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Giving Back
Founder Paul Heng is a firm believer of 'giving back to society'. He consciously allocates a portion of his time to volunteer organizations like the Rotary movement, the Asian Association of Career Management Professionals and the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
A past-president and a active Rotarian of the Rotary Club of Bugis Junction, Paul has initiated a number of meaningful community projects such as "Children in Need" and house-building in Cambodia (see picture). During his year of presidency in 2001 / 2002, Paul led a team of Rotarians and students from the Australian International School to Cambodia -and together, the team built three houses for the poorest of the poor in Cambodia. Looking back, Paul can say with certainty that it was really satisfying to be able to get down to bare hands and knees to put the nails in place. For the proud owners of the new houses, it was like a dream come true - made possible by Rotary.
Putting things in perspective, being able to give back to society is definitely a privilege and a blessing, and it all falls in very nicely with Paul's approach to his business of 'helping others'.
Here's Paul like you have never seen him before - dressed up as a wizard! Paul is a volunteer Wish Granter with the Make-A-Wish Foundation here in Singapore. His role is to work with a fellow wish granter to make children's wishes come true. The key difference here, as opposed to fairy land, is that the children are all not well.
Well, read all about this one particular wish that Paul helped make happen.
Blood Donation - The Purest Form Of Giving Back
I am of the opinion that blood donation is of the "purest" form of giving back as it involves sharing part of our body - a valuable part that money can't buy, and which can save lives.
Paul and Jane's visit to a Chiangmai orphange - November 2010.
Spending time and sharing with orphaned children, some of whom are HIV-positive, has been an experience that we would like to repeat, many times over. In the brief stay at the orphanage, we got to know new friends, taught English, painted the kitchen walls, played "Snakes & Ladders" and had an engaging time with the children.
Returning to do more is already on the agenda - the fear we have is going back and not being able to find Nik, or Apple, or Pim, or Apo, or Som ...
Clement Ong
Clement Ong is a strong advocate of giving back to society and that "charity begins at home".
A father of two, Clement is an associate with the Centre for Fathering, a non-profit centre inspiring fathers to be involved with their children's lives. He attended a course at the Centre in 1999, and since then, has been continuously working on his parenting/fathering skills by attending talks, workshops and seminars. He is a volunteer at the Centre in the facilitation of the "fathering skills" and "father-child bonding" programmes for corporations, educational institutions and the public. The intimate relationships fathers build up with their children witnessed during these programmes have always been very encouraging and motivating.
Clement was featured in the Jul 3 2005 issue of The Straits Times for his deep conviction of fathering involvement (See picture below).
Clement is an associate member of the Family Life Society Counselling Centre, a member of Human Life International USA. He is a para-counsellor with emphasis in family and couple counselling. He also sits on the board of the Counselling and Care Centre.
His journey with his business clients in career management and transition is certainly very much aligned to his passion and value of "helping others".
When giving back to society, Clement strongly believes that the benefits one gains, often far exceed the sacrifices.
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