“At first, mental wellness was not on my radar. It was not something I personally took so much interest in.   But as I started to attend the mental health trainings that Loving Heart organised, I was surprised to find out that it is an issue that affects one out of every seven Singaporeans,” Yee Hern shares. 

“Without really understanding why, I just felt that there is something that I can offer, and that I want to help the community.” 

Today, his vision is that the community would shift from stigmatising those with mental health issues, to being a kinder community that provides support for those within.  

I asked about how he came to become so invested in this work, when he’d initially started out quite unaware about mental well-being issues. His mind goes immediately to his mum. 

He recalls, “There was a period when me and my family; we were posted out to Vietnam for work. And my mum was living alone for a number of years.” 

She is one of the reasons that they eventually decided to move back to Singapore, after close to a decade abroad. Today, Yee Hern and his family live with his mother, and he shuttles between Vietnam and Singapore on a regular basis. 

“I think that prolonged period of isolation really affected her well-being. I could see her deterioration. I don’t think she has quite fully recovered from it.”  

Yee Hern uses the phrase ‘at ease’ when he describes the feeling, when they now spend time together as a family. “She doesn't talk much or express that she is happy, but I can feel that she is at ease.” 

For him, it is all about people knowing, “I am not alone.” Yee Hern feels that it is important that every one in Yuhua can have the security of knowing that my neighbours are aware of my needs, someone is watching out for me, I am not isolated, I am not alone.   

He firmly believes that we are made to be social beings. The good news is, having a warm and supportive ‘family’ does not always have to be biologically connected. We can always choose to be like ‘family’ to those around us.    

Perhaps this sense of ‘ease’ is what we seek when we speak about mental wellness. A sense of being connected with those who care about us; a feeling that everything fits in its place and that all will be well.