We speak to youths who used to be beneficiaries and are now active volunteers.
We often hear grumbles about the young being selfish and materialistic. But according to our Individual Giving Surveys (2000 to 2014), the Singapore youths of today are actually the most socially conscious and active, with 15- to 24-year-olds having the highest rate of volunteerism.
That’s good news for the young generation. But perhaps no one would have more empathy for people in need than those who have been in similar situations themselves, and which they got out of only because someone gave them a leg-up.
Like 23-year-old Nurul Jannah, a former beneficiary of and current volunteer at Club Rainbow.
“I understand (their circumstances)… I also hope that these beneficiaries can become a role model for (future) beneficiaries,” she says.
Around 135 former and current beneficiaries come together at the three-day, two-night Camp Rainbow, where the former beneficiaries will lead current beneficiaries in various activities.
Another former beneficiary who is now a volunteer is Noraidah, who used to receive aid from Beyond Social Services. Now 37, she has been working as an infant edu-carer at the organisation’s Healthy Start Child Development Centre. She also volunteers as a secretary with the Bukit Merah View Zone A Residents’ Committee.
She says: “As a beneficiary, I was always the one getting help from Beyond and other organisations. But now, I’m volunteering as a way to give back to society after getting so much.”
For these youths, giving back has become a way of life, a virtuous circle they find important to perpetuate in everyday life.
As Dexter Sim, 22, a Club Rainbow volunteer and former beneficiary, puts it: “It’s something I call self-satisfaction, which is also a value that is immeasurable (when I give back).”
