It is said that crisis brings out either the best or worst in an individual. In the case of two BBA students, it manifested in their care and compassion for others during this tumultuous time.
When BBA Year 1 student Jaden Yan was given the opportunity to support the COVID-19 relief efforts during his summer internship with Raffles Medical Group, he requested to work as close to the front line as possible. “It felt wrong to be living so comfortably at home when so many in our country were suffering so helplessly from this pandemic… Just because world peace is seemingly impossible, does not mean it is not worth fighting for,” said Jaden.
His request was heard and has since been posted to the migrant worker recovery facility at Changi Exhibition Centre as a strategy and operations intern from May to August 2020, doing data analysis, process optimization, and running basic operations. He also sees to the welfare of the healthcare professionals based at the facility.
Jaden Yan (middle in both photos) during his internship with Raffles Medical Group at the Changi Exhibition Centre migrant workers COVID-19 recovery facility.
Looking back, the biggest challenge Jaden encountered was communicating with the workers and sharing their sorrows. “There is a constant emotional burden working in healthcare that people don’t understand. While some of the workers were ill and under quarantine, their family members passed away in their home country. As they could not travel, they did not get a chance to say their final farewells. It was truly heart-breaking,” Jaden lamented.
National Service buddies turned business partners Derrick Liew (left) and Jaden Yan (right)
His deep compassion for the migrant workers prompted Jaden and a like-minded peer from his National Service days, Derrick Liew (BBA Year 1), to put their business smarts towards a social start-up. JIZEN (Instagram: @jizencharity) aims to raise funds for migrant works through the sale of second-hand items. The idea birthed when they realised many of their peers were cleaning out their rooms during the circuit breaker period. They then connected the dots, and channeled all proceeds toward sponsoring haircuts for affected migrant workers and purchasing earphones for them to call home. In the course of work, Jaden and Derrick liaised with external organisations like Transient Workers, the National Council of Social Services, other non-profit student groups and homeless shelters to actively provide support. The start-up has also obtained additional funding from the National Youth Council Changemakers initiative to continue operations over the longer term.
Derrick (left) and Jaden (right) sorting through second-hand items for resale.
Classroom learning at NUS BIZ has also played its part in Jaden and Derrick’s social entrepreneurship journey. The knowledge acquired in business classes was highly applicable to Jaden’s role in running the daily operations of the care facility. The first-year decision analytics module prepared him well to run basic data analytics for the facility, identifying key problem areas and increasing compliance. He was also able to put his softer skills to practice; business communication and organisational behaviour modules prepared him to conduct himself professionally while keeping healthcare staff and patients motivated through difficult periods. For Derrick, concepts taught in the Legal Environment of Business module came in handy when considering the legal issues surrounding the start-up. Key learnings from Principles of Marketing equipped him with practical handles on how to effectively market to JIZEN’s target audience.
Outside the classroom, Jaden’s BizAd Club involvements also prepared him well to discuss and engage with high-level medical directors and key stakeholders.
When asked about what fuels their passion, both say with quiet conviction, “Seeing the conditions of those hurt by COVID, we wanted to do our part and contribute to society’s recovery.”
