Topic of Interest: How can we further enhance SINDA Youth Club’ s efforts in engaging youth in Volunteer Efforts?
CASE STUDY: SINDA Youth Club and SINDA Youth Leaders Seminar
Focus of SINDA
• SINDA ' s vision is to " build a strong and vibrant Singaporean Indian community "
• In this process, SINDA ' s mission is to build a " well-educated, resilient and confident community of Indians " who can contribute positively to a multi-racial Singapore.( from SINDA website)
SINDA Youth Club( SYC)
• Launched officially in 2010, SYC is managed by a young and vibrant team of professionals and the SYC Secretariat.
• The main objectives of SYC are to engage and nurture Indian youths to achieve their full potential.
• Subsequently, platforms are created to enable Indian youths to mutually support each other in their endeavours. Furthermore, SYC will provide youths with the access to a network of mentors and role models.
SINDA Youth Leaders Seminar( SYLS)
Some of the Programmes currently conducted by SYC
• SINDA Young Leaders Programme( SYLP)
• SYLP is an annual programme that seeks to empower aspiring Indian youths to engage in community service and leadership activities in Singapore and overseas.
• Selected participants will undergo a six-month training programme before embarking on local or overseas community involvement programmes.
• SINDA Youth Leaders Seminar( SYLS)
• SYLS is a platform for Indian students from tertiary institutions to explore issues confronting the community, engage with distinguished individuals and engage in service-learning projects.
• Distinguished Speakers Series( DSS)
• DSS is an annual event specifically for tertiary students and young working professionals to interact with prominent individuals in the community- Ministers, former Members of Parliament, Chairpersons of successful Multinational Corporations( MNCs).
Strengths
Areas for Improvement
• Participation of Indians from different kinds of tertiary educational • Although there is participation of youths from institutions( Junior Colleges, Polytechnics, Institutes of Technical different tertiary institutions, there must be a Education). stronger focus to attract participants from
• Provides Indian youths the opportunity to mingle with Polytechnics and ITEs. members of their ethnic community.
• Due to the decentralised system of ITEs, it is
• From a cohort of 50 youths in 2011, the number has steadily harder to establish regular tie-ups with students grown to more than 150 youths in 2016. through Indian Cultural Societies.
• This is dueto the inclusive culture in SYLS. According to Jeremy • However, even this situation has been improving Aruldoss( Vice-Chairman of SYC), it does not matter which with the introduction of the ITE Leadership " institution you are from or even your GPA or grades, butwhat Programme( ITELP) and other initiatives. matters is people with bright and ambitious ideas, and passion to serve collectively ".
• Exposure of youths to issues confronting the Indian community.
• Gives youths an opportunity to understand the needs of the Indian community and directly be engaged in a unique experiential component.
• Service learning where youths are brought to the heartlands to visit elderly and underprivileged households to distribute household items etcetera.
• Furthermore, in 2013 Design Thinking has been introduced to help youths apply tools for deeper understanding of the community ' s needs, problems and brainstorm for high impact solutions.
• In 2015, a Hackathon was introduced to challenge students to ideate on workable solutions for the community ' s problems.
• Networking opportunities with leaders and prominent individuals in the Indian community.
• Proper follow-up is required to encourage at least a segment of SYLS participants to be involved with SINDA activities in the long-run.
• Nevertheless, to clarify, the main objective of SYLS is not to create a sustainable pipeline of volunteers.
• Also, as Jeremy Aruldoss( Vice-Chairman of SYC) stated, " commitment is relative and any time taken to volunteer is important."
• SYLS is probably the last time some of these youths interact with prominent individuals or role models from the Indian community.
• Mentors, role models and community leaders could make a more conscious effort to engage with youths and start an informal mentorship programme.
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