Maturity knows no age. At a young age, Tan Wee Kiat has seen how his friends suffer from the consequences of drug addiction. Wanting to do his part to help the society, he starts volunteering at SANA from the age of 15.
He gives talks on anti-narcotics in schools and provides counselling to potential drug users. He also imparts tips on how not to succumb to friend’s offers to try out the drugs.He is also a facilitator for the 1-day ASPIRE camp where students will get to play games and attend short lectures on anti-narcotics. Students will also be asked to come up with a drug-free hero mascot. The games include getting the student to doodle their dreams, verbalising what they want to do in future, learning about drug consequences, and getting tips on anger management.
As an ASPIRE camp facilitator, Wee Kiat hopes to boost the self-esteem of students who are poor in their studies or communication skills – as they are relatively more prone to peer pressure and bad influence. He also feels that the open and fun camp environment is an ideal place to uncover true talents, who may be missed by the teachers in school.
Wee Kiat’s satisfaction comes from seeing a big change in the students’ behaviour after the camp. He has seen how drugs affect people around drug addicts and how they will steal from family, friends, siblings and even on the streets when they run out of money for drugs. He has also seen how drug addicts are caught and their families have suffered.
So, by doing what he could to discourage the taking of drugs among the students, he hopes to free them and their loved ones from the nightmares of the consequences, now and forever.