Turning personal tragedy into hope for her community
Jazz Tan always knew her father was involved in a criminal gang, but her life turned upside down at the age of 14 when he was murdered by his cohorts in their Penang family home. Losing the family’s sole wage earner, Tan took jobs washing plates and “whatever I could do to just keep us alive”, she says, and eventually won a scholarship to put herself through university.
While at school, Tan established YouthsToday, a platform that raises money to fund creative projects that encourage young people to remain in education, find their passions and stay away from criminal activity. “I didn’t want other youth to follow in my dad’s footsteps,” says Tan. YouthsToday matches student projects with corporate sponsors; in return, students run campaigns with their newly learned skills, such as photography, to help brands market to the universities. Since it was established in 2013, nine years after the death of her father, YouthsToday has supported 50,000 young people, working with brands including Sony and KFC. “If you’re revengeful for what’s happened to you, you’ll end up feeling very empty—even if you take revenge on the person who did you wrong. Instead, channel your energy into making yourself successful,” she says.
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