Organised by the National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre (NVPC), the President’s Volunteerism & Philanthropy Awards (PVPA) is the pinnacle award and platform to recognise individuals, organisations and leaders who have achieved excellence in giving.
Further crafted into various categories, the PVPA Leaders of Good Awards category celebrates inspiring multiplier leaders, who have devoted their time, talent, treasure and voice; galvanising others to create a positive impact in society.
Leaders of Good (Youth) Winner – Cho Ming Xiu
Through his time in school and his working life, Ming Xiu saw close friends struggle with mental health conditions. As a youth volunteer leader with the Institute of Mental Health (IMH), he realised many youths were held back by the stigma of seeking professional help.
There was also a lack of relevant mental health knowledge and peer support skills for young people in supporting their friends with mental health conditions.
That led Ming Xiu to starting Campus PSY Singapore in 2016, a ground-up social movement with a goal to rally like-minded youths and young adults to be the catalysts of change in the youth mental health community in Singapore.
Through advocacy, training, support, volunteering and intervention programmes, the mission was to create an inclusive and supportive community for youths facing mental health issues.
Over time, more and more young people from the Institutes of Higher Learning and young working professionals joined the Campus PSY community as volunteers in this youth-led mental health awareness movement, with over 200 volunteers serving today, thanks to Ming Xiu’s steadfast and determined engagement efforts.
Ming Xiu and his team of volunteers have served over 300 youths through their Email Peer Support for Youths Service (E-PSY), providing basic emotional support to struggling youths.
Over 100 mental health awareness talks and workshops have been conducted for students, parents, caregivers, educators and helping professionals to raise awareness on mental health and encourage help-seeking behaviour among youths.
Since 2018, Ming Xiu has co-led national efforts in addressing stigma towards youths with mental health issues in schools and workplaces through public education, outreach and support campaigns in his capacity as a Co-Chairperson of the Youth Alliance, an inter-agency national mental health committee.
Believing that “giving is at the very core of being a human,” Ming Xiu recognises that no one has made it through life without someone else’s help. And in the transformation and recovery journey of fellow youths who might be in distress or struggling, we can be that “someone” by supporting them with a non-judgemental listening ear, empathising with their challenges and with a heart to first understand, and not label.
Leaders of Good (Adult) Winner – Lim Tanguy
“I believe each of us has a moral obligation to help our fellow human beings, especially the disadvantaged, to the best of our ability”
Tanguy’s journey in pro bono work began in 2004 when he began representing migrant workers in support of ACMI and HOME.
Helping marginalised communities by extending legal aid to them grew on him, igniting a spark for him to do more for these groups, as they would stand little to no chance of meeting their legal needs otherwise.
Thus, he made the conscious decision to join the Law Society of Singapore in 2007 and helped to set up the organisation’s Pro Bono Services Office. Since then he has served as its Director until he joined the Law Society Pro Bono Services (LSPBS) as its Chief Executive Officer.
He believes that one’s core focus in life should be to help others if you’re in a position of influence.
Under his leadership since 2017, LSPBS grew from 6 to 36 staff, with over 1,000 supporting volunteers. In 2021, over 17,281 people were assisted in accessing justice through the various channels of legal clinics, consultations and representation provided by LSPBS.
Cross-sector collaborations and collective impact models to holistically aid those in need formed his next avenue of passion, as he helped to develop significant partnerships for LSPBS.
These include partnerships with MCCY’s SG Cares Office to grow skills-based volunteerism and launching the Migrant Workers’ Group – a coalition of over 20 non-profit organisations and law firms aiming to foster greater collaborations in enhancing legal awareness and access to justice for the migrant worker community in Singapore.
He also helped launch the first support centre for female victims of violence within the French expatriate community in Singapore, together with Paris Bar and the French Embassy in 2021. In the same year, a partnership with Angullia Mosque was forged to provide in person legal clinics for migrant workers.
Tanguy has provided mentorship and thought leadership to the non-profit sector through the years in his various appointments in organisations such the Centre for Non-Profit Leadership Alumni Working Group, S.T.A.R Mentorship Programme, NUS Centre for Pro Bono & Clinical Legal Education, Community Justice Centre and many more.
Interested To Find Out More About Our Other PVPA 2022 Winners? Click Below!
PVPA 2022 City of Good Award Winners
