Singaporeans who help others give hope for the future
More Singaporeans are going out of their way to help others, which President Tharman Shanmugaratnam said makes him truly hopeful for the future.
This is as the strength of a nation is ultimately about the strength and purpose its people add to each other’s lives, he said as he wished everyone a happy New Year.
In a Facebook post on Dec 31, Mr Tharman reflected on his term since being elected president in September 2023.
“Having been your President for 15 months now, there is something about Singaporeans that makes me truly hopeful about the future,” he said as he shared the stories of three individuals in a New Year message.
The first was of 15-year-old Mark Eli Fernando, who on Sept 7 was alerted to a cardiac arrest incident in his vicinity by the Singapore Civil Defence Force myResponder app. The app alerts members of the public to nearby fire and medical cases so that they can provide first response.
Mark rushed to the address and saw an unconscious man. Drawing on his Scouts training, he dashed to the lift lobby to get an automated external defibrillator (AED).
Together with two of the man’s neighbours, he administered the AED and the man survived.
“Mark, a student at Pathlight School, is special because he has autism. But he is also special because he feels responsible to do whatever he can to help others,” said Mr Tharman. “In this case, it saved a life.”
Mr Tharman also cited the example of Dr Ain Azman, who heads the girls’ football team at Tasek Sailors, a partnership between professional football club Lion City Sailors and Tasek Academy and Social Services to empower disadvantaged youth through sport.
He noted how Dr Ain began volunteering on weekends, but found it so meaningful that she decided to go full-time into youth work, “sometimes seven days a week, to help young people gain confidence in their abilities, and raise their ambitions”.
She also picked up football in her late twenties to bond with her charges on the field.
“Ain could have done many different careers with her background in biomedical engineering, but she is doing what she feels gives her and gives others the most meaning in life,” said Mr Tharman.
He also spoke about Madam Jenny Wong, 65, who volunteers her time at public libraries and at a hospital, where she accompanies patients to activities and provides a listening ear.
Madam Wong clocked more than 1,200 hours volunteering in a single year – more than most people do in a lifetime, noted the President.
Together, the three of them “show us how we can each be someone special to others in the neighbourhood or in our broader community so that we add purpose to each other’s lives, and we bring ourselves closer together”, he said.
“For that’s what our strength as a nation will ultimately be about – the strength and purpose that we add to each other’s lives.”
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