Berita Harian introduces Perkasa Award; first Chinese recipient overcomes drug addiction to give back to society

Through the glass of a prison visiting room, Elizabeth Neo Ying Ying watched her six-month-old son cry and reach out for her, yet she could not hold him in her arms. That moment prompted her to turn her life around after more than a decade of drug addiction. Now 37, she has not only overcome her addiction, but also works as a social work associate and actively volunteers, drawing on her own experience to inspire inmates and ex-offenders to rebuild their lives.

Neo received the Berita Harian-Maybank Perkasa Award on Friday (6 November), becoming the first Chinese recipient in the 28-year history of the Malay-language newspaper’s awards.

In an interview, Elizabeth Neo Ying Ying said she dropped out of secondary school and became addicted to drugs at 17 after falling in with the wrong crowd. At 22, she was jailed for two years and 10 months for drug consumption, possession and trafficking.

She remained addicted after her release and was jailed twice more. It was only when she returned to prison at 29 and saw her son crying through the glass that she fully understood the harm drugs had caused her and her family. This time, she finally overcame her addiction and rebuilt her life.

Neo now works full-time as a social work associate at the Fellowship of Men Singapore, helping men strengthen their emotional resilience, improve interpersonal and family relationships, and reduce the harm caused by domestic violence. She is also a Yellow Ribbon Cares Titan and a befriender with the Singapore After-Care Association, providing emotional and practical support to inmates and their families, and drawing on her own experiences to encourage them to turn their lives around.

She is also pursuing a diploma in Psychology (Social Services and Special Needs) at Temasek Polytechnic, hoping to become a social worker.

Introduced this year, the Perkasa Award is open to all races. It recognises two Singaporeans each year who have overcome socio-economic difficulties and improved their lives through education, employment, entrepreneurship or self-reliance.

The other Perkasa Award recipient is Siti Nurhumaira Azman, a 26-year-old public policy officer at the Ministry of Law.

Her father was imprisoned when she was nine, leaving her mother to juggle three jobs to support the family. As the eldest child, she took on responsibility for caring for her six younger siblings. The family shared a two-room HDB flat with other relatives, with 15 people living under one roof. Until she went to university, she slept on a blanket in the living room.

“I started working part-time at 13 to earn money, and even then I knew that education was the only way out of poverty.”

Humaira graduated from the National University of Singapore with highest distinction in Sociology. At 25, she and her husband fulfilled their dream of buying a home.

She welcomed her son Zafir in August last year, only to learn when he was four months old that he had a severe Spinal Muscular Atrophy. Zafir died in April this year, aged just eight months. Humaira later became pregnant again, but discovered that the foetus had the same condition and ultimately had to terminate the pregnancy.

Despite these successive blows, she continues to share her experiences on social media, encouraging others facing adversity not to give up easily. To her, resilience is not just about gritting one’s teeth and pressing on; it also means acknowledging one’s pain and learning to live with it.

Singapore powerlifting champion Farhanna Farid received the Achiever of the Year Award. A former long-distance runner, she took up powerlifting after persistent injuries and broke a national record when she first tried the sport.

On 14 June this year, she set her 14th world record with a 220.5kg deadlift in the women’s 52kg-class at the World Open Classic Powerlifting Championships.

To encourage more women to take up powerlifting, she also helped organise the women-only competition Lift Like a Girl, allowing participants to experience competitive sport in an environment where they could feel more at ease.

Farhanna said she hoped the award would encourage more people to challenge themselves and pursue what truly mattered to them. “Because sometimes, when we find the courage to believe in ourselves, we give others the courage to do the same.”

This year’s Young Achiever of the Year Award went to 29-year-old entrepreneur Nabill Shukry Johary.

Nabill once lived with his family in a one-room rental HDB flat in Tampines. Determined to improve his family’s circumstances through entrepreneurship, he used $1,000 in savings to co-found healthy halal meal-preparation company Cheekies with his father in 2021. He later founded digital marketing agency Cheeky Media to help small and medium-sized enterprises grow their businesses through social media and e-commerce platforms.

After finding success in business, Nabill bought his mother a home, but she died before she could move in. To honour her memory and help young people with experiences similar to his own, he decided to contribute $10,000 through his company to establish a bursary at his alma mater, Republic Polytechnic, for students facing financial difficulties.

Nabill hopes his experiences will inspire more young people, especially those in the Malay Muslim community, to strive for success and give back to society.

Speaking in Malay at the awards ceremony, Minister for Education Desmond Lee, who oversees social services integration, said Berita Harian not only chronicled the Malay Muslim community’s development but also continued to highlight its challenges, achievements and aspirations. With the newspaper marking its 70th anniversary next year, he looked forward to it continuing to serve the community in the decades ahead.