OF HEART AND GRIT

HSBC Youth Excellence Award winner Captain (CPT) Lim En has two loves - serving the community and being in the military.

Dressed in a pastel pink sleeveless dress with short hair fringing her face, petite CPT Lim said yes without hesitation to the waiter who had asked if she wanted whipped cream on the iced latte she ordered during the interview. Most girls would baulk at the extra calories but then, CPT Lim is not like most girls.

An artillery officer with the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF), CPT Lim is a young lady of many talents. She speaks English, Mandarin, Japanese, German, French and Spanish, plays the piano, violin and harp and is a Royal Academy of Dance Grade 8 ballerina.

Volunteering for smiles

As a young dancer, she was introduced to performing for the elderly and those with special needs by her dance instructor. "The smiles on their faces when they see you helping them or dancing was very memorable, and made me want to help these people more," said CPT Lim, who started dancing at the age of four.

Her spirit of volunteerism was fanned larger and brighter as she grew older. As a student at Hwa Chong Institution, she participated in an overseas community service stint, refurbishing the school library and teaching English to children in Shanghai.

In the last eight years, CPT Lim has been a volunteer with the Bukit Merah Youth Executive Committee, engaging the elderly living in the Tanjong Pagar area through activities such as computer workshops and excursions to places of interest.

Today, in addition to participating in various overseas community development projects - such as refurbishing orphanages in Nepal and teaching English to children in Myanmar - she is a member of the National Youth Achievement Award Gold Award Holders' Alumni where she mentors youths; all these before she turned 24 in May this year.

Living in the moment

For her commitment to serving the community and leadership abilities, CPT Lim received the HSBC Youth Excellence Award for leadership excellence and community service from President Tony Tan Keng Yam in August.

One of 10 youths who were shortlisted for the annual award, CPT Lim said: "When I do volunteer work, I learn a lot from the less privileged I've been asked 'why do you drive yourself so hard?'

"My commander once said that life was not a rehearsal and it did not begin when I retired. It's something that you have to do now. That's why I believe in living in the moment."

The award came with a $10,000 grant and CPT Lim plans to use the funds to build schools overseas, a mission that she hopes to undertake together with her unit 23rd Battalion, Singapore Artillery (23 SA), where she serves as the Fire Direction Officer.

"I hope to pioneer these kinds of projects in the military to let the guys know that they can do something for the community. When you help somebody and see how it affects them, it makes you realise that you are capable of making a difference," she said.

"The thing about the SAF is that it teaches you that you are stronger than you think you are. At first, you think you can't do it but at the end of the day, it's the group effort that allows you to complete the task together."

Stronger than you think

Apart from volunteering, life in the military was another aspect of CPT Lim's life that she spoke passionately about. She graduated top of her 125-student class at the five-month United States Field Artillery Basic Officer Leader Course (US BOLC) held at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.

Although some components of the course were optional (as she was an international officer on that course), CPT Lim decided to attend several of them, such as the Red Leg War - a five-day outfield exercise.

Recalling the experience, she said: "Imagine firing in the rain and sleeping in the thunderstorm! They also trained us in urban operations so we got the full experience during those five days."

To help her whole platoon pass their theory exams, CPT Lim invited everyone to her house during weekends to tackle mock exam questions. Of the four platoons in the course, CPT Lim's platoon was one of two where everyone in the team graduated in the same cohort.

"It was during Basic Military Training in Singapore that I first experienced the camaraderie. Although you go through hardships at that time, you never regret it.

"When we did the casualty evacuation exercise with the guys at Officer Cadet School, everyone put in their all to finish it together. It was very tough; there were a lot of vulgarities being shouted but when we sat down together afterwards, we could not believe that we had gone through that together."