Braema Mathi, Straits Times 11 Dec 07;
New NVPC head wants a culture of giving that goes beyond 'voluntourism'
VOLUNTEERS would achieve a whole lot more if they performed fewer 'superficial activities', said the new man at the helm of the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre (NVPC).
In businessman Stanley Tan's books, these include making short do-gooder trips to other countries to stay with the poor, dig wells for villagers or get immersed in the lives of the less fortunate.
These short trips with a charitable element - referred to as 'voluntourism' - have become increasingly popular with student groups as well as adults, but he feels this may not be the best way to teach young people the meaning of giving or inspiring them to be volunteers.
Mr Tan, 51, the new chairman of NVPC, told The Straits Times: 'We need to give them a value-system in giving.'
By that he means helping the young to see that 'giving' need not mean grand gestures and big commitments.
'Giving is also about helping an elderly lady to cross the road, to take photographs of events for a charity here and helping it to archive its history,' he said.
A volunteer since his schooldays, he believes that Singaporeans are generous and always willing to give to victims of disasters or anyone in trouble, including injured foreign workers.
They showed amply that they cared during the Sars crisis of 2003 and after the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004, he said.
'We have the fundamentals for a compassionate society.'
But what troubled him was how to reach out to a younger generation that 'wants more and more': a problem not only in Singapore, but also in other economically successful societies.
So it will be a challenge for the NVPC to attract the young to become life-long volunteers.
He thinks this can be done by identifying everyday gestures that the young do - helping a classmate, helping a neighbour, helping out at home - and appreciating them as acts of giving.
'This way, the young will see that volunteerism is not an external act, but something that comes from within,' he said.
The NVPC, the home and the school can be consistent in emphasising the 'giving' aspect of volunteerism and work in harmony with other public efforts, such as the Singapore Kindness Movement.
At the same time, Mr Tan feels that, when volunteers come forward, they should be used well. This does not always happen.
'We ask them to sweep the floor when there's something better that they could do,' he said. 'The important thing is to get this matching of needs right.'
One effort that the NVPC is undertaking is to establish a 'vertical kampung spirit' by introducing volunteerism to residents in Housing Board blocks and estates, as it was in the old days.
It will work with other agencies to get the volunteerism message to residents.
'Volunteering is a very simple act, one of giving of oneself in terms of time, expertise or to just fill a gap as there is simply no one else to do it,' he said.
