Cancer survivor, 65, awarded for supporting other patients

In 2011, Mr Ellil Mathiyan Lakshmanan was diagnosed with rectal cancer. Shortly after, doctors found that he also had testicular cancer.

Because of the rectal cancer, he had to have part of his bowel removed. A permanent stoma bag was attached to his abdomen to help him remove body waste.

“Of course, I was devastated and very anxious, wondering how I was going to go about life as I knew it with the permanent stoma and stoma bag.” he said.

He felt that even though he was cared for medically, there was little emotional support for patients like him.

“I relied a lot on the internet to look for people who had gone through the same journey,” said the 65-year-old who is married with no children. 

Together with a group of colorectal cancer survivors, he co-founded the Ostomy Association of Singapore in 2014. He and a small group of key volunteers have over the years reached out to nearly 800 people, offering reassurance, emotional support, advice and practical information.

At the annual President’s Volunteerism and Philanthropy Awards (PVPA) held on Nov 13, he was among 13 individuals and organisations across 10 categories lauded for serving the community.

They were selected from more than 294 nominations. Presented by the president of Singapore, these awards represent the highest honour for giving in the country.  

President Tharman Shanmugaratnam was guest of honour at the awards ceremony, which was held at Raffles Singapore hotel and organised by the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre (NVPC).

Aside from his full-time job running a security services company, Mr Lakshmanan, whose cancer is in remission, is actively involved in Relay for Life, a global movement that raises funds and awareness for cancer.

He also serves as the coordinator for the Cancer Can Give movement, which aids cancer survivors in giving back to society. On top of that, he is also a mentor with the SingHealth Patient Advocacy Network.

“The year that I went through without any support, I don’t want others to go through the same thing. There’s lots of help around, there are many people who are willing to hold your hand and walk the journey with you. So, don’t give up, focus on the treatment, get better, and there’s life after cancer,” said Mr Lakshmanan who was the People of Good (Senior) category winner.

Being nominated by the Singapore Cancer Society for the award was already an honour for him, he said.

“To me, that was already showing appreciation for what I’ve contributed over the years. I’ve been volunteering with them since 2012. And to win it, is like the icing on the cake. It pushes me to do even more,” he said. 

He hopes more seniors with time on their hands can step up to volunteer. They just need to look for areas they can volunteer at, like Cancer Can Give, an initiative by Singapore Cancer Society to empower cancer survivors to give back to society, he said.

“It doesn’t mean just because you’re a cancer survivor, you cannot contribute. There’s so many other ways you can contribute,” he adds. 

Another winner under the People of Good (Student) category was Ms Pan Xi, a 16-year-old secondary school student who was part of an initiative to provide online classes to immigrant children in Singapore, primarily from Vietnam and Thailand.

The initiative was a collaboration with Oasis Learning Centre, which runs a programme that tutors migrant children and youth from needy families who are not enrolled in any local school.

 

In 2023, along with 10 other schoolmates from Nanyang Girls’ High School, she conducted English language lessons every two weeks for up to 10 children.

During the June holidays in 2023, she and her friends spent a week with the kids. They went down to the centre to play games and organised activities to bond with the children.

They also arranged for the children to come down to Nanyang Girls’ High School and taught them how to play Chinese musical instruments. As part of a science activity, they also extracted DNA from a strawberry in the school’s laboratory.

“We try to make that experience as unique as possible for them, something that they haven’t experienced before,” said Ms Pan, whose father runs a lighting company and mother is a public servant. She has two sisters aged 18 and 14.

She credits her parents for being one of her biggest motivations for volunteering.

She added: “My parents, they also do their own volunteering, and from young they’ve always encouraged me to do the same.”

“Just a small action can also make a difference. My students also started to give back to society. So it really taught me that the action doesn’t really matter, it’s about the motivation.”