Jolly Joey is a very young boy. Togged in a striped tee and colourful pants that ride all the way to his belly-button, Jolly Joey is always juggling something or falling over something.

Adopting this persona of a silent clown whose "greatest aim in life is to make people laugh", Knik Pang Tuan Kit, at 28, gets to clown around with difficult youths as a social circus trainer and founder of the Caring Clown Unit.

Himself a rebel in his teens, Pang empathises completely with youths who feel a little disillusioned with life at their vulnerable and impressionable age.

My name is Knik but sometimes, little children call me Jolly Joey.

I am Jolly Joey, and Jolly Joey is me. Jolly and I are very similar, just that whatever I am in my real life is exaggerated when I become Jolly the clown. Clowning is very much from my heart. The character of the clown is an extension of the performer's persona. There are some things I will never do as Jolly. I will not scold or discipline any kids who misbehave. There are kids who pull my hair, scratch me, jump on me, pull my suspenders, and try to pluck off my red button nose but I choose to ignore them.

Usually, I'll do the same thing back to them and say, "Hey! That's not very nice! See, you don't like me to do that to you, right?" It becomes a joke and they feel so embarrassed, they won't do it again.

I want to reach out to street kids because I was once a rebel youth myself. I studied three years in LaSalle-SIA College of the Arts but in my final year, I got into a fight with the dean and he kicked me out. After four years of participating in search-and-rescue missions in the airforce, I decided to find a new aim in life.

A recruitment advertisement in the newspaper caught my eye and armed with just a GCE 'O' Level certificate, I marched down to Tampines Family Service Centre. When I met the director, I told him, "I have no experience in this. I am not trained in social work but one thing for sure is, I can identify with these children and I can help. If you could let me have this opportunity, I will do my very best."

The next three years proved to be the most fruitful season of my life. Together with Tampines Family Service Centre, I helped run a programme called Cirque du Monde, which marries circus arts and social action to help youth in difficulty build their self-esteem and increase their creativity. I was a staff member from Tampines Family Service Centre and I was interested in the programme. Subsequently, I read a lot from the Internet and books. And finally, I decided to start Circus OUTREACH - a youth outreach project.

In the middle of 1999, I met the trainer from Canada for the first time. I probably had not seen a circus in the last 20 years so this was not a vocation I had looked forward to. I was given silk scarves to juggle at first because they are lighter and stay in the air longer, and then I experimented with three balls. I breezed through the whole course and realised that juggling works wonders for people - it boosts their self-esteem tremendously. I was jubilant and thought I must be really something to be able to do this! I knew this would impact young people as well.

Once I was invited to Tan Tock Seng Hospital to bring some cheer to the patients. The music started, and I prepared to perform my rendition of the multi-handed juggling act. There was a sudden pause as the sound system failed, and a heavy silence fell across the room. Jolly Joey saved the day by laughing it away.

"Who knows how to juggle here? You, why don't you come here and try?" So one by one, I started bringing up the kids to perform while I became the spectator. The limelight was on them and I became the silly one, picking up after the fallen balls. Thunderous applause was awarded to each kid and they smiled, embarrassed, while enjoying the attention. My heart swelled because this was what I was called to do - bring a smile to a person's face.

Each circus workshop lasts about three hours but the most difficult part is getting the kids to cooperate, come on time and stay throughout. Often, there are outbursts of fights.

"I don't care. I don't want to talk to you anyway. I don't need your help." are words I often hear from youths who participate in the social circus programme. In school, they are not active in co-curricular activities, exhibit destructive behaviour in class, are poor in academics and have low self-esteem. These youths do not know how to communicate with people or work in a group. But when they form a pyramid together and the people on top have to depend on their partners below for their dear lives, then will they understand the tangible meaning of teamwork. I never promised the circus would change these youths for good overnight. They might still flout rules, skip school or rebel but I have given them an alternative to channel their energy into doing something positive."

Reproduced in full from "I'm a volunteer too" with permission from the National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre (NVPC). For more inspiring stories, please visit NVPC's website.