2-3-4 Friday: How to start and sustain a movement 

‘Seeking to spark the most potential within you per word of any online newsletter’

1 thought

In Singapore, Jason Wong is known as the ‘father of movements’. In 2004, he started the Yellow Ribbon Movement, to encourage society to rehabilitate ex-offenders and accept them within society.

In 2009, he started the Dads for Life Movement, aimed at encouraging dads to become better fathers, so that they could better father the next generation, and prevent the next generation from falling wayward.

Yet no one would have expected this of him. Because from a young age, he seemed destined for a safe career, rather than being the instigator of social movements.

Jason Wong seemed set for a secure life. He’d graduated with an overseas scholarship, and was starting his career in the civil service. But one year later, his consulting agency in the civil service closed because there was no longer any use for them. The government was beginning to use external consultants, and thought it better to redeploy these talented individuals elsewhere in the civil service.

He prayed, and was reminded of what his professor in Australia once told him.

Go where no one would go, for that’s where you can provide the most value.

As he prayed more, he was given an image of trash, and felt led to serve in the prisons, amongst the ‘trash of society.’

In his deployment form, when he was given 3 blanks, he put 1, 2, and 3, as prisons.

That was how convicted he was. He was sent there.

There, over the next 17 years, he found himself slowly growing in stature, and promoted to become the second in command in prison. But over the months, he felt himself called by God to break the curse lying over the prisoners. “How far would you go?” God asked. “All the way,” Jason replied.

One night in 2006, as Jason was sharing about the riots of Pulau Senang, where prisoners killed 4 prison officers, he saw the prisoners weeping. A prison volunteer took up the pail of water, and Jason began to bend down in front of the prisoners, washing their feet.

You might find this ridiculous. An officer, washing a prisoner’s feet? Yet that was what he did, modeling himself after the story in the Bible, where Jesus washed the feet of his disciples.

Jason’s second principle?

Do what no one else would do.

He had everything to lose by doing something like that, in a place as controlled as a prison. But he did it anyway.

1 talk

Go where no one would go.

Do what no one would do.

Be what no one would be.

1 tip

A week ago, when I met Jason, I wondered how I could ever become like him. Wouldn’t it be beautiful if we could all bring our personal vision for what a better society would look like, into fruition? Because whilst we might not all be like Jason Wong, we all have personal visions for what a good life looks like.

And that’s why learning from Jason’s example may not be a bad start.

2 lessons.

1. If it’s not happening yet, it won’t happen without you.
   1. If you want something to happen, and it’s not happening, it might never happen. You need to make it happen yourself.
2. Go where no one would go.

Who doesn’t want a big, sexy, and high-paying job? That’s why everyone tries to be in tech, finance, and law, because it seems like that’s where all the money is.

But you can possibly make bigger and better impact where you might not see.

When we started publishing long-form content on causes, we didn’t know where this would lead. We only saw that there was a dearth of good design going to charities who could not afford it, despite the great work they were doing. So we decided to push hard into this area, trying all we could to make prices affordable, so that we could bring out their insights, in a meaningful manner.

We are so happy to have seen pieces like Seeds of Serenity, sharing mental health principles, for Allkin last year, launched by Singapore’s President Tharman.

You can read it here.

We’ve still managed to survive, despite the money sometimes not being the easiest to come.

It goes to one belief:

if you do the right thing, the resources will follow.

P.S

We are going to start sharing a series of open invites to thoughtful, curated events we are going, so you too can possibly learn something from them. We are not paid to promote these events, but when we are, we would be sure to disclose it.

This Saturday, we are going to Commune, an event put together by Cultivate, which is a non-profit looking to influence culture and policy to better promote families. One of their interesting findings? That money isn’t the most important factor behind a desire to form families. So what is? And how do we build better families?

Yes, financially it doesn’t seem to make sense. But for anyone who’s had a kid, you’d know that nothing would replace the parenting experience. The growth you experience as an adult, the sense of responsibility, none of that can be measured by ‘how expensive’ a child is.

Why go? 

1. Learn how to convince your kids to have babies
2. Learn why parenting is such an important, lifegiving process

You can register here.

John

Live Young, Live Well - Work Your Love