Memories of Volunteering in Singapore

My first experience in volunteering was 17 years ago with my high school’s community project. My class was sent to clean the tiny apartments of a group of old folks who were either abandoned by their family or who never had any in the first place. I don’t remember much from it except the joy and sparkle in the eyes of some grannies (some of them were quite cranky too!).


My next experience was with some friends in tutoring the children of Chen Su Lan Children’s Home. These children are not all orphans, most of them being victims of broken families or whose parents are either imprisoned or too poor to bring them up. (Yes, in a place like Singapore, poverty does exist.) Except for a few who were intellectually challenged (and hence abandoned and neglected by their family) or bitter about their dire state, most of them were actually quite grateful to be there. I remember spending about 2 to 3 hours a week to tutor them and even did a song item for their Christmas celebration. My stint at this Children Home lasted about 3 months. Hey, you Samaritans out there who are still helping those kids out there, Iam taking my hats off you!


Not that I am very well-groomed myself but my latest experience was conducting a series of grooming classes for a bunch of about 20 teenage girls in an all-girls teenage crisis centre called the AG Home. These are girls between 12 to 19 yrs old and most of them were sent there because of some petty or juvenile crimes. I must say that I was pretty apprehensive before I arrived at the centre, as my ex-school teacher (the same one who led us to clean the old folks' apartment years ago) did not tell me much about it. I was quite apprehensive before going and wondered if I had to go through the baptism of their pranks just like what we see in movies. Lo and behold, it was nothing like that at all. Most of them were quite lovable but misunderstood. There was even a pregnancy centre for girls who had unwanted pregnancy but didn't abort the lives they carry. These girls were usually asked to stop school untill after they deliver their babies. I had the priviledge to witness the progress of a 15 year-old girl who eventually delivered her baby boy. There are just too many stories to tell and many of them reminded me of my teenage years when I could have ended in their state if I were to make a wrong move.


Anyway, I was volunteering at AG for only a few months before my full-time job got the better of me. Whenever I read about the development of the Home on the papers, I can't help but think about the love and effort of its founders and the many anonymous heroes behind it.