Follow the Call of Your Heart, One Step at a Time

Pham Van Anh aka Harry has set out to recreate Tomoe Gakuen (a Tokyo elementary school) in different parts of Vietnam. Inspired by the Japanese author Tetsuko Kuroyanagi’s autobiographical book Totto-chan, the Little Girl at the Window, Tomoe Gakuen in Harry’s words is “a school built with love and kindness which respects the differences in each and every student”.

A strong desire to serve people prompted Harry to set up ECO Vietnam Group (EVG) in Vietnam in 2009. The not-for-profit organization works in over 10 communities with two clear missions: Education and Community (ECO) development. While EVG contributes in many areas such as building toilets, repairing homes, setting up biogas units, the most important activity is building and managing the EVG Community Library in marginalised villages. Although called libraries, these centres function like a school with many different educational programmes for children in the age group of six to 18 years."][/ALUMNI-INFO]

A graduate of LKYSPP’s Master in Public Administration (MPA) program, 2017 and an awardee of the Dean’s List from his batch, Harry is fondly remembered as the ‘King’ by his classmates―a king in search of his queen whom he found and proposed to twice in the span of 24 hours while at LKYSPP. But more on that later.

The journey begins

As an ASEAN scholar in 2004, Harry moved to Singapore to study engineering at Nanyang Technological University. In 2008, he volunteered and worked with young children in Vietnam. “I met children who could not go to school but were smart. I wanted to create that chance for them.” A year later he set up EVG which he remote-managed from Singapore. But in 2011, after seven years in Singapore, Harry decided to return to Vietnam for good to focus on EVG. The initial years had may challenges such as winning the trust of the communities, not finding support from local governments and lack of parental approval for his plan to return to Vietnam and work on his non-profit. “When you get something from the world, remember to pay back—that is the principle of my life. I was lucky to get the ASEAN Scholarship and I wanted to pay back. EVG was the way to do that,” he says.

Harry wants students to learn to apply the knowledge gathered in school to serve the community too. “That’s why we follow Franklin Covey’s Whole-Person Paradigm philosophy and work to nurture the heart, soul, body and mind of the children,” he explains.

The alumni connect

This year EVG celebrates its 10^th anniversary and will be participating in the National University of Singapore Day of Service (NUS DOS) event. Organised on the first Saturday of September, the NUS DOS is a day when the NUS family comes together to give back to the community through service and action. “We plan to gather EVG volunteers and members of the Vietnam LKYSPP alumni and work in two villages: one in the Mekong river delta and another in the mountains. The children of these villages will get stationery and books for the new academic year to support their education,” explains Harry.

He is hopeful that many LKYSPP alumni, especially those in Vietnam, will participate in the endeavour this year. “One of the best things about studying in LKYSPP is the network you build. The Vietnam Alumni chapter has not only contributed financially for the community projects of EVG, but some people have also become advisors and introduced me to people who can help with EVG’s work,” says Harry.

LKYSPP Vietnam Alumni Chapter paid a visit to EVG Community Library and provided the support.

A new path

The decision to study at LKYSPP in 2016 for Harry was motivated by the need “to learn to analyse policy decisions not only from the view of cultural and social impact but also economics. I wanted to be able to give feedback to the government persuasively and motivate people to become active citizen,” he says.

[ALUMNI-QUOTES TEXT="After the MPA program, Harry says he thinks more strategically. It has also helped him to work with the Vietnam government officials in a better fashion. “Since I studied with so many government officials during MPA, I understand there are many restrictions on them. I am now more patient and try to find ways to achieve a win-win solution. The LKYSPP experience encouraged me to have bigger, better goals for my work, look for ways to scale up and engage with different stakeholders.”

Harry looks up to Professor Lam Chuan Leong (now retired) whose class on Leadership and Decision-Making Skills he took. “He encouraged me to read many books and learn history to sharpen my analysis and leadership skills. Whenever I asked him something, he never answered directly but shared an experience from where I would have to figure the answer. He is my guru,” says Harry. The other course he swears by is Professor M Ramesh’s Social Policy Design."][/ALUMNI-QUOTES]

As he prepares for the NUS DOS, Harry has this message for the global LKYSPP alumni: “Come pay a visit and serve in our community library with your families. You will enjoy the time with EVG.”

And for those who will someday come to study at LKYSPP, Harry’s advice is to be “open-minded to learn as much as possible. Soak in knowledge from the professors in class and your classmates outside. It will be worth your while.”

Harry and his fiancée Thuan Trang (now wife) at his Valedictory Dinner

…And never let your classmates know about your love life, or they will make you go down on one knee in the Multi-Purpose Hall (MPH) in College Green just so that you can show them how a King proposes to his Queen.