Ben Yeo to give out rings for charity

SINGAPORE — Not content with being an entrepreneur, actor and host, Ben Yeo has a new passion project: Raising awareness for disadvantaged women in abusive marriages. This Sunday, he and his team will be giving out 10,000 rings bearing the slogan “Commit to love” outside Ngee Ann City and Dhoby Ghaut MRT Station.

The initiative is part of the Save Mummy campaign organised by Big Big Heart, the social work enterprise that Yeo started six months ago. “The campaign is to create awareness for women being used and abused,” he said, and he hopes to educate the public on the importance of a healthy marriage.

Women facing abuse is an issue that has troubled Yeo since he was serving his National Service as a policeman. At that time, he had dealt with a few cases of domestic violence, including one where a woman came barefoot into the police post asking for help.

These days, he and his Big Big Heart collaborators volunteer their time at a shelter for abused women and their children, organising monthly birthday parties and quarterly outings. “The women are very helpless. Most of them are overseas brides,” he said.

It is also an issue that most Singaporeans are not aware of. “When people ask me, ‘Why are you doing this?’ and I share with them, they say, ‘Huh? Are you sure Singapore has these cases?’” Yeo said.

He explained that in many instances, the women do not have permanent residence status but their children are Singapore citizens, the women are torn between staying here for their children’s sake and going home to their families.

More than just raising funds for them, Yeo said: “We hope to create a community, a group of Heartists — we call ourselves Heartists — who can use their talent to help, rather than just with money.”

Aside from giving out rings, plans in the works include a charity golf event, dinner and auction, and online videos. The first video, released in March and featuring former TV personality Ann Poh, is called Used And Abused and compares victims of abuse to sharks hunted for their fins. Yeo plans to produce more videos telling the stories of brides from Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand.

The Save Mummy campaign is only the first of several causes Big Big Heart hopes to champion. “Moving forward, we might focus on animals or kids or the elderly,” Yeo said.

In the meantime, he hopes the public will come to town on Sunday, collect a ring and help change the world a little.

For more information, visit http://bigbigheart.sg/savemummy