When I was around five years old, I was on my way back from the wet market with my mother when I saw a beggar sitting on the street. I was puzzled as to why someone would beg for money – didn’t everyone have a nice home like me? My mother tried her best to explain to me why some people are less fortunate, and I was filled with pity for this man. I wanted to give him money, and I insisted even though my mother tried to discourage me. I said, “Please give me some money and I’ll return it to you when I start working!” She found that funny, so she gave me some coins and I gave them to the beggar. When I gave them to him, he smiled at me in a way that I’ll never forget for the rest of my life. It was my first taste of how it really is more of a blessing to give than to receive.
I try to give back now in as many ways as I can. The cause I am most passionate about is education. Education is so important – it has the power to alleviate poverty like nothing else. It’s a cause very close to my heart, because even though I did well in some subjects at school, I didn’t do well in many others. I didn’t go far in my education, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t benefit from it. When I had to repeat academic years in polytechnic, I was still spending a lot of time in the library, reading about dozens of different subjects that I was interested in, instead of studying and working on my coursework, which I found dry. I know first-hand how knowledge can really broaden your horizons. My mother was also a teacher – she taught in a primary school – and that could be another reason why education is so important to me.
I give primarily to educational institutes now, to help students who otherwise would not have had a shot at higher education. I have set up a scholarship at the Singapore Management University, and also at Regent’s International College in Bangkok. Both scholarships are for deserving young people with low income.
Most recently, I committed to giving to Duke-NUS Medical School. The award I set up will assist students who need help paying for their education to become doctors, which can be quite costly.
My understanding of life is that when you give, you receive. This is how you participate in the flow, the energy of life. If you don’t give, you don’t receive new energy. I believe in giving because I benefit from it. Giving gives me the pleasure of blessing other people.
A lot of people think that generosity is something you only do once you’re rich and comfortable, that your own cup needs to be full in order to think about giving to people. But what I’ve realised is that if you continually remove contents from your cup to give to people, your cup will keep filling up. The faster you give away your money, the faster your cup fills up again.
Authored by Kenneth Kam
Produced by Callio Media