Generation Grit: Former gangster once chopped off someone's hand, now he mentors youth

Once a hardcore gangster involved in drug dealing and loan shark activities, Kenneth Tan was always spoiling for a fight. But the 32-year-old has turned his life around - he now runs two firms and mentors troubled youth. This is part of a series on resilient millennials who overcame adversity - and their troubled past - to make a life for themselves.

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Creative agency owner Kenneth Tan opens up about his past as a gangster and tells us how his passion for art and design put him on the right path.
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SINGAPORE - Name any crime associated with gangs and chances are, Mr Kenneth Tan would have had committed it before.

Drug dealing, doing the dirty work for loan sharks, peddling bootleg VCDs and fighting were all in a day's work. The only crime he shied away from was pimping.

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