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, PVPA has one that is dedicated to outstanding individuals – People of Good Awards category that celebrates people who have given their time, talent and voice in benefit of different communities.
Comprising of students, adults and seniors, these exceptional givers also prove that age is no barrier when it comes to giving and making our society a better place for everyone.
People of Good (Student) Winner – Chng Rui Jie
“I believe sharing my voice will inspire more people, especially youths, to step forward and speak up for what they believe in. If I can do it, they can too. Together, we will build a city of good that we are proud of.”
At a tender age of 11, Rui Jie is a power keg of activism, dynamism, and care all rolled into one. It started during the Circuit Breaker phase in 2020 when she was concerned that rabbits (her favourite animal) were in danger of hunger as most animal charities at that time were focusing on saving dogs and cats.
Since then, Rui Jie has worked extremely hard to save not just her favourites pets but other causes as well. In fact, Rui Jie’s advocacy and fundraising efforts during the challenging Covid-19 pandemics years had accumulated over an impressive $650,000 in donations that went towards helping animals, youths, women and girls, health issues, and even lesser-known charities.
With a larger-than-life attitude towards giving back, she also lends her time as a volunteer with CARE Singapore, Love Nils, K9 Assistance Limited and several other charities.
This year in 2022, she helped cast a spotlight on a smaller charity K9 Assistance Limited to help promote the acceptance of trained assistance dogs for individuals affected by loss of sight, hearing, autism, and physical disabilities. Not only did she help raise funds for them but she even volunteered as a talent in a series of educational videos.
A believer in helping the under-dogs and giving a voice to issues she deeply cares for, she hopes to encourage other young individuals to step forward and make a difference in our society.
People of Good (Open) Winner – Mohamad Nazmul Hoque Khan
What could be a normal, simple act of passing a gift on behalf of another, could be a turning point for another to do good. And that “another” was Nazmul. While waiting for his flight from Bangladesh to Singapore, at the airport, he met a woman who sought his help to pass a cake to her son who was working in Singapore.
Upon reaching Singapore, he met the man to pass him his gift and was shocked to find him in tears instead, at work. He learnt that the man’s mother, whom he recently met at the airport, had passed away. This struck him deeply.
It was a turning point for him to aspire to do more for his community who lived far away from loved ones while working tirelessly for a better future here in Singapore.
He founded 24Asia, a non-profit dedicated to migrant empowerment, community collaboration, career upgrade and mental health improvement for the migrant worker community in Singapore.
Nazmul provided free computer training for over 1000 migrant workers in Singapore. The training introduced them to Microsoft Office, graphics design, video editing, writing, public speaking and workplace safety and health. He believes that “our migrant brothers have a lot of potential and if we can support them and help them upgrade themselves,” they can move up in their career progression and towards a better work-life balance.
An energetic and positive-minded individual, he regularly looks for the scope to learn something new and share it with the people around him.
He led 24Asia and fellow migrant workers in blood donation efforts to the Singapore Red Cross, food and care pack distributions, as well as organised a beach clean-up at Coney Island where over 600kg of plastic trash was collected.
With an unflinching optimism, he aspires to educate fellow migrant workers about Singapore’s history, culture and people, to bridge local and migrant communities closer to achieve a more inclusive society.
People of Good (Senior) Winner – Grant Pereira
Coming from a long line of pioneer environmentalists, Grant has always found nature and greenery a place familiar like home, from a young age.
Taught by his father and grandmother, he picked up gardening at 15 and naturally soon after, volunteering.
An influential and passionate advocate, Grant’s work in environmentalism and wildlife protection spans across borders. For over 40 years, his giving has impacted various people and places in Singapore and across the region, mobilising attention, resources and volunteers towards the many green efforts he spearheaded.
Over the years, Grant has helped to plant trees with The Green Volunteers in the Million Tree Project and built various butterfly and biodiversity gardens across many places in Singapore, including the Singapore Botanic Gardens, Pasir Ris Garden and Tampines Eco Garden.
On the regional front, he has regularly visited countries like Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, China and India to help with reforestation and wildlife conservation efforts as well bringing resources such as medical supplies for the local communities.
Unafraid to confront what he sees as cruel treatment of animals, he contributed to awareness and influence campaigns to discourage the consumption of sharks fin and the import of a whale shark for commercial entertainment in Singapore with groups like Sea Shepperd and PETA.
At 73, Grant still believes he has much to give, albeit at a pace of slowing down. He wishes to see the world evolve into a cleaner, greener and fairer place and to “inspire young people and groom the next generation of environmentalists in Singapore to care for Mother Earth and make a difference.”
Interested To Find Out More About Our Other PVPA2022 Winners? Click Below!
PVPA 2022 Leaders of Good Award Winners
