Mr Dominique Dillon grew up without his father, and the void filled him with anger and sorrow. But the unwavering support of other adults showed him a life with love and hope, and today he devotes himself to paying it forward.
Mr Dominique Dillon’s parents were never married. For as long as he could remember, he had felt rejected and unwanted by his father. He and his mother, Madam Theresa Anthonysamy, struggled. She suffered from bipolar disorder and had heart and kidney problems, which made it hard for her to work. The pair depended on financial aid from the Government and a Catholic group, as well as maintenance from his father.
He said: “Life was not easy for us, but mum always made sure there was food on the table and I had all the love and discipline I needed.”
But even with food on the table and a roof over their heads, he often felt, growing up, that he was trying not to drown in a pit of rage and shame. The bleakest point came when his mother was hospitalised when he was 12 years old. There was no one to care for him and he was sent to live in a home for boys for about half a year.
After his mother was discharged from hospital, she visited him at the home every day without fail. Eventually, he went home to live with her.
But by the time he was in secondary school, his rage was threatening to consume him. He would blow up at the smallest slights in school. At home, he fought with his mother over little things. His teacher realised he needed professional help, referred him to Care Singapore, a charity that helps vulnerable young people.
Looking back, Mr Dillon can recognise the guardian angels who helped to save him – and his mother as well.
There were the youth workers from Care Singapore, who counselled him and showed him how to deal with his inner turmoil.
There was his benefactor, who paid his school fees and gave him an allowance every month while he was at Nanyang Polytechnic.
And there were the men he looked up to in church – Father Gerard Louis, a priest, and Mr Prem Augustine, a youth leader – who were unstinting in their patience with him and guidance. In many ways, they were his father figures.
With the support of these other adults in his life, he graduated with a diploma in mechatronics engineering. But he knew that his career lay elsewhere.
Others had reached out to him when he was poor, lost and abandoned. He wanted to do the same for young people who were in similar predicaments. He is now a youth worker at Care Singapore, where he teaches teenagers life skills, such as dealing with peer pressure and conflict.
While life has become more comfortable now that he is earning an income, his one big regret is that he did not do enough for his mother while she was alive.
She died of heart failure in October 2017, at the age of 62.
“I miss her a lot and I feel a bit lost,” he said. “My mum sacrificed everything for me. She loved me so much and never once gave up on me.”
Watch his video story below:
Read more here.
Source: The Straits Times, 28 March 2018