tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405345292513335071.post6115937546351692523..comments2024-03-19T18:44:15.041+08:00Comments on Little Stories: Something About Social WorkGilbert Koh aka Mr Wanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01027678080233274309noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405345292513335071.post-63399251602238507232007-01-07T01:08:00.000+08:002007-01-07T01:08:00.000+08:00Hi Mr Wang,
"Bear in mind that these are quite st...Hi Mr Wang,<br /><br />"Bear in mind that these are quite staunchly religious people, to begin with. Social work, to help the underprivileged, may well be the kind of activity that they would actually embrace and be happy to take on".<br /><br />I may be biased but I don't think the Christian-majority MIWs will push for JWs to be actively doing social work for NS because many Christians/Catholics view their social work arm/activities as part of evangelism... how can they support the evangelism of a "cult"?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405345292513335071.post-41239611251748055792007-01-05T09:00:00.000+08:002007-01-05T09:00:00.000+08:00I think that there are creative ways for people to...I think that there are creative ways for people to volunteer, such that the utilisation of their time & energy is kept minimal, and yet they are able to contribute usefully. <br /><br />Of course, I also think that these creative ways are probably left untapped very often.<br /><br />Everybody has certain skills or knowledge or is already carrying on certain kinds of activities in their usual routine. Many of those skills / knowledge / activities will often be extendible to volunteer activities / social work at minimal cost / effort to the volunteer.<br /><br />If you are a restaurant owner, it probably would not be of that much extra trouble for you to organise a special meal for old folks at an old folks home a few times a year.<br /><br />If you are an animal lover with many pets of your own, you may well enjoy volunteering a few hours a week at SPCA and help look after other animals too.<br /><br />If you are a law student, you could help the needy by volunteering some form of legal aid, and at the same time this would be beneficial to your own legal education. (I mention this because there's an article in today's Today about the pro bono group at NUS Law Faculty).<br /><br />If you are a popular blogger, it doesn't cost you much effort to publicise a few charitable events along the way, while you are writing about other stuff. <br /><br />----<br /><br />As for NS, I didn't mean to suggest that social work would be an option for just any and every 18-year-old citizen. My point was that social work could be made an option for the JWs.<br /><br />As it is, we lock up the JWs in detention barracks (military prison) for 3 years, because they refuse to do NS. I don't think that being locked up is particularly constructive. In contrast, there seem to be lots of advantages to the nation, if we utilised them to do social work for 3, 4.5 or 6 years instead. <br /><br />Bear in mind that these are quite staunchly religious people, to begin with. Social work, to help the underprivileged, may well be the kind of activity that they would actually embrace and be happy to take on.Gilbert Koh aka Mr Wanghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01027678080233274309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405345292513335071.post-27490129560371674402007-01-04T18:59:00.000+08:002007-01-04T18:59:00.000+08:00Oops, correction, it should be lowest 10% househol...Oops, correction, it should be lowest 10% household without income in the 2005 Dept of Stats survey. The bottom 20% household saw their income strinking and it was predicted that the trend will continue.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405345292513335071.post-55850175452688090742007-01-04T18:56:00.000+08:002007-01-04T18:56:00.000+08:00I speak from my personal experience, I had been a ...I speak from my personal experience, I had been a regular volunteer for around 10 years until the early 2000's.<br /><br />There seems to be a common trend in Singapore, esp in the new millenium, where employers (direct bosses) judge staff by "phsyical presence" (number of hours in office) rather that actual quality/quantity of work produced. This result in long unproductive hours (how many people leave work at 5pm? 8pm? 10pm? 12midnight?), leaving little time for family/personal life, causing the work-life imbalance in Singapore. Given this imbalance, what little personal time left is devoted firstly to self and family/friends, volunteerism remains low on the priority list. The govt can forget about reaping results from their costly glitzy adverts cajoling more to volunteer or to have more children, etc... when the underlying issues of work-life imbalance and job security are ever looming.<br /><br />Volunteer work as an option for national service though is another issue altogether. Call me cynical but I doubt it will happen. Will the govt really risk exposing the underbelly -- at 20% household without income according to 2005 Dept of Stats survey, its probably a huge underbelly -- of Singapore's economic reality to young untainted eyes/hearts? Brings to mind a certain p65'er who was apparently so deluded by the MSM that he didn't know there are poor people in Singapore until he joined the white team! What would the shock of realizing that "there are poor people in Singapore" cause them to do? Will they join the white team or create more opposition pushing for welfare (a dirty word according to the white team)? Or will they accelerate their exit so that they will not become a statistic amongst the "un-welfared" Singapore poor?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com