Today’s young are growing up in a world of sights and sounds, of new and faster technologies, of great advances in science, invention and discovery. Exciting though it may be, it can be stressful, having to excel academically, of being the best and making the mark, in an environment that is not always favourable. Divorce, drugs, homosexuality and terrorism threaten to tear family and all things familiar apart. How can our children grow up to meet life’s challenges and come through the knocks of life with new knowledge and strength? How can we help nurture resilient children? At the Yong-en Kids, Teens and Families Department, we work with children and youth from the Chinatown community, some of whom grow up under difficult circumstances. Some come from single parent families or families from low socio economic backgrounds, where making ends meet is a constant struggle and quarrels are frequent, and where parents fail to live up to their responsibilities.Here are some snapshots:

Ah Seng* comes from a single parent family and his mother has a man in the house. There is constant bickering, he can’t get to bed at a decent hour and his school performance is poor.
Ah Wei* is a rebellious child who whiles away his time in the backstreets of Chinatown, rummaging through dustbins with his gang of ‘backstreet boys’. When he returns home, his upset mother threatens to burn his lips with fire.Ah Siong* is a hyperactive child who is always getting into fights and disagreements. He is struggling with the pain of rejection from his natural parents who gave him up for adoption.
In January 2004 Yong-en was selected by the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) to work with At Risk children and youth in six primary and secondary schools in Singapore.Our Hope and Dream  According to resiliency research, it takes just ONE ‘people-building’ person in a child’s life to make the difference between a life of quiet desperation and one of continuing hope and achievement. Our hope and dream at Yong-en’s Kids, Teens and Families Dept is that our work will make a difference for the children and youth that we work with, to inspire, coach and mentor them, so that they will be emotionally and socially resilient, and be children and youth, and later men and women, of confidence and character.* Not the clients’ real name