One of Boys' Brigade Senior Cadet Lieutenant Jason Timothy Pan's most memorable experiences as a volunteer was when he helped an orphanage in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, by giving it cattle.
He read up on the lucrative Indonesian cattle-rearing industry in Bahasa Indonesia, then raised funds to buy three cows from a farm there. The cows were then handed over to the orphanage to be reared and sold later at a profit to fund its operations.
Jason, who is a student at Anglo-Chinese School (Independent), led a team of 21 students to Yogyakarta for the student-organised project in November last year.
The 18-year-old, who has served in The Boys' Brigade's 12I Singapore Company since 2010, was one of five teenagers presented with the President's Award by President Halimah Yacob yesterday at the Istana.
The other recipients were Aaron Heng Tee Yoong, Elijah Tan Jing Kiat, Gareth Pang and Samuel Wong Jia Qi, who are all 18.
The award is the highest accolade in The Boys' Brigade (BB) programme and is conferred on members between 16 and 18 years old. Awardees must meet the demanding requirements of leadership and service in the community spanning at least six years, as well as in the BB as activity leaders or event planners.
"I owe it to my family and friends who have supported me quite a fair bit throughout the BB journey," Jason told The Straits Times before the presentation ceremony.
Apart from his contributions to the BB, Jason also actively contributes to the community, including by volunteering regularly at the Mount Alvernia Hospital Outreach Clinic, where he assists in rendering medical care to migrant workers.
Jason is fluent in both Mandarin and Malay, which he picked up as a third language in Secondary 1, and he finds this useful in his volunteer work. "If you volunteer at a hospital or a step-down care (centre), you can talk to patients in Mandarin or Malay," he said, adding that it made it easier to establish a connection with patients. He hopes to pursue medicine in the future.
