Toh You Xin – 2023 SG Silent Hero

Over the past 14 years, You Xin and his Igniters team have worked and collaborated with more than 20 partners organizations; these include people organizations such as grassroots, Residents’ Committees, non-profits (E.g. Waterways Watch Society, Willing Hearts, Thye Hua Kwan Moral Society) and public organizations such as National Gallery, Asian Civilizations Museum, NParks, local public universities co-curricular activities clubs to organize activities for the Deaf.

In his collaboration with private organizations, You Xin has worked with global banks such as Goldman Sachs, Barclays and SADeaf to organise Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives for their employees, for example, by organising spring cleaning at needy Deaf clients’ flats with Goldman Sachs and flea market with Barclays to give away useful second- hand items to over 6000 needy Deaf clients.

These collaborations created opportunities for the corporates’ volunteers to add value in their giving journey to the Deaf community and in turn able to fulfil their CSR objectives.

His team had also collaborated with and involved more than 200 youth volunteers from People’s Association Youth Movement (PAYM), Young NTUC, Youth Corps Singapore (YCS), Ngee Ann Polytechnic Hearing Impaired (HI!) Club and Singapore Polytechnic Sign Language Club in Igniters’ activities and event collaborations. These collaborations resulted in the youth having greater awareness and appreciation of the local Deaf community.

To inspire youths to do good, You Xin had received youth engagement invitations from Youth Corps Singapore and his alma mater, Ngee Ann Polytechnic, to share about the work he has done for the Deaf community to over 100 youths. In my view, You Xin has strong leadership, and is a great influencer to his fellow peers.

Majority of the Deaf beneficiaries which You Xin and Igniters reached out to, have given positive feedback on the initiatives and events his team had organised. The Deaf beneficiaries benefitted from the opportunities to pick up new skills and knowledge while being able to expand their social network with other Deaf and volunteers.

They were able to show compassion for the elderly, did their part for the environment by keeping it clean and green, giving back to society by preparing food for the needy, imparted sign language knowledge to disadvantaged children from Singapore Children’s Society and show animal care in one of Igniters’ animal shelters’ outreach.

These resulted in the Deaf benefitting by an increase in self-confidence, communication skills and a greater sense of compassion and appreciation for the less fortunate and the environment around them.

Several national news media also have showcased You Xin volunteer group’s projects on their publications to highlight the heart-warming and excellent work which the group had done. You may refer to the attached file for additional information on some of these activities and events organized.

It is evident You Xin has vast connections and has excellent initiatives in engaging with partners and sponsors alike. He has the determination of a great leader in making things happen for the less fortunate.

As the founder and chairperson of Igniters, You Xin had dedicated most of his time and commitments in leading his Igniters team; mentoring his volunteers, giving them guidance, inspiring his team while leading by example. Whenever his volunteers were in doubt, these individuals could trust You Xin to help brainstorm solutions to issue(s) which they faced collectively.

On a regular basis, he was very active in running team meetings voluntarily while juggling a full-time job and personal commitments. Annually, he led work plan meetings to set directions for his team as well as to get consensus on the kind of events which they wanted to organize in the coming year ahead.

He did these while ensuring that everyone is aligned towards common objectives when organizing a myriad of events for the Deaf. He cares much about his volunteers and often spent much time engaging them to ensure their volunteer experiences with Igniters and in the Deaf community were positive.

Finally, applying what he learnt in sign language, You Xin would selflessly share his knowledge to his team of volunteers, especially the new ones and would patiently ensure that they are able to pick it up readily to communicate with the Deaf through the events organized.

Overall, excellent contributions over last 14 years in the community, he is truly well deserving of the award as an inspiration to others and the disability sector!