Having spent eight years as a radio presenter, it’s hard to believe that social entrepreneur Emily Teng would describe herself as a “misfit”. Although she appears bubbly and confident, but that hadn’t always been the case.
Teng spent her childhood years in Jakarta, Indonesia, before moving to Australia at 12. There, as a minority Asian student in an all-girls school, she found herself a victim of bullying.
While Teng’s family moved back to Singapore, the bullying experience left her with confidence issues. It wasn’t until she landed a job as a radio DJ with 98.7FM that she stepped out of her shell.
Teng helmed Say It With Music, the station’s song dedication show. Say It With Music gave Emily the opportunity to connect with teenagers, who would call in to the radio show to share problems. It was then that Teng realised a voice was needed to champion youths in Singapore.
In 2007, at the age of 20, she founded Blessings In A Bag, a non-profit organisation that seeks to journey with less privileged youths and lead them on a path to success.
Today, Blessings In A Bag stands as an award-winning organisation. In 2018, it won the President’s Volunteerism & Philanthropy Award in the Kampong Spirit category.
Teng created bags filled to the brim with daily essentials such as clothes, shoes and toothbrushes, hence the organisation’s name. At first, Teng ran the non-profit while keeping her job at the radio station. But after struggling to balance the two, she decided to delve into it full-time.
In 2014, Beyond Awesome, Blessings In A Bag’s signature programme was born. Beyond Awesome is an alternative learning programme for under-resourced children and youths in Singapore.
Every week, the organisation’s World Change Agents, its name for volunteers, hold classes and workshops for kids and youths under their care, covering topics such as art, meditation, sports and STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art+Math).
Blessings In A Bag’s premises at Tan Boon Liat Building was also created as a safe space for youths to visit. In addition, the organisation takes kids on excursions to the offices of large corporations such as Microsoft and Twitter.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Blessings In A Bag’s programmes have now been taken online. With physical classes on hold, volunteers are holding Beyond Awesome programmes virtually to continue providing support to its beneficiaries. The programme, called Beyond Awesome Neighbourhood, is open to the public and consists of live-streamed activities and games to keep kids and parents busy.
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Source: Channel NewsAsia, 15 June 2020