Singapore-Two students received the Diana Award for establishing and running a non-governmental organization (NGO) serving disadvantaged people here.
Recent Yale-NUS graduate Nur Hazeem Abdul Nasser (23 years old) and National Public School (NPS) international student Aanya Rao (16 years old) won the award at the virtual ceremony on July 1st.
Founded in honor of the late Princess Diana, this award recognizes the inspiration and mobilization of people between the ages of 9 and 25 to serve the community.
Hazeem and Aanya received this award as one of about 180 young people from 29 countries.
Aanya launched Art: Connect in 2020. This is a student-led initiative that connects patients in Singapore’s student art community with medical centers.
Hazeem started the signpost project in 2019. The project uses social media campaigns to combat the social stigma faced by older tissue paper sellers.
Art: Connect is made up of more than 40 volunteers from different schools and organizes projects such as online friendships and craft sessions with Elderly Housing with Care residents.
We also held an enlightenment campaign on organ donation with the National Organ Transplant Center and held an art competition on the theme of organ donation.
The top 10 works were exhibited at the exhibition of the National University Hospital.
Besides raising awareness, the signpost project connects older tissue sellers and paperboard merchants to relevant social welfare agencies, including the Ministry of Social and Family Development.
Hazeem, who also received the Singapore Rhodes Scholarship at Oxford University last year, said:
Hazeem recently graduated from Yale-NUS College with a degree in Political, Philosophy and Economics.
He will hold two master’s degrees in public policy and public policy research from Oxford University.
Hazeem has received a scholarship from the Public Services Commission to earn an undergraduate degree, which will deepen his ties with public services.
Aanya is also doing public affairs for the future.
She states: “I want to pursue a career in the fields of biomedical sciences and entrepreneurship.
“I want to continue to lead and support humanitarian initiatives with other youth transformants like me, seeing myself entering the field of trunk (science, technology, engineering, math). I think.”
