Yesterday,
The Straits Times featured Mr Patrick Chan, a community volunteer in Taman Jurong. He has a heart for youth-at-risk. “He notes that most delinquency cases usually
start off innocuously with a bit of smoking, then escalate to sniffing glue and
taking drugs. “The next thing, the kid
is stealing bicycle parts, then robbing someone on the street,” he says. “If you have a kid that drops out in
Secondary 1, chances are he’s going to be in jail by the time he’s 20. In fact, probably going to spend 10 to 20
years in jail for robbery, theft or drugs.”"
Mr
Chan wants to see change in the lives of poor kids, he says “What I’d like to
see is poor kids having a better chance at making it out of the bottom of
society. There’s always going to be
somebody at the bottom but it doesn’t mean that if you’re been there, you’re
going to stay there. That’s just wrong.”
Mr
Chan is a good role model of selfless service and care for one of the most
vulnerable groups of people in Singapore. He is not just an unpaid volunteer, he is one
who strives to make the lives of the needy better; one who truly cared for the down
and outs.
