Thinker with a Mission, Leader with a Heart Series Ng Yee Lin

Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Dr Koh Poh Koon, presents the Youth Community Leadership Award to Ng Yee Lin.

Youth Community Leadership Award 2019 - Ng Yee Lin, 2T22

There are not enough words in the dictionary to describe the significance of giving back. Even the simplest acts of kindness can go a long way in changing someone’s life. It creates close-knit relationships between strangers. There are many ways one can give back to the society. Through volunteering, people gain eye-opening experiences by helping others in need. In Singapore, schools widely encourage students to participate in community service to learn life skills and attain knowledge.

Ng Yee Lin of 2T22, who received a Youth Community Leadership Award exemplifies this. The award was given by the Yio Chu Kang Community Club for her heart for service. Yee Lin has been constantly involved in the community around her, from giving free tuition to the less fortunate, to helping out villagers in an Overseas Service Learning Programme in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Through all this, she stays humble; even during the interview with the College newsletter, she never once boasted about her achievements, saying instead how she felt undeserving as she felt she was just doing her job in helping society.

In all that Yee Lin does, she is a living ideal of the college motto, Thinker with a Mission, Leader with a Heart (TMLH). During the interview, she constantly emphasizes how this motto drives her conviction that we should keep our goals in mind while serving others genuinely with care and empathy. She feels one does not have to be a leader in order to help or serve others, having instead the courage to take a step out of our comfort zones so as to be willing to lend a helping hand to others.

However, she faces setbacks such as her fear of meeting new people. Volunteering often requires one to talk to new partners and work with other volunteers. For instance, Yee Lin was the Youth Coordinator for one of Youth Corps’ events. Despite being the youngest Youth Coordinator, she still had to give instructions to adults who were the Volunteer Befrienders. This was indeed a challenge, but Yee Lin persevered and managed to execute it smoothly with her partners. This perseverance would not be possible without the strong love and dedication she has for community work and in fact, Yee Lin has indicated that she would like to continue doing so in the future, pursuing the life of a social worker so as to continue to help the less fortunate and play her part in society.

Indeed, giving back to society has a huge significance in this world and every individual should help one another to make this world a better place. CJC definitely provides students with opportunities to help others and take part in community involvement programmes. Yee Lin is a living testament to the ideal “Thinker with a Mission, Leader with a Heart”. We should respect someone like her and we need more people like her as she believes that it is important to contribute to society despite the rigour of JC life. She makes time to help others despite her own struggles. Helping others replaces the selfishness in our lives with selflessness. Giving back to society reminds people that they are not alone and helping one another is fundamental in connecting us all as part of the fabric of humanity.