Saifulbahri Ismail Channel NewsAsia 25 Jan 11;
SINGAPORE: A new initiative to promote informal volunteerism called vertical kampong has been launched.
The initiative will be managed by the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre (NVPC).
It was announced by Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong at the 21st International Association for Volunteer Effort World Volunteer conference on Tuesday.
Speaking to international delegates at the conference, Mr Goh explained the initiative was named 'Vertical Kampong' because more than 80 per cent of Singaporeans live in high-rise flats.
He added that the initiative aims to change mindsets and help people realise that everyone can do some good deeds in the community.
"The beauty of informal volunteerism is that people who have been helped will often reciprocate and this enhances the spirit of giving. Nobody should feel helpless or embarrassed to give or receive help. If we can do this successfully, we will become a compassionate and gracious society," said Mr Goh.
He explained that the Vertical Kampong will adopt the Assets-Based Community Development model that has been successfully implemented in Chicago, Taiwan and Brisbane.
The model is premised on the belief that every individual has talents and resources that can benefit his community.
Mr Goh revealed that 33 per cent of the population in Singapore volunteer informally, giving an average of 48 hours per year.
However, he believes more can be done to encourage informal volunteering.
Mr Goh added that the challenge is to help individuals recognise that everyone can be an informal volunteer.
"For instance, a group of residents who walk regularly around the neighbourhood for exercise may not see themselves as volunteer material. But they can also serve as an effective neighbourhood crime patrol by keeping their eyes open for suspicious characters," said Mr Goh.
NVPC will work with local community groups like Residents' Committee and hold public education workshops to help individual realise that everyone can be a volunteer.
Hosea Lai, Deputy Director of NVPC, said: "If you look at the one room flat elderly - the common belief is that they are old, they are poor and they have nothing to give. But I would challenge that.
"I've seen how these one room flat elderly go down to the block of flats and help other elderly who are in need whether it's accompanying them to the market to buy their groceries, whether it's just sitting by the void deck and just chatting with them. These are gifts and these are their talents and they are in fact helping their neighbours through mutual help."
Mr Goh also shared other ideas on how to promote volunteering.
They include making it easier for people to volunteer and making volunteering experiences satisfying so that people will continue to volunteer.
-CNA/ac
Make 'vertical kampungs' of high-rise living
Centre wants to revive community spirit to encourage volunteerism
Teo Wan Gek Straits Times 26 Jan 11;
SENIOR Minister Goh Chok Tong wants to revive the kampung spirit of old in today's high-rise apartment blocks, where the vast majority of Singaporeans live.
So does the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre (NVPC), which is spearheading the 'vertical kampung' initiative - a new effort to encourage and enable informal volunteering.
That is the kind of spontaneous help which takes place when people respond to a neighbour's need, and which used to be a way of life in the kampungs or villages of old. It could range from giving a neighbour some salt, to tending a community vegetable garden together, to keeping an eye out for suspicious characters when walking the dog.
In his keynote address at the 21st World Volunteer Conference at Resorts World Sentosa, Mr Goh said: 'This model is premised on the belief that every individual has talents and resources that can benefit his community.
'NVPC will work with local community groups to identify the assets and resources within each community and hold public education workshops to help individuals realise that everyone can be a volunteer.'
The conference by the International Association for Volunteer Effort has drawn more than 1,000 members of the global volunteering community to Singapore.
An NVPC study of individual giving last year found that 33 per cent of Singaporeans volunteer informally, giving an average of 48 hours a year, or less than an hour a week. That is lower than Canada's 80 per cent and Britain's 60 per cent.
Mr Goh also highlighted two other ways to promote volunteering.
The first is by providing volunteer opportunities that are flexible and bite-sized. Organisations today need to adapt to the reality of short-term volunteers, he said, and change the way they work to recruit more of such volunteers.
The second is for organisations to invest more in volunteer management.
Although Singapore's volunteerism rate more than doubled in the past 10 years, from 9 per cent in 2000 to 23 per cent last year, about 17 per cent of volunteers leave after one year.
Mr Goh said: 'People need to have satisfying volunteering experiences so they will continue to volunteer. Continually recruiting but not retaining volunteers is not a sustainable strategy.'
Elaborating on the vertical kampung idea, NVPC deputy director Hosea Lai said the centre has been working with the local community and grassroots groups in Tampines and Eunos since last year. They organise activities where residents can meet, to encourage informal volunteering. NVPC plans to extend these efforts islandwide.
Those who benefit can help others in their community too, based on their own talents and resources, he said.
'It's about paying it forward,' he added.
Mr Chia Kooi Koon, 68, a chauffeur, has lived in Ubi Avenue 1 for more than 20 years but knows only a few of his neighbours. When he lived in a kampung, he knew everyone.
'It's a little harder now in the HDB block. Sometimes when I say 'Hi' or nod to others in the lift, they don't even look at me,' he said.
Mr Ng Wui Han, 33, an administrative executive, said: 'If you have neighbours who are open to the idea and to inter-action, then it will work.
'If not, there's only so much one person can do if it stops at him.'
Time to promote a 'vertical kampung' spirit: SM Goh
Linette Lim Business Times 26 Jan 11;
THE volunteerism rate in Singapore more than doubled in the past decade to reach 23 per cent last year, Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong said yesterday.
SM Goh revealed the figure on Day 2 of the 21st International Association of Volunteer Effort (IAVE) World Volunteer Conference being held in Singapore. In his keynote address to delegates, he also called for more 'flexible volunteering, satisfying volunteering and informal volunteering'.
He then mooted the concept of 'vertical kampungs' (villages) as an example of informal volunteering. Vertical, because 'more than 80 per cent of Singaporeans live in high-rise apartment blocks', he said.
The vertical kampung initiative will be rolled out by the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre (NVPC) to promote volunteering within neighbourhoods.
The conference then led to a plenary session featuring actors Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh. Li attended the conference in his capacity as International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies goodwill ambassador and founder of international charity One Foundation.
He told delegates he found happiness in volunteering. Before he got involved in charity work, he 'had wealth, reputation and power, but was miserable'.
'I have been very tired (running the charity) for the last few years but I have been very happy,' he said.
Mainly based in China, One Foundation aims to get people to donate one yuan (20 cents) or volunteer one hour a month.
Yeoh spoke of her role as global ambassador for the Make Roads Safe Campaign, a campaign aimed at reducing road traffic injury and deaths.
'I was so disappointed the first time I went to the UN (to lobby),' she said. 'The discussion was 70 per cent empty and the leaders were disinterested.'
The lobbying efforts came through, however: the United Nations General Assembly has proclaimed 2011-2020 a UN Decade of Action for Road Safety.
Besides using their star power to draw people to their causes, both celebrities agree that volunteerism is not just about helping others, but helping yourself become a more complete person.
