Thursday, 28th March 2024

Thursday, 28th March 2024

Rising Above One’s Difficulties to Serve Others

06 Mar 2014

Marcus and members of the Interact Club at Nanyang Junior College took part in a Braddell Heights Food Rationing Programme.
Marcus and members of the Interact Club at Nanyang Junior College took part in a Braddell Heights Food Rationing Programme.

From birth, Marcus Yew, 19, could only hear up to 70% in his right ear. But this impairment never got him down. Instead of wallowing in self-pity, Marcus turned his situation around by developing a sense of empathy for others.

“Having this hearing deficiency helps me empathise with people who have other deficiencies or handicaps,” said Marcus, who received the Edusave Character Award in 2013 and recently graduated from Nanyang Junior College with flying colours in his GCE A-Level Examinations.

As he studied for the exams, Marcus learnt to be more disciplined and independent. To compensate for his hearing impairment, he would sit in the front row during class. He would also study together with a group of friends, so that they could help one another with their work.

Besides schoolwork, Marcus was also the President of the Interact Club, a co-curricular activity (CCA) that focuses on community service. Juggling these responsibilities was a challenge for Marcus, but he was driven by his sense of empathy and compassion.

For one of his service learning projects, he and his Interact Club members attended meetings and Meet-the-People sessions at the Braddell Heights Community Club to understand the needs of the community. They found a lack of bonding activities that catered to inter-generational families, which were a sizeable group. Together with his club members, they came up with the ‘Families By the Bay’ event, which they also organised for the community.

A-Level student Marcus YewFor this event, the team brought 120 participants, comprising grandparents, parents and children, for a fun-filled trip to Gardens by the Bay. There, participants enjoyed taking photographs with their family members and even the elderly tried their hand at balloon sculpting.

“It was really heart-warming for us to see the participants coming together to interact and bond as a family,” said Marcus.

This sense of service to others was instilled in Marcus as a young boy. He would frequently participate in activities planned by the Citizens’ Consultative Committee (CCC) and Residents’ Committee (RC), together with his grandparents and mum, who is also a grassroots member. He fondly remembers the karaoke sessions with the elderly and trips that they would take together, such as to the Supreme Courts, when it first opened.

“From young, I already thought that I would like to serve Singapore,” said Marcus, who is inspired by the likes of national leaders such as Lee Kuan Yew and Margaret Thatcher for the work they did despite difficult circumstances.

Now that he has received his A-level results, Marcus hopes to further his studies in political science or international relations in university.