For almost two decades, Mr Jack Sim has made giving people access to clean toilets his mission. He is also adamant that construction workers should get nutritious meals.
Mr Jack Sim is the winner of the President’s Award for Volunteerism and/or Philanthropy (Adult) 2016
Retiring at 40 was a turning point in Mr Jack Sim’s life. The former businessman decided he wanted to devote the rest of his life – at least until he turns 80 – to helping others.
So he started a countdown – he had 14,600 days to do good before his 80th birthday.
Today, he is 59, and has over 7,420 days left on the “clock”. But what an impressive giving resume he has chalked up.
His first order of business? He noticed that public toilets were often in a state of neglect, and believed that access to a clean toilet that was in working order was critical to the well-being of individuals, families, communities and nations.
With an eye on improving the state of Singapore’s public toilets, he started the Restroom Association of Singapore. As he went about his mission to get toilets clean here, he discovered there were similar associations overseas. Noting that they were operating independently, he decided to bridge them, which led him to establish the World Toilet Organisation in 2001.
The organisation later spawned a social enterprise arm, SaniShop, which trains communities in less developed nations to produce low-cost latrines and treatment system. Local women in those communities are commissioned as agents.
Since its inception in 2009, SaniShop Cambodia has built over 11,200 household latrines and has a trained sales team of 500 operating in seven provinces. Over in India, SaniShop has collaborated with a local non-governmental organisation (NGO), with a multinational corporation coming on board as a sponsor. In Africa, SaniShop Mozambique is enjoying partnerships with local NGOs and receiving funding from the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Feeding migrant workers
In the past year, Mr Sim has also found a new cause. He started 45Rice, a programme that aims to improve the nutrition of migrant workers, mainly those in the construction industry. He started the initiative after reading media reports of these workers receiving packed meals of poor quality that are ordered via middlemen.
Mr Sim worked with one employer to directly supply meals to their workers. He also started a funding campaign on Giving.sg and worked with raiSE (Singapore Centre for Social Enterprise) to bring in fortified rice containing micronutrients. The rice is supplied to caterers who then prepare nutritious and tasty meals for the workers.
Mr Sim’s rationale is simple: nutritious food lead to healthier workers who will then have better morale, be safer and more productive.
As his “volunteering clock” ticked, Mr Sim says he feels younger and more energised than he did at 40. Then, the stress of running his own business was a weight on his shoulders.
Today, the joy he derives from helping to improving lives of others has lifted his heart.
