Hi~ I am Kai Ning! I’m in charge of Programmes & Partnerships at Inner Friend.
I am passionate about people and ideas. I have an especially soft spot for the underprivileged and elderly. Marrying my passions and social interest, I co-founded a social enterprise in 2017 to help youth-at-risk and the lower income population in Singapore to improve their career prospects and maximise their potential.
Throughout my life, I’ve realized that I was a bit of an oxymoron – polar opposites live in me. I am all at once extroverted and introverted, idealistic and also practical, spiritual and yet enjoy material comforts. Shadow and light. Treading 2 worlds every time, I believe this gift taught me empathy. I am inclusive to every being and I try to be compassionate and unjudgmental.
But because of my nature that can shift between opposites, growing up, I've found myself in huge inner turmoil many times in life, somehow always feeling that I don't belong in social groups, or that I can't be fully understood in my close relationships. Understanding myself and learning to embrace my whole self was quite the journey for me. I hope that I can use this experience to help people feel that they are not alone, that they are loved despite differences, and help them to manifest their uniqueness into concrete contributions for the world. Because we are all different, we are one and the same.
The optimist in me dreams of a world of love, abundance and a deep appreciation for life. My ideal society is one that looks within themselves and seeks to improve, helps each other to thrive, and is free from divide.
I started Inner Friend with my two co-founders to explore truth deeply, live life deeply, and provide a safe space for others to do the same. This is me stepping into my light and pursuing my personal legend!
- Entrepreneur at CareerSocius, a social enterprise that helps to equalize the playing field for job-seekers in Singapore.
- Graduated from Nanyang Business School with a Double Degree in Accountancy and Business (HR Consulting), and was awarded the Nanyang Scholarship.
My favourite word is: UBUNTU. I am because we are. Your pain is my pain, and my joy is your joy. Help someone and you are helped, hurt someone and you are hurt.
Fave quotes:
- "Know that the outward form passes away, but the world of reality remains forever. How long will you play at loving the shape of the jug? Leave the jug; go, seek the water!" - Rumi
- "You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- "It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." - Theodore Roosevelt
