HE REMEMBERS every little detail about his childhood, The sprawling lush kampung in Jalan Kayu, his brood of friends with whom he went fishing and caught spiders. The teachers who knew everything he did and told his parents.

But Mr S Vivakanandan’s most vivid memory is of his father coming home every day on the dot at 5.30 pm from his job at the British air base. And he and his four brothers and three sisters had to be waiting at the table with their books open, having bathed, powdered themselves and combed their hair. From 6 pm to 9 pm each day, it was time to “padi” (study in Tamil).

“My father was a strict disciplinarian. To him, the important thing was education. His only objective was that we should either get a decent education or learn a skill,” said Mr Vivakanandan, 35, who was appointed Chief Executive Officer of SINDA in April. Mr Viva, as he is known, is the seventh child and the first graduate in the family.

“That no-nonsense regime helped us. There was no TV, no radio, no videos. For two to three hours every day we had to sit down and read or study,” said Mr Viva, who is married with a newborn son.

His father, now 72, had secondary education. He led by example, reading voraciously - Tamil books were his favourite. Said Mr Viva with a chuckle: “Among the many houses in Jalan Kayu, ours had a bookcase, and there were books in them!”

The children had to read out loud - it didn’t matter what they read - English or Tamil books. They even had The Straits Times, another rare thing in the kampung. This helped because their home, like the others, was Tamil-speaking. English was only spoken at school.

Mr Viva said the strict environment also helped to keep him out of trouble - he knew friends who were involved in gangs. “It helped that my brothers were not involved in these things, they always kept and eye on me anyway,” he said, smiling.

This family environment made all the difference to his later life. “I know friends who went astray, who did not do well in life. But there were many others like my family, who did well. We were fortunate to have the right kind of environment, I think that’s important.”

Parents are the key ABOUT his family, he is guarded and careful. But on his plans for SINDA, Mr Viva is only too happy to oblige. Still, his own experiences make him push for matters close to his heart, such as early intervention to help Indian children.

“If your child is well prepared to meet the rigours of the education system, he or she will do well. My sisters taught me by ABCs before I went to school,” said Mr Viva who graduated from NUS with a Bachelor of Arts (honours) and did his Masters in Sydney.

SINDA’s tuition programmes have helped students improve grades. But this isn’t enough, said Mr Viva. Parents are the key. “We want to tell parents that family environment is most important. They must understand that if they don’t prepare their child for life, no one is going to do it for them.”

This doesn’t just mean teaching them words and numbers, but also building character. “More than 90 per cent of kids these days don’t join gangs or get into trouble. What stops them? They must have a strong perception that it is wrong. And how do they get that? From parents.”

But the difficulty is getting the new SINDA message across. Workshops don’t draw the people they need to reach. “So we have to literally knock on doors. That’s not the problem, making people open them for you is ... You may have the best intentions, but if they don’t respond, there’s little we can do,” he said.

Which is why the new Project Read is crucial. About 300 volunteers are needed. It has 100 now. Volunteers will be trained and matched with people living near their own homes.

“We hope it can become an important network. Then when these families have other problems, our volunteers can let us know and help can be given in the early stages,” said Mr Viva.