people and has a knack for taking an idea as far as it will go. As he puts it, “Rome wasn’t built in a day. Usually we have to keep at something for it to be worthwhile.”

The man who passionately educated people on the stories of Chek Jawa’s wildlife made a mid-career switch in 2007 to become a lecturer in the Faculty of Science at NUS.

He approaches his role as educator as he does everything else: by getting to the ground. “Unlike most lecturers, I’m not primarily a researcher who teaches. I’m a teacher who does research,” he says. “When you deliver the lecture, the approach is more that of a stand-up comic.You need to be robust!”

To challenge his students, he is redesigning his course to include an elevator pitch, where “[the students] have to deliver their core idea in three minutes.” On the cards, then, is a TED-style symposium where students pitch their ideas publicly, facing a countdown clock.

Despite his passion for the natural world, the self-professed Mac addict as always employed technology in everything he does. An early introduction in secondary school to the Apple II computer turned into a lifelong passion for the Mac, which resulted in him setting up a Macintosh mailing list that attracted enthusiasts from all over the world. In the wake of 2004’s Asian tsunami, Siva created a webpage that became a resource for organisations and volunteers to keep updated on aid efforts and to draw attention to what relief items were most needed.

When you deliver a lecture, the approach is more that of a stand-up comic. You need to robust!

N. Sivasothi

The 45-year-old is married, and has three cats. He loves cycling, but even this has gone beyond the purely recreational. His enthusiasm for the sport sparked off the cycling group Zendogs and, as members, he and his wife were safety riders for wheelchair-bound athlete Dr William Tan on the 2005 Ride For Hope charity race.

So, what better way to summarise the multi-faceted tech-savvy N. Sivasothi than to ask the man to describe himself in a tweet? He obliges with “curious and engaged.”

A Catholic upbringing set Celeste Basapa on the path to being one of Singapore’s most passionate fundraisers. BY THERESA TAN

Always remembering that your work is voluntary is a maxim Celeste abides by


Exquisitely made-up, and dressed in a formal evening gown for the purpose of this photoshoot and interview, Celeste Basapa—a regular fixture in the pages of many a society magazine—has the air of a youthful woman. The vision belies the fact that the slender fifty-something is also one of Singapore’s most formidable fundraisers.

The events she organised or helped put together last year included those for the Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO) Gala, the Fondation Prince Albert II de Monaco Gala and the Kidz Horizon Appeal Gala.

She devotes the bulk of her time to raising funds for four organisations: the Chinese Women’s Association (CWA) which helps the elderly, Kidz Horizon for children with terminal illnesses, the SSO and the Singapore Repertory Theatre. In between, she helps in various fundraising efforts for other organisations, the Red Cross among them.

Celeste’s foray into volunteer work began when her husband Lawrence Basapa was posted to the United States in 1990.

“I joined the Fairfield County Junior League, an organisation of women who helped the less fortunate in various states. It was a short stint, but I learned that anyone can make a difference to the lives of the less fortunate by donating their time,” she says.

She returned to Singapore in 1993, and got involved in a local fundraising effort a few years later, serving on the committee to raise funds for a new church building in 1998.

Of the countless fundraisers she had since put together, Celeste names raising money for the earthquake victims of Turkey in 1999 as the most special.

“I visited Turkey and the devastation was unimaginable! I’d never encountered such grief until that point, and the unadulterated gratitude of the victims on meeting the Singapore contingent remains indelible in my memory to this day.”

Fund raising should be approached as a business, she states. “It should really be run like a public-listed company, because we are accountable in all our practices, and must never take another person’s generosity for granted.”

The indefatigable volunteer advises that a fundraiser must pace herself, take on only the causes she believes in, and always remember that her work is voluntary.

Her maxim is never to “feel compulsion, which results in unsavory competitiveness”.

It is a cliché that high-society women organise galas, but Celeste doesn’t shy from the ‘socialite’ label. “People in general have a misconception of the term ‘socialite’, thanks to Paris Hilton,” she says wryly.

“In Singapore, they think ‘socialite’ means ‘party animal’. But traditionally, a socialite is the epitome of grand society, someone who possesses exemplary social etiquette and meticulous grooming.

“Fundraising is like gold prospecting. Whether your gold comes from one rich person who donates while enjoying a good party or from the man on the street, the value of that gold is still the same. The money does the same good.”

In her own quest to do good, Celeste has proven that she’s prepared to go the extra mile. There was even a time when fundraising was hazardous to her health.

“There was an event during the Fashion Festival in 2003, at the height of SARS. “The venue was St James Power Station, before [nightlife veteran] Dennis Foo turned it into what it is today. We had all been told not to go to crowded indoor spaces during that period,” she recalls. “But to our surprise, about 500 people showed up!

Success as a fundraiser is simply the achievement of awareness of your cause. It must never be measured by the amount of money you have raised. Achieving the desired monetary goal is a bonus. – Celeste Basapa

“Even my husband asked ‘Must you go?’ I had to, so I said all my prayers and put on all my [Catholic] medals and went. We had a committee but they were afraid of being indoors, so it was left to me and the chairperson to stay inside and shake hands with guests! That was a truly memorable event. We stuck to our cause through thick and thin.”

Of her ‘success’ in what she does, she says, “I love my work! Success as a fundraiser is simply the achievement of awareness of your cause. It must never be measured by the amount of money you have raised. Achieving the desired monetary goal is a bonus.”

That said, without mentioning the sum, she reveals that the Fondation Prince Albert II de Monaco Gala last year was her “personal best for funds raised”.

Celeste credits her zeal for fundraising to her upbringing, and to being “deeply spiritual”.

“I had a strict Catholic upbringing, but not without the joys of a carefree and loving environment. My fondest memory is that of being elected head prefect and organising my first fundraiser—a concert called ‘4 O’Clock Date’ which featured guys as well!”

Of her school days at the then CHIJ Victoria Street, she recalls, “One of the things I used to do with my friends was to change into colourful clothes after school and look for SJI boys!” St Joseph’s Institution, a Catholic boy’s school, was located just down the street at the time.

Celeste did end up with an SJI boy. Today, Lawrence and Celeste have been married for over 30 years, and they have one daughter.

Her years in convent schools not only paved the way for a happy family life but also instilled in her a sense of charity.

“In school we were taught to help others and make sacrifices. We had to present to the Mother Superior a list of sacrifices and good deeds done. If you do the will of God, everything falls into its place,” Celeste says.

“Charity is the giving up of one’s personal resources—be it money, talent or time—to alleviate the pain of the less fortunate.

“We are not all Bill Gates or Mother Teresa, but we can use our various talents to do things for a worthwhile cause.”

Her spiritual leanings stem from her keen interest in major religions like Christianity, Islam and Buddhism. When at her second home, located north-east of Bangkok, Celeste spends time visiting ancient Hindu-Buddhist sites.

So what would God say to her when the time comes? “I think He would ask me, ‘Celeste, did you do all your good works for the glory of God, the good of mankind or for your own ego?’

“My answer would be ‘A bit of all three, Sir, as I was only human!”

Anative of Jogjakarta, Captain Budiharja Soehardi — or Budi to his friends — is a 54-year-old veteran pilot with Singapore Airlines (SIA). He was a little tired when we met — understandably so as he had just returned from Jogjakarta, where he was coordinating efforts to help Mount Merapi’s victims.

(more…)

More than 400 children across 10 slums in Phnom Penh are cared by Riverkids, with schooling provide.

She was born and raised in Singapore, one of five children of two expatriate New Zealanders.
And though her family may have all moved back home, Dale Edmonds is still here.

“Singapore is home, and I can’t imagine living somewhere else,” says Dale, 32, who married a Singaporean and is now a Singapore citizen.

“Whenever I come back [from travels], there’s that moment at Changi when you drive down the expressway, and the roads stretch out all neat and orderly, with the greenery and trees just so, and something in me sighs in satisfaction.

(more…)

When Jeanne Seah-Khong and Khong Yoon Kay found that their five-year-old daughter Joan was not like other children and needed special attention and education, it was a heartbreaking realisation. “I fought grief, anger and despair and went through a very hard time,” said Jeanne candidly.

Coming to terms with Joan’s intellectual impairment – the cause of which the Khongs have never fully determined – was one thing; the most pressing concern was how to offer Joan the opportunities to maximise her potential and give her a secure place in the world. “Raising a child in today’s environment, and raising a child with special needs has a different set of challenges,” said Jeanne. “There are some sad moments when you see your child without friends or being taken advantage of because of their naiveté and gullibility. Our biggest fear was what would happen to Joan when we are not around any more.” Joan has limitations in her speech and memory, and while she is able to perform tasks such as travelling independently, she cannot express herself well or handle complex interactions with people.

As parents who wanted the best for their daughter, they grew “frantic” as Joan – now 19 – got older and as vocational training opportunities became elusive. “Once outside the special school system, there are only basic and minimal training options where youths can learn life and vocational skills, but mainstream employment is also not ideal,” elaborated Yoon Kay.

Understanding all too well the barriers faced by special needs children in the working world, the Khongs decided to set up a café that would fill the gap by providing an apprenticeship under the guidance of a professional chef. “The aim is to bring out the best in the youths that have the potential and give them a fi ghting chance to become active and productive members in the larger community,” Yoon Kay said.

Without any prior experience in the F&B industry, the Khongs took a long time – more than a year – to set up the enterprise. Despite the challenges, they persisted, funding the café with their own savings that had meant to be Joan’s education fund. “Joan had an interest in housework and helping out in the kitchen when she was younger,” Jeanne explained. “We nurtured that interest over the years by enrolling her in cooking and culinary classes during the holidays. In school, she has also gone into the F&B class; the café was a logical progression.” The Joan Bowen café – which combines the Christian (Joan) and Chinese (Bowen) names of their daughter – opened in August 2009.

“We literally blundered our way through the process, learning about regulations and processes along the way,” Jeanne recounted, laughing. Operationally, they also had come up with their own training processes. “We have to break a task into different steps to make it easier to memorise,” said Yoon Kay, an engineer by training. They had to tailor and devise alternative methods and structured learning supports to help overcome challenges such as poor memory retention and gaps in skills, he added. For example, Jeanne has had to come up with a written list to help the staff tally the float in the register. “I have to list down the number of notes of coins – 21 10-cent coins or 20 $10-bills – instead of the total monetary value,” explained Jeanne.

In the kitchen, their full-time chef Lai Wen Fu, designs the menu and daily specials, and trains the staff in food preparation, cooking, plating and garnishing. “We have to rely on rote learning and this takes time before the staff are able to memorise the steps,” Jeanne said. Overall, each staffer learns a range of skills, from basic janitorial duties to dish-washing and depending on their disabilities and interests, customer service or kitchen work. There are about nine staff who work at the café every day and they are paid a salary of about $850 to $1,000 a month. The plan is to train each candidate for an eight-month training stint before they ‘graduate’ to a job in the ‘real’ world.

Ten months on, the Khongs look back at their enterprise with a little pride and deep gratitude.

“We are pleasantly surprised by how many are touched by our café initiative,” said Jeanne. “There are regular customers who give encouragement to our kids. We also have the office crowd at lunch as well as family diners from the neighbourhood.” On busy days, the café may serve as many as 70 ‘covers’ (meals) for lunch and 60 for dinner. In fact, the word has also spread abroad and they’ve gotten visitors from China and Australia who have been inspired by the café and its mission.

“It’s been a tiring but rewarding experience. The hours are long and we are learning the trade along the way,” said Jeanne. It’s especially heartening for the Khongs to see Joan take ownership and pride in the café. Joan opens up and prepares the café from 9am everyday, six days a week and works 12- to 14-hour days, usually in the kitchen. When Singapore visited, Joan was busy working in the kitchen – her favourite part of the cafe. When asked about her work, Joan smiled shyly and said simply that she “liked being with her friends”.

Apart from seeing their daughter take to the business, the Khongs also have the pride of seeing their extended ‘family’ bloom. “What thrills me is seeing all of the kids come together in their work, complement each other’s skills and help each other out. What one person may lack, someone is always ready to step in and say ‘let me show or help you’,” said Yoon Kay. “We have certainly seen real-life work experience change the kids for the better;” added Jeanne. “The withdrawn have become more assertive, the meek have become confident and most important of all, we have seen confi dence boosted and self-esteem elevated. We are really proud of what they can and have achieved, and what they have become.”

JOAN BOWEN CAFE
9 Jalan Wangi (off Macpherson Road)
joanbowen.blogspot.com