In a fast-paced world, it’s easy to overlook the less fortunate. Often relegated to the periphery of our vision, the phrase ‘out of sight, out of mind’ rings resoundingly true (and loud) in our developing island state.
Still, there are those who try to even the playing field for people with special needs. One such individual is Ivan Chin, CEO of Extra•Ordinary People. In addition to providing holistic support for children with special needs, the registered charity strives to make society more inclusive.
Before fronting Extra•Ordinary People, Chin worked with several agencies that supported care communities throughout his career. These ranged from SG Enable to SG Association of the Visually Handicapped.
“It occurred to me that working in the people sector to serve the less-advantaged made the most sense to me early in my career when I was exposed to volunteering opportunities.”
Ivan Chin lets on what steered his path
These volunteering stints opened his eyes to more possibilities for helping people in need of assistance. At the time, a commercial career didn’t offer the value of a social bottom line.
In 2000, Chin joined the social service sector and has not looked back since. Extra•Ordinary People’s programmes cater to clients with different abilities and special needs. Another goal is to assist families in enhancing their independent living skills and increasing employability opportunities. The charity also organises fundraisers that heavily subsidise programme costs, significantly reducing the financial burden on low-income families.
Most people feel awkward when dealing with situations involving people with disabilities or special needs, not fully understanding their respective conditions nor knowing how to engage them or their caregivers. To remedy this, Chin suggests more awareness-building, education, and training in disability and inclusion. By working closer and establishing closer relationships with people with special needs and their families, he says, “We will be able to build a more inclusive and integrated society we can be proud of.”
Being a new charity, Extra•Ordinary People faced many difficulties, including operational challenges. Chin is fortunate though, that with the board’s support, it has rolled out key fundraising events to raise the money needed to support its flagship programmes, including Extra•Ordinary Campus programmes for those above 18.
Designed to mitigate the post-18 Cliff Effect of children with special needs transitioning out of the Special Education system, the Extra•Ordinary Campus ensures students will have a better chance of success in their future. Constantly inspired by the unconditional love, resilience, and resolve of caregivers who make such sacrifices, Chin remembers an encounter with an ex-colleague 23 years ago when he joined the social service sector.
“Her 17-year-old son attends sessions with us here at Extra•Ordinary People. Each time I interact with her, I constantly reflect on her unconditional love, resilience, and resolve to provide for her son’s development needs. This requires her to shuttle between different service providers and our centre for her son’s session. All this while she works full-time.”
In a world where information and services are linked in real-time, service navigation is a challenge. Chin suggests sector-by-sector solutioning work to resolve this problem.
“We can afford more collaborative solutioning work to break the status quo of current-day offerings. We are ready for the next norm of a truly inclusive society. For this to happen, we need to be inclusive at all levels of society, not just those directly affected.” He envisions this broadening of the horizon, where everybody can see their role in an inclusive society.
Producer: Adora Wong
Art Direction: Ed Harland
Videography: Alicia Chong
Photography: Mun Kong
Photography Assistant: Ren Jie Teo
Hair & Makeup: Aung Apichai
