LEE Rocka
Danial Lee Rocka is a Naval Diver veteran, rapper, actor, and life coach who believes "blood makes you related but bond makes you family—the ones who look out for you the most may not be blood related."
At 12, Danial moved from Indonesia's projects to Singapore—a turning point that "reunited the family, but the period I needed parents' love the most, I didn't have it." Raised by the street, he spent 10 years as a Naval Diver training combat divers and serving on Singapore's maritime security team before doing something that shocked his family: he got caught for marijuana possession in 2016. "How I dealt with stress back in the day was I just smoked weed to suppress it."
After serving 7 months in detention barracks, Danial did something unconventional: "During my incarceration, I read like 70 books. Mostly self-help." While fiction books had pages missing, the self-help section sat pristine—untouched. "Those are the books they should have been reading." One book changed everything: Being Happy by Andrew Matthews. "It's thin, digestible, and there's a lot of drawings. When I read it, there's a lot of cliché things, but if you sit and reflect upon it—it's very real."
The day Danial was released, his family urged him to become a security guard: "You have the military background. Stable pay." His response? "I took back all my recording equipment from my friend and started recording my first song. All the successful people that wrote books tell me to pursue my passion. My passion has always been music."
Danial discovered his true calling working with troubled youth. The breakthrough came from an unlikely case: the son of a Singapore police chief doing drugs. "I realize troubled youth come from different backgrounds, not just underprivileged. Sometimes too much privilege causes that as well." The insight that changed everything? "He's doing this because he just wants attention." Father and son are now best friends.
His mentorship philosophy: "Be a mentor, be a friend, be a father. Discipline is key, but if there's too much discipline, where's the mentoring?" Using his F.I.S.H. framework (Financial, Intellectual, Spiritual, Health), Danial evaluates who adds value to life: "If your friend doesn't benefit you in these areas, they're not your friend."
Youth workers describe Danial Lee Rocka in one phrase: "the only real friend I have." The reason? "I will be brutally honest. This is wack, man. I don't care about your feelings—I care about your growth."
Danial is now building Singapore's first nonprofit to provide free creative education—podcast production, music, barbering—to underprivileged youth. "I think bullying and drugs go hand in hand. Why not I be the solution for it?"
As cheerleader for the Singapore Anti-Narcotics Association and a multifaceted hustler spanning acting (recently cast as main villain in a Singapore prison documentary), swim coaching, and motivational speaking, Danial Lee Rocka operates by one principle: "A rising tide raises all ships."
His daily practice: expressing himself through music—because "the way I stay grounded is to express myself through music. You need to find something that will keep you sane in this insane world."