Dennis Teo was, by all accounts, a thug who was involved with triads and gangs, and expelled from school at the age of 15.
At 21, a twist of fate changed his life.
His then girlfriend got pregnant and Dennis realised he now had a heavy responsibility on his shoulders. This was the beginning of his journey towards a different path, which he shared with some 50 participants at the monthly Young NTUC Crossroads session held last 27 August 2013.
"I joined the triads during my young days because I am ambitious, I like to feel powerful. But on the other hand, I know that morally it is not right. The change came when I was experiencing very extreme poverty... I have two mouths to feed besides myself," Dennis said.
Today a successful businessman who runs a flooring company in Singapore, Dennis narrates how he beat all odds to land his first job.
"The interviewer asked me why did I come for this interview. I said, 'You have to trust me, I understand English. I know that I don't meet your pre-requisites, but I come for this because I am very hungry. I may be the extraordinary one who comes without meeting all the requirements to work in your company, but give me a chance, I am very hungry.' So because of this statement that I gave to that interviewer, he gave me the chance."
While there were distractions along the way, Dennis focused on achieving what he wanted by constantly asking himself, 'Who was going to feed my children?' The answer to that was ' nobody but himself. And this was the only motivation he needed to keep going.
Original article written by Nicholas Lee, and can be found in NTUC This Week (20 September 2013)
