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SINGAPORE: Mr. Ng Yue Meng was lost when he lost his job at a large technology company in March last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 50-year-old’s family lived abroad and he was alone in Singapore, with no one to support him.
“I went into depression … I don’t have a career, I have nothing and I am completely alone,” he said.
“I saw a very bad place: darkness, demons; I turned to alcohol and drugs to cope with all this pain. “
He shared this with reporters on Saturday (March 20) as the co-founder of a new nonprofit, RISE Community, which aims to help men from disadvantaged backgrounds open up and seek help in difficult times.
The two-year pilot program “will focus on improving men’s socio-emotional, physical and financial health by creating a community of peer support and employment opportunities,” said a press release.
At the official launch at the Nee Soon South Branch People’s Action Party on Saturday, Mr. Ng called himself “the first RISE recipient.”
He said Nee Soon GRC MP Carrie Tan, who is the nonprofit organization’s leadership consultant, encouraged him to apply his Silicon Valley skills to start social service. The process helped heal him and now he hopes to apply his own experience to help others, he said.
Nee Soon GRC MP Carrie Tan speaks at the RISE Community launch on March 20, 2021. (Photo: Chew Hui Min)
“Every time I talk to (the beneficiaries), they can see that I also managed the pain, that’s something they seem to relate to,” he said, adding that the project will aim to tailor solutions to each individual, as ” they are all unique. ” .
“It is not a topical solution where I apply myself, but three weeks later (they come back with) the same pain. I want to go deeper. “
The program is “incubating” in the Nee Soon South division, for which Ms. Tan is a Member of Parliament. During the first year, RISE will focus on building relationships with men and identifying their needs, he said.
“Some of the approaches that we test can be quite experimental. So we are using Nee Soon South as an incubation ground, and once we formulate programs that work, we will start expanding it to other parts of the GRC and then also to Singapore, ”he said.
It will reach a group of 500 men from Nee Soon South who live in rental housing, who have lost their jobs or have always had unstable, low-wage jobs. At the moment, a group of about 50 members is on the show.
Amir Nazir, 44, who was released from prison last year, is one of them. He suffered from depression and had spent many years in prison, but said he was slowly picking up the pieces with the support of a member of the RISE Community. Now he has found a job as a cleaner at Nee Soon City Hall.
“At least I have a job, I can have the right food and I can do and learn the things I really want to do in life … not just be stuck,” he said. “I mean, half of my life is already gone, but what about the other half?”
(From left) Yishun Health CEO Professor Chua Hong Choon, Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam and SportSG CEO Lim Teck Yin Launch RISE Community at PAP Nee Soon Branch South on March 20, 2021 (Photo: Chew Hui Min).
The organization’s sponsor, K Shanmugam, Minister of Law and Home Affairs, said that last year he had launched a comprehensive review of issues affecting women in Singapore, but it was also timely to focus on the fact that men face barriers when they talk about their emotions and problems.
“When you put up a wall like that, it manifests itself in higher suicide rates, higher crime rates, higher rates of dysfunction,” he said.
“It’s a welcome initiative to make men feel comfortable opening up and open to support.”
RISE will also work with community partners, including SportSG and Yishun Health, and corporate partner AlfaTech.
