S12 Fahmi Abdoh hopes to encourage others to be kind to themselves

Fahmi was a teacher in a secondary school for five years, and although it was an invaluable experience, it was also a challenging one.

The stressful demands of the job resulted in anxiety and even thoughts of self-harm. Every night before a school day, he would have trouble sleeping thinking about all the things he needed to do the next day and all the deadlines he needed to meet. It was common for him to stay up late working and try to function at work with only four hours of sleep. At one point, the thought crossed his mind to step in front of a moving bus so that he could be hospitalised just so he could rest.

Fortunately, things changed. Fahmi realised that his mental, emotional and physical health were deteriorating.

Today, Fahmi still teaches Science and Math at a tuition centre. But now, not only is he able to enjoy teaching, he is learning new skills related to people management and business development.

He is now also a certified personal trainer. When he’s not teaching, he helps his clients build positive attitudes and habits for maintaining good physical health and shares how it also benefits their mental and emotional health. Fahmi pursues new interests and seeks new experiences, because he knows that that’s an important part of making life worth living. By seizing the opportunity to participate in Mr World Singapore 2021, he hopes to use it as a platform to encourage others to be kind to themselves by looking after their physical, mental and emotional health, and to take charge of their lives by seizing opportunities to make their lives a story worth telling.