Work Attachment

My attachment was quite unique. Instead of being attached to an organization, I was attached to a specific individual. Still, I did not feel disadvantaged in any way, for she helped me gained a different perspective on the community.

For my 2 weeks, I did quite a variety of activities, planning stuff at the CC, sitting in for a meet-the-people (MTP) session, a house visit and finally ending off with volunteering at a night cycling event. From these experiences, I learnt about the needs of our community, the flaws of the welfare system and the solutions in place to alleviate the problems.

1. MTP

It was quite an eye-opening experience. One leading misconception about MTP is that only those with financial aid attend the session. However, it was more that that. To put it simply, it was more of an information centre.

Those that attended ranged from those requiring financial aid, those that faced family problems, and those with neighborly dispute. The general procedure is that, after hearing the various problems, the volunteer would then asses the problem, offer some assistance and subsequently send a letter to the most appropriate authority. The individual would them head on home and await reply from the respective authority themselves. Only a handful of the problems will be directed to the MP himself, for counsel on the matter. These MPs are well versed in the country’s laws and policies and could recommend the most suitable action to take.

After the whole session, I realized the importance of such sessions. Many citizens are not that knowledgeable about the country's policies and such are unsure of the actions to undertake, when faced with problem. Thus these sessions are a one-stop avenue for the people to acquire advice on their situation.

2. House visit

I visited a family who was faced with financial difficulty due to medical problem, yet found it difficult to get aid due to their housing situation. This made me realise the flaw of the system in place. Though there are many organizations and policies in place to offer aid to those in need, these policies are only helpful to a certain extent. These organizations are established with various policies to maximise aid to the needy individuals. Yet, it is the same policies, which results in the neglect of the outliners (special cases). The estate that I helped out at was generally not considered financially in need due to most of the units being classified as 4 or 5-room flats. Nevertheless, there are those exceptions, which include medical conditions or a major change in family income. These conditions may affect the financial state of the family, however the fact that they live in 4 or 5 room units, affects their eligibility for aid. Due to the limited resources of the various organizations, it is also impractical for the organizations to pay house visits to these families to assess their situation one by one.

This is where the volunteers play an important part. Youth Executive Community (YEC) is the committee who manages the different youth groups in the various CCs. They are made of individual who are passionate about helping out with the community and comes up with various initiatives of offer aid to their estate. As there is a limit as to what the government and policies can do, many grants are set up. These grant assist the groups and individuals in their initiatives to help the community, which lessens the burden on the government.

3. Night Cycling

Staying awake from 8pm to next morning 8am was no easy feat for a volunteer like me, not to mention the cyclists who managed to complete the 60km ride. When the activity began at 9pm, everybody was full of vigor, ready to conquer the task ahead. Participants ranged from all ages from kids of about 10 to elderly maybe up to the age of 70+. The first stretch, from Changi to Marina was quite relaxing amidst the glorious skyline of Singapore. After the break at Marina Barrage, we set off again, as the night went on, we could see cyclists dropping out, some out of fatigue, injury or lack of determination. By dusk, many cyclists were still pushing on bent on finishing what they had started. Nearing 8am, they were nearing the last stretch of the race. The slight shower did little to deter them of their goal. They had done too much to just drop out when the finishing line was just ahead. Though tired and damp, many of them completed the ride with smiles on their faces, proud of what they had accomplished.

And with that, I concluded my 2 weeks of attachment. Though it was short, the lessons I brought away were worth much more than the time I had forked out. If given the chance I would want to go through such an experience again.

:)