Singapore Tamil Youth Conference 2016 Manifesto NUSTLS Singapore Tamil Youth Conference 2016 Manif | Page 94

Issue 16: Community Work in the Future
Author: Ms. A. Aarthi
BACKGROUND:
Youths’ participation in community
• Community Involvement Program (CIP) in schools.
• Apathy and lack of awareness.
• Community work through systematic means has
been effective to some extent, but there is a need
to relook at the values and motivations that
underpin engagement in such work.
• The youths need to be equipped with skills to face
social and ecological challenges of the 21st
century so that they can give back in a more
tangible way and take charge of charting both
cultural and socio-economic development
together.
History of self-help groups and their relevance today
• Historically, the various migrant communities settled according to
a colonial town plan that segregated migrants based on ethnicity
and the dialect that they spoke.
• It is in this context where mutual self-help groups sprung up in
response to the lack of state welfare. Many of these groups still
exist today.
• From the 1980s, the state started providing support for self- help
groups like SINDA, Mendaki, CDAC and the Eurasian Association.
• SINDA tackles various issues plaguing the Indian community. The
successes of their initiatives are measured against the different
ethnic groups. There is an overwhelming focus on Math and
Science as Indian students are deemed to be poorer at these
subjects.
Youths’ involvement in self-help groups
• Provides avenues for youths to engage in community work,
network and learn more about their culture. They are also able
to capitalise on their ability to speak Tamil to engage with the
elderly or with construction workers for example.
• Though there are many opportunities, youths do not take grab
them.
• There is a understanding amidst parents and educators that the
child should only set aside time for volunteering after taking
care of his/her academics.
• Tamil student volunteers have traditionally been recruited
through school Indian Cultural societies. This leaves out other
youths who may not be culturally connected but might be
interest in community work.
Pros
Common attitudes and misconceptions:
• There are enough people involved in various
community work.
• There are too many people trying to achieve the
same outcomes.
• It is not sustainable
• Mismatch between skills that youths possess and
the nature of existing community work initiatives
Effective community work in the Singapore context
• Race/ethnicity-based community work continues
to have certain benefits due to better
understanding between the organisation. A
common language becomes important in
expression of grievances.
• Community work framework should move forward
to focus on finding a better balance between the
emotive and skills-based volunteering.
Emotive Volunteering Skills-based Volunteering
Strong sense of empathy enables
one to carry out community work
in a responsible way Matches the skills, experiences, talents and education of volunteers with the
needs of the beneficiaries.
Greater motivation to rally others
to contribute to similar causes. Can potentially aid in improving the capacity of the particular organization so
as to maximize the impact on beneficiaries.
Volunteer engagement tends to be more long term as skills are well
leveraged upon
More effective use of time for both volunteers and beneficiaries
Cons
Not effective in terms of the
nature of service that volunteers
may be able to offer Heavy focus on skills may overshadow the importance of empathy in the
deliverance of community work.
Volunteer engagement may not
be as sustainable It might be difficult to accurately identify and match skills with needs without
an extensive needs assessment procedure
May become too emotionally
connected
There indeed needs to be a good balance of both types of community work in order for it to be effective and
beneficial.
Issue 16: Community Work in the Future
PAGE 94