When Mr Justine Lee was in Primary 5, his Chinese Language teacher threw his exercise book out of the classroom window after he failed his dictation test for the umpteenth time. Reckless and rebellious, his attendance and grades were abysmal, and he often took part in fights and raised the ire of teachers. Although Mr Lee, now 26, seethed at being written off as a “no-hoper”, he did appear bound for a rocky future.
A close shave with tragedy changed all that. His father, then working as a resort manager in Phuket, nearly lost his life in the 2004 tsunami tragedy, which killed more than 200,000 people in 14 countries. Miraculously he was found alive, however injured.
The episode made Mr Lee realise just how fragile life was. He locked up the rebelliousness and threw away the key, buckling down to weave purpose into his life.
After completing his ‘O’ levels, he signed up for a Business and Social Enterprise Diploma course at Ngee Ann Polytechnic. The decision was prompted by a subsidised humanitarian trip to Henan and Yunnan in China, organised by his church. Then 16, he taught English and helped to build wells in impoverished rural villages in Lincang, Yunnan. There he was inspired by the sight of children walking barefoot through mountainous terrain to get to school that he had to help those children.
While still pursuing his diploma, he co-started a successful social enterprise, Soule, which peddles flip-flops and other products.
“Our vision was ‘a sole for every soul’. We wanted to give needy children in China easier access to education, which is the way out of poverty. If every journey that they take to school is so painful, then they would associate education with pain,” says Mr Lee, who roped in friends John Tay and Lim Jingying as partners for the project.
The trio won competitions, such as the Mayor’s Imagine Social Entrepreneurship Challenge organised by Central Singapore Community Development Council in 2007, and the Singapore International Foundation’s Young Social Entrepreneurs Competition in 2010.
Their first batch of flip-flops were released at the end of 2008, and promptly sold out. The proceeds were enough to buy 317 pairs of shoes for one entire school in Lincang. Mr Lee ran Soule from 2008 until early this year. There was a two-year hiatus during which he did his national service.
After national service, he buckled down to growing Soule. Besides flip-flops, he and his partners expanded their range of products to include corporate gifts. Over the years, the company donated proceeds to help thousands of children and survivors of natural disasters.
During this period, Mr Lee also obtained a Business Degree from RMIT University and a Master’s in Community Leadership and Social Development from the Singapore University of Social Sciences.
Things took another turn last year. The young entrepreneur was picked to attend the United States Government’s Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative programme. The five-week programme sets out to develop the leadership capabilities of youth in the region and strengthen US-ASEAN ties.
Posted to Omaha in Nebraska, Mr Lee had a lot of time to think about his future and what he wanted to do with his life. Soule, he knows, is in good hands. After thinking long and hard, he decided he had to heed the call of the Navy.
Helping others, however, will always be important to Mr Lee, who is also toying with the idea of doing his Doctorate in Corporate Social Responsibility. He is positive he can continue doing this in the military. He ends the interview with a grin and a poser: “Think about it. Who can make the biggest difference in times of great crisis and disaster?”
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Source: The Straits Times, 19 November 2017