The 2007 national winner for the DHL Young Entrepreneurs for Sustainability (YES) Award is Areena Ng, a Trinitarian who founded 2 centres to help children with learning disabilities. She shares how Trinity’s Vision and Values have contributed to her success. Helping an impossible child Teaching in a mainstream primary school sparked Areena Ng’s interest in children with learning disabilities. “I was a new teacher when I was given a class with an infamous child who was completely unmanageable. For years, nobody knew how to help him.” Areena was gung-ho about the challenge. Something in her came alive. “I loved to teach those whom others had written off . I built a strong rapport with this child quickly, and his

She was not trained to identify, let alone handle, Learning Disabilities (LDs). But when she referred the child for assessment, he was indeed diagnosed as having a form of autism called Asperger Syndrome as suspected. She recalls, “Actually at thatpoint, I had not even heard of LDs at all.”

Subsequently, Areena was asked by her school to pioneer and develop not one but three major programmes, effectively becoming in charge of all the learning, emotional, behavioural and social communication difficulties in the mega-school.

A reluctant teacher
It was a good start for the reluctant teacher. Areena recalls, “I had no ambition to be a teacher at all! Months before I graduated, I had received four attractive job off ers and was all ready to embark on my climb up the corporate ladder. But when I was still studying, God brought me to Trinity. At that time, I had just gone through a series of tough events in my personal life and was totally broken. That was when I dedicated my life to the Lord. Thereafter, I received strong discipleship in Trinity which transformed my life. When I surrendered all my dreams and plans to God, He prompted me to become a teacher. I struggled with this because I never imagined that I would be in the civil service; I felt like a misfit.”

Reluctantly, she obeyed. On hindsight, this step of obedience positioned her to receive valuable exposure and training which a young teacher like her would otherwise not receive. “There I received my foundational training, for which I am thankful to the Ministry of Education. It just goes to show that God will use every training, skill and experience (good or bad) we go through, to shape and mould us for His purposes. We may not understand why, how, when, where or what. But all we have to do is be obedient and faithful in the small things, till He trusts us with the greater things He has ordained for us,” says Areena.

The greater things were soon to come, as she found herself frustrated with the way things were. “Although the immense experience enriched me, it also brought me face-to-face with the reality and lack in society. I was frustrated with the fact that there are so many children in Singapore who are misunderstood, rejected, unloved and who suffer from low self-esteem and multiple challenges. Many of these children went for “clever” psychological assessments, and yet thereafter, nothing was done, or rather, nobody knew how to help them. The typical recommendations given to parents are to send the child for speech therapy and occupational therapy. These are good but children with multiple difficulties need more than these therapies if they are going to cope well in school and in life. And there are parents who fall for hype and ‘branded’ strategies. I found this very meaningless”.

The frustration and restlessness constituted a divine nudge to break out and do something different. The call to act was both bothering and inspiring. “Instead of sitting around, being bitter and grumbling philosophically, I was prompted to help young Singaporeans by setting up Bridge Learning to supplement and fill in the gap in our educational system.”

An even more reluctant entrepreneur
And so, an entrepreneur was born. But if Areena was a reluctant teacher, she was an even more reluctant entrepreneur. “Prior to this, entering into business had never crossed my mind, not even once. I am not a business person by nature. I kept asking God ‘Why me?’”

The answer came when she attended a Global Business Network Partners business conference hosted by Trinity. “It was as if the speaker looked through the crowd and right at me. He said, ‘You ask God why you are in business. You say you are just not cut out for it. It’s precisely because you don’t love money. The more you don’t love money, the more God can trust you with it! He knows you can bear to part with it and distribute to others who need it.’”

Another spiritual leader who impacted her was Trinity’s senior pastor, Pastor Dominic. “I was privileged to learn from Pastor Dom when I was in AlphaTrack, a full-time, three-month leadership programme birthed and run by Trinity. He was real, open and transparent, and had a non-judgmental disposition and a powerful prophetic anointing. Without the strong discipleship by the pastors and leaders in Trinity, I don’t think I would be who I am today.”

This preparation and discipleship would stand her in good stead as she embarked on her start-up. “Behind every success story, there is an untold lot of dedication, sacrifi ce and diligence. There is also the endless moulding and breaking one has to go through.”

Despite the challenges, she did not look back. ”There were times when I seriously wanted to give up! But obeying God and fulfi lling His calling upon my life was my strongest motivation. Another reason I did not give up is because of my staff . They believed in our vision and invested their lives in it. When I looked at them, I just could not give up!”

Then a breakthrough came. She applied for two grants from the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports, totaling S$245,000. When it came though it was a tremendous boost to her faith and confidence.

Bridging gaps, touching lives
As she persevered, the results soon spoke for themselves. “There was a preschooler who was violent and could not communicate. His mother broke down in front of us and I could see the desperation in her eyes. After six months with us, the child became compliant, could communicate appropriately and began making remarkable progress in his academic development! His mother flooded us with thanksgiving gifts and grateful tears.”

Then there was a teenager with autism who was 17 but who had a mental age of a seven-year-old. “His mother scouted for schools throughout Singapore that dealt with special needs, but no one would take him in because he was too old and severely impaired. The mother was asked to wait for one to two years – just to find out if there was a vacancy for him! When she came to us, she was sobbing in despair. Love and compassion welled up in me, and I accepted him into our centre. I had faith that we could help him. As our staff cared and connected with him, this boy improved tremendously in confi dence, social-communication skills, self-management and life skills. When he improved enough to be accepted by a new special school, I recommended him there. I was told that he is one of the best and most well-behaved teenagers there! His parents thanked us profusely for our Relentless Belief in their child. I cried because it showed me that we are truly bridging gaps and touching lives. We bring hope, love and faith to the world. We minister to people with the love of Christ and with eff ective services”.

The Trinity DNA At the start, she had only two staff, both of whom are still with the company today. Today, she has 14 staff, most of whom are Trinitarians, and she is still recruiting more. “I have a definite preference for hiring people who live with a compelling purpose and who have a calling to make a difference. If they are strong disciples of Christ who embrace the corporate vision and see it as intertwined with their own individual destiny, they are a God-send. Our staff who are Trinitarians possess godly values and character which are certainly a result of the church’s impartation and discipleship. They have the X factor – the Trinity DNA.” When pressed to defi ne this further, she says, “I believe it’s the Vision and Values that Trinity has inculcated in us through the years. There is a great

Yes, I can trust you
When it was announced that she had pipped two other finalists to win the DHL Young Entrepreneurs for Sustainability (YES) Award, the first emotion Areena felt was “humbled”. “Tears welled up in my eyes and I felt humbled by God. A sense of gratitude to God overflowed in me. Like King David, I wondered why God had chosen me and honoured me as His vessel.” She won US$5,000 (S$7,600) and will represent Singapore in the regional competition for the Asia-Pacific award, which comes with a US$10,000 prize. “Of course I am elated and feel very privileged to be able to represent Singapore on the regional level for social entrepreneurship, but along with the honour is the responsibility to do greater things and on a wider scale for God and humanity.”