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“INFLUENCE IS _________________.”

That was how we started approaching the brilliant personalities Halogen Foundation has had the good fortune to meet, work with, and learn from. Hosted here is a collection of videos, stories, opinions, ideas, and inspirations about the notion of influence, and how each individual is well-primed to make a mark by exercising their personal influence.

NOWELL NG

Graduate, NTU, Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information
Former Halogen Intern

Influence is like a drop of water, landing on the surface of still waters – it creates a ripple. It doesn’t matter if the ripple is small or big. What matters is that drop of water continues to create ripples so that other drops of water may do so too.

JESSICA SEET

Communications Executive
Halogen Staff

Influence is something that is not often seen but felt in a very tangible manner. Whether it’s through a word spoken or an action, the effects and potential of influence is often only evident in the eyes of someone who believes.

WEISHI, LUN

Employee Engagement, Razer Inc.
Corporate Volunteer

Influence is impact that supersedes emotion and time. When someone has been influenced, the decisions and actions taken by them are anchored to the beliefs they carry as a result of this influence.

NORHINYL VERZOSA

Head of HR-APJC at Tata Communications
Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) partner since 2014

Coming Soon

JEFFREY YIP & MARTIN TAN

Co-Founders of Halogen Foundation Singapore

M: Influence is the ability to shape a person’s thoughts, actions or value systems. J: …the motive behind said influence has to be set by strong core values.

CAROL LIM

Principal, Yio Chu Kang Secondary School
Education Partner since 2010

No one disputes the power of storytelling. From the ancient times of hieroglyphs and stone murals to the age of daily sharing of stories on digital platforms, narratives have been the cornerstone of influence – even if the narrative is flawed, or worse, bigoted.

DELFINA YONG &
SHAHEERA BEGUM BTE MASLAN

Students at Holy Innocents’ High School
NFTE 2017 Graduates

D: Influence is defined in someone that I can look up to. S: Influence is that positive aspect that makes you want to do the right thing…

ANDREW THOMAS

Regional CEO, Eagle’s Flight Asia Pacific
Board Advisor to Halogen Foundation

Influence is something that Mr. Andrew Thomas is no stranger to. A veteran of the communications and public relations sector, Andrew looks at influence and its ability to make change – for better or for worse. “Anything that allows an individual to influence anything – whether it’s influencing a situation, influencing other people, or influencing a narrative – it should be done with respect and responsibility. Unfortunately, a lot of the time it isn’t.”

JAMES QUAN & WINNIE CHAN

Founders of Bynd Artisan
Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) partner since 2014

While we believe that there is no standard ‘template’ or ‘roadmap’ for success as every individual’s journey is unique, we would advise youths to follow their passion and be bold in chasing their dreams.  Embrace challenges, dare to take the road less travelled, and enjoy the journey. They will be pleasantly surprised at how much they can accomplish with a strong drive and positive mindset.

RAMAKRISHNA PURUSHOTAMAN

CEO, CIO Academy Asia
Former Panel Member for NYLA 2016

Influence has always been an intangible and complex notion. Despite being less defined, it was no less observable. Rama almost immediately attributes influence with the power of role modeling, noting how observable the right values, ambitions, and desires are in a person for any other to follow. But he is under no illusions – today, the nature of influence has evolved to include the digital sphere.

LYNETTE YAP

Civil Servant
Former Halogen Intern

To me, influence is the extent of how much one’s character, hard work and talents can have an impact on the people around them.

RAMLEE BIN BUANG

Founder & Owner, UYKO Advisory
Treasurer of Halogen Foundation Singapore

The ability to get people to believe in what you are trying to do. Not only believe but also be passionate about it. Being able to at least change their thoughts and take action in whatever you are trying to influence them to do.

THE POWER OF INFLUENCE

An interview with Amierul Rashid, Xena Goh, Mohamed Feroz (left to right)
Written by Timothy Low, COO, Halogen Foundation Singapore

Three young persons from different backgrounds, offering diverse opinions and thoughts on leadership. We speak to these interns to learn more about their personal perspectives and get an insight to what youths are thinking about when we approach the topic of influence.

DAVID CHUA

CEO, National Youth Council (NYC)
NYC, Youth Partner since 2016

Having come from a military background where there is a very established rank and file structure, David Chua, CEO of the National Young Council, insists that influence is leadership, and leadership by example. Perhaps it is the unique circumstance of being a conscript defence force that leadership by role modelling is required to inspire courage and commitment in the soldiers he lead.

HAROLD GOH

Year Head, East View Secondary School
Educator Partner, NFTE Programme

Influence means to have an impact. It can be positive or negative and I do aim to have positive influence on the people who come into my life in one way or another.

LUI FANG YU

Institutional Equity Sales Analyst, Goldman Sachs
Former Halogen Intern

We all have the ability to influence in different ways but because influence is so powerful, it is also incredibly dangerous when abused. Hence, there is a need for us to not only recognise our ability to influence but to also take on the responsibility to influence positively.

JOYCE TEO

Deputy CEO
Community Foundation of Singapore (CFS)
CFS, Funding Partner since 2016

“Securing our collective future”

As a catalyst for community impact and change, Community Foundation of Singapore leverages the givers’ resources to invest in innovative ways to level the playing field for the underserved. “We believe that every person deserves to be their fullest best self,” explains Joyce Teo, Deputy Chief Executive Officer. “Reaching disadvantaged youth is important as these young people are the ones who will start and lead new young families. If empowered, they have a chance to break out of the poverty cycle and become active members of the community.”

LIM SHUYU

Human Resource Executive
Former Student Volunteer

To me, influence is a subtle yet convincing notion, ideology or behaviour that people unknowingly pick up along the way. It can be due to a novel experience shared or even being inspired by a compelling message/speech.

NICHOL NG

Managing Director, FoodXervices Inc.
Co-founder of The Food Bank Singapore
NFTE Speaker

A simple gesture, a simple statement, a simple action can make an impact on others. Therefore, never underestimate the influence that you can have on others, especially positive influence.

SAZA FARADILLA

Community Engagement Executive, AWARE Singapore
Former Halogen Intern

Influence is the ability to have an impact on someone, whether consciously or unconsciously. It is when you manage to convince another person of your perspective, belief or opinion.

CHUA RUO MEI

Founder and Chief Impact Officer
SUTW Impact Consulting
Former Halogen Staff

“I chose to work with youth and young professionals aged 20 to 35 because it’s a stage of our lives when we have many crossroad decisions to make, a time of many pivotal turning points, when many are struggling with fine-tuning who they are, where they want to be and what’s ahead.”. As a millennial practitioner armed with a mission to support young adults in navigating their future, Ruo Mei sees how the challenges faced by today’s youth can be both daunting, yet full of promise and potential.

PUDEN TSANG

Leadership Development Consultant
Halogen Staff

Personally, I feel that influence sits in between power and responsibility. It can essentially shape our future, impacting our thought processes, decision making skills and ultimately the choices and actions that we carry out in our everyday lives.

DARIEN SOH

NUS Business School Student
National Young Leader Award 2016 Finalist

Influence is about seeding change. To ensure long-lasting change, one must tackle the shift from within, starting with a person’s character. It’s starts with being diligent in sowing the seed with every opportunity we have before us and if we’re fortunate enough, we get the privilege of seeing the fruit of our labour. Influence is that active choice we can and should make to better the lives of those around us. While we often do not witness the impact of change immediately, we can be assured that no matter how small, it adds to a person’s eventual growth.

TAN LAI YONG

Director, Outreach and Community Engagement,
College of Alice & Peter Tan, NUS (Primary)
Former NYLD Speaker 2012

“One of the things I experienced in my Yunnan experience was this conundrum about a bridge that was built. A huge river was in between a village and the market. It was imperative for the villagers to cross the river to go to the market, because in addition to goods, it was also access to ideas; to medicine; to treatment. So, you build a bridge and the village GDP rises. Family income rises due to commerce. But if you build too big a bridge, and it gives access to companies and larger firms, suddenly it doesn’t become as attractive to the villagers anymore. Prices of livestock go down due to economies of scale that the companies can take advantage of, and the villager can no longer sell at the same price. Proportionately, what was initially done for the village’s good turns to their detriment.”

MARCUS MOO

Director, Social & Community Services (Singapore)
& Social Justice Coordinator
The Salvation Army
Halogen’s NFTE Partner since 2015

Few institutions have weathered the test of 150 years of change and The Salvation Army remains one of the few that have emerged and thrived. The Singapore chapter has 83 years of heritage, serving the children and youth, seniors and the general community through all its centres.

RANDY NG

Student at SIM-University of Buffalo
Former Halogen Events Intern

Influence to me, is one’s ability to bring and also to take away another’s motivation to become better versions of themselves.

SHERMAINE NG

Student at University of Sydney
National Young Leader Award 2013 Finalist

Influence is the power of anything and everything in our lives that changes the soil of our hearts and minds. We have the responsibility of tending to the soils of our hearts and minds, determining the harvest that we reap.

CALEB WONG

Social Worker
NFTE Volunteer Trainer

Influence to me is knowing that my presence in someone’s life positively shifted their pathway, regardless of magnitude or whether the person is even conscious of the impact. To have them walk in a direction they otherwise would not be walking towards.

AN AFTERTHOUGHT

Written by Ivy Tse
Chief Executive Officer, Halogen Foundation Singapore

The conversations we have had in the lead-up to this project has given us much to think about. As we chart our way forward to inspire and influence a new generation, Ivy ponders upon the thoughts and opinions of those we’ve interacted with, and considers what the future of youth will look like.

HALOGEN 15TH ANNIVERSARY COMMEMORATIVE BOOK

Commemorating our 15th anniversary, we have published a curated selection of some of these stories you see above, and assembled them into a book that also functions as a journal. This is a limited edition print specially for this year, and with a donation of S$10, you could own a piece of our momentous occasion. Reach out to us if you’d like a copy.