JC2
Purpose, Sought Lecture Series

Advocate for the preservation of Bukit Brown

Anchoring Life with Purpose

What is purpose, and how do you find your purpose? Why is purpose even important? Ms Leow believes that purpose animates action, and will share pivotal events in her life that helped shaped her sense of purpose, as well as how she narrowed down to those she would commit herself to. Through her sharing, you will understand the pressures of time and choosing your purpose for a meaningful legacy. In particular, Ms Leow will touch on the amplifier effect and the power of building communities.

Ms Claire Leow is a trained journalist with more than two decades of experience covering crises, politics, economic restructuring and business and general news. She worked at a public policy school to better understand the impact of policy-making on daily lives, embarking on her first civil society campaign, the Green Corridor.

In 2012, she co-founded the volunteer group All Things Bukit Brown to preserve the cemetery and its historical narratives.

Meeting ID: 897 237 2286

Passcode: 13579

Member of first Singapore women's team to scale Mount Everest

Climb Your Own Everest

Ms Soo joined the NATAS Singapore Women’s Everest Team (NATAS-SWET) in 2004, with the team goal of being the first set of Singaporean women to scale the world’s highest peak. Her 5-year grueling journey is about ordinary people achieving extraordinary results through teamwork, leadership and personal spirit. The story of Joanne pursuing her passion and dreams is a moving one and will stir the listeners to examine the value of their own stories. The session will be more than just an adventure story; it is about human struggle, the courage to confront fear and the resilience in the face of adversity. The “IT” that held her together and drove her to succeed may find resonance within you as you face up to your challenges.

Meeting ID: 870 3400 8483

Passcode: 141492

Mental health researcher and advocate

Ignite your passion, spark a difference: My mental health advocacy journey

In November 2014, Mr Kuek and a few volunteers at the Institute of Mental Health banded together to form the youth volunteering group, Matchsticks of IMH. During weekly volunteering sessions, members of the group would plan activities for the residents of IMH and execute them. From a small group of fewer than 10 volunteers, the group has seen over 700 volunteers pass through its ranks since its formation. The group also frequently partakes in advocacy efforts and even conceptualized an entirely volunteer-informed mental health conversation series which was chosen to be presented at the 9th International Together Against Stigma conference in 2019. Recently, during the circuit breaker period at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mr Kuek led 8 other volunteers to kick start “Journey with Journaling”, a journaling project funded by Oscars@sg, a fund run by Temasek Trust, the philanthropic arm of Singapore investment firm Temasek. Since all physical activities with volunteers have been suspended from January 2020, Mr Kuek decided to embark on this project to help inpatients occupy their time meaningfully. This session would help students better understand the stories and inspiration behind Mr Kuek's commitment to mental health advocacy and youth volunteerism, as well as provide in-depth perspectives on the challenges and obstacles of founding and sustaining a ground-up movement.

Meeting ID: 861 7897 4686

Passcode: 663191

Self-taught private chef

To the one who wants to take a leap of faith

Mr Kenneth Yong is the chef and founder of one of the pioneers of private dining outfit in Singapore, The Mixtape Chef. He is currently focusing on his new brand, Pistachio Everything, which was born out of the pandemic. He is also a content creator on YouTube and loves to get his hands dirty with fermentation and DIY projects. A husband, a dad to a 7 month old baby girl and a 4 year old Singapore Special Dog.

Mr Yong spent 8 years after graduation working in the corporate world before he mustered the courage to quit to pusue what he enjoyed doing -- cooking. If you are on the fence about taking the leap of faith, he hopes to share some of his experiences and learning to help you with your decision.

Unfortunately, This session has been cancelled as Mr Yong is not feeling well. Please join any of the other sessions instead. Apologies for the inconvenience :(

Business Analyst

My Inner Compass

If you were to ask me, what is my aspiration, I would say to enable social mobility. However, it never started out this way, when I was younger my childhood aspiration was to be a chicken rice stall uncle. With experiences and time, I gained greater clarity of my aspiration and took personal responsibility to pursue it against all odds. Join me, as I share how even though the “outward form” has changed - from being the unlikely educator to community partnership officer and now a business analyst - my compass has guided me in decision-making.

David Hoe was awarded the President’s Volunteerism and Philanthropy Awards: Leader of Good (Youth) in 2021. He is currently a business analyst by day, but aside from his work, he is the founder of I Am Talented (IAT) and Project Staple Stables. IAT seeks to creates opportunities for students from disadvantaged background to discover their talents in non-academic pathways, while the latter supports those residing in rental communities during the pandemic. He also wears the hat of a council member with the National Youth Council (NYC) and serves as a District Councillor with the Central Singapore Community Development Council. To know more about David Hoe, google “David Hoe Mothership”.

Meeting ID: 815 2424 0636

Passcode: 542582