salt_2004_03_04

No. 2 Mar-Apr 2004

For Volunteers, Donors and Non-Profits

RON SIM On God, Gold, Girls & Glory HSBC Staff Credit Ratings FAMILY TIES Tan Thuan Seng’s Focus

FEAR FACTOR Celebrity Stunned CLASS ACT Eunice Olsen WHAT’S UP, DOC? All About Bunnies

contents ON THE COVER Hung up on charity: Channel U artiste Darren Lim dangles to raise funds for the Ren Ci Charity Show.

Picture by The Straits Times

THE CIVIC SOCIETY

SALT SHAKERS AND MOVERS

Sim-ply Ron It’s quiet “glory” of a different kind behind RON SIM’s giving. The savvy founder of the OSIM group of health and hygiene products, weighs his four “Gs” of success – God, Gold, Girls and Glory.

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LETTER FROM SALT

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MAILBAG

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NEWS BRIEFS

11 VOLUNTEER PROFILE

Former beauty queen and TV host Eunice Olsen debunks the myth of “sacrificial” volunteering.

13 PEOPLE SECTOR PEOPLE Tan Thuan Seng focuses on the family.

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DEPARTMENTS

A wrap-up of events, programmes and activities in the People Sector.

PEOPLE MOVEMENTS Appointments and new postings in the People Sector.

20 What is the strong, social glue that binds a multi-racial, multi-religious society together?

ELIZABETH SU canvasses community leaders and suggests that volunteerism is a key contributing factor.

SALT No. 2 Mar-Apr 2004

Are celebrities and stunts the only accepted way for mega fundraising? Does the show-biz fear factor make fundraising more difficult for everyone else? BRENDA YEO juggles the issues and finds no easy answers.

22 WALK THE TALK Banking on HSBC’s corporate volunteer programme.

27 SALT AND PEPPER Tan Kin Lian, CEO of NTUC Income Insurance Cooperative, takes bureaucrats to task and urges nonprofits to adopt entrepreneurial disciplines.

28 SALT TALKS NVPC’s Chairman Willie Cheng looks at the structured disconnect between revenue and expenses in the non-profit sector.

31 NEW SALT Hopping for a good cause, a group of high-flying rabbit-loving executives unite to tackle unwanted and abandoned rabbits.

32 SCENE AND SEEN 35 CALENDAR 36 A DASH OF SALT

Mar-Apr 2004 S A LT •

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L E T T E R

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SALT is a non-profit magazine with a managed circulation for members of non-profit organisations, grant-makers and companies in Singapore.

Those interested in receiving a copy, please email salt@nvpc.org.sg.

We regret that the print run prevents fulfilling all requests.

International readers please email subscriber requests and mailing details.

There will be an annual postage and handling charge for all international subscribers.

MANAGING EDITOR Monica Gwee

EDITOR Daven Wu

EDITORIAL COORDINATORS Gayle Koh Winnie Koh

PUBLISHING CONSULTANT AND MEDIA REPRESENTATIVE Epigram SALT is published bi-monthly by the National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre 7 Maxwell Road #05-01 Annex B, MND Complex Singapore 069111 Tel: 6325 0955 Fax: 6221 0625 Website: www.nvpc.org.sg Email: salt@nvpc.org.sg

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From inception to the launch of the first issue in January this year, it was a heady two months. Managing Editor Monica Gwee says a commercial magazine of quality could never have been launched in that time frame. The fact that we did it says something for the timeliness of the vision for such a magazine, and the speed at which even people-sector organisations can work if they latch on to a vision.

It also speaks volumes of the partners that have come on-board, enabling SALT to achieve our goals with the speed that we did. Special mention has to be made of these companies that took the leap of faith with us when they committed to block bookings of ad space in SALT when it was still at a conceptual stage.

Copyright is held by the publisher.

All rights reserved.

Production in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.

We do continue to be encouraged by the continued corporate support since the first issue. Private bankers Mees Pierson have committed to sponsor the SALT Shakers and Movers interview series which features guest interviewers. This issue, Ron Sim of home-grown, global company Osim, delves into the 4 “Gs” in his life (page 24) – God, girls, gold and now glory; not the glory that comes from his business successes, but from giving back to society.

The views and opinions expressed or implied in SALT are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher.

We have more to report on the local giving scene than there is space for, so this is a thicker issue. It says something about the buzz that’s happening on the ground.

Printed by UIC Printing & Packaging MITA (P) 197/11/2003 To advertise, please call Cynthia Tay at tel: 6292 4456 Email: cynthia@epigram.com.sg or Gayle Koh at tel: 6422 7129 Email: gayle@nvpc.org.sg

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t has been an exhilarating ride since last September when NVPC Chairman Willie Cheng proposed a magazine to plug a gap in the non-profit sector and to connect this sector with donors, grant-makers and corporate givers.

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Our lead story (page 14) is appropriately about celebrity stunts as the New Year kicked in with Ren Ci’s charity fund-raiser. Predictably, it sparked off public debate once again on the propriety of “life-threatening” stunts in the name of fundraising. Join in the debate and let us know what you think, on this or other issues raised in the other articles. SALT is not meant to be a bland read. If it is, it would have lost its SALT-iness.

Tan Chee Koon Executive Director National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre

MAILBAG

DO YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO SHARE? We welcome your letters, news of upcoming events and pictures. Please send them to SALT, 7 Maxwell Road, #05-01 Annex B, MND Complex, Singapore 069111; or email salt@nvpc.org.sg. Please include your name, address and daytime phone number. Letters and articles may be edited for space and clarity.

We have received an overwhelming number of letters and emails in response to our first issue. We apologise that we are unable to publish all of them. Please keep them coming and thank you for the remarkable support and encouragement.

Dear SALT, our story, “The Year of Giving (Very) Generously” suggests that donations went up last year, which is heartening. The big funds – Community Chest, President’s Challenge and the NKF Show for example, got more money in 2003 than in previous years.

But, having volunteered at the Christian Outreach for the Handicapped (COH) for more than three years, I do believe that this may have been at the expense of smaller charities, many of whom were struggling to raise funds last year. So maybe it is not the charity pie that has grown, but the big boys slicing up a bigger share for themselves?

I would not dream of suggesting this save for the fact that we are dealing with charities. Would the organisations which had benefited from this “generosity” and have raised more than they expected or need, be “charitable” enough to share some of their spoils with the smaller charities which have suffered during the hard times, but are still trying to do good work?

If they are broadminded enough to do so, not only would it prove that they are in every sense, a charitable organisation, but paradoxically, they may end up reaping even greater rewards in the future.

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Dear SALT, must confess that I have many things ‘to read’ come across my desk and only the really interesting ones get my full attention. You’ll be pleased to know that SALT did just that, and I read it from cover to cover. I found it was really well presented, easy to read, relevant and well laid out. So congratulations to all your team on a great new resource for your Centre and for volunteerism in the Singapore region.

In terms of constructive feedback, the only thing I thought may have been missing was an article or column specifically on the topic of volunteer programme management.

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Andy Fryar President, Volunteering Australia

Editor: You read our mind. This issue, we begin on page 22, the first of a series on Best Practices including Volunteer Management Systems.

Tan Peng Chin Partner, Tan Peng Chin LLC

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Dear SALT, enjoyed reading SALT. I think it can be a useful platform to educate and promote ideas and philosophies, as well as to share stories and good practices.

May I humbly suggest that SALT adds more depth to help the readers understand a deeper dimension behind facts and data. It was interesting to read that “based on market value, volunteers generate about $1.5b per annum in unpaid labour that equals 1% GDP”. But I wonder what to make of it? So is it enough? To what extent has this labour been optimally utilised? How much of it is unproductive enforced student volunteer work, for instance? Are we able to balance the Social Balance Sheet and flag out at least the major benefits or returns?

Tan Chee Koon’s “A New Way of Corporate Giving” was an interesting exploratory article, although rather academic. Her ideas were excellent but I wonder if some pragmatic examples or role model real stories would have helped the article achieved more.

Finally, I believe a frank and multi-faceted discussion on “commission-based fundraising firms” would be not only an interesting, but a necessary topic to open up.

Dear SALT, wish to commend your team over at NVPC on the wonderful production of SALT. I don’t usually read magazines, preferring novels and papers. But on Sunday, I thought I would pick it up for a quick read, and guess what, I read the whole magazine!!!

It was very insightful. The editorial page by Willie Cheng was very funny, and the story regarding the funds matters of charity was very well researched.

The other topics such as the one by the chairman of The Courage Fund were very good too. It is a great magazine: I really liked it and am looking forward to the next one. Thank you for producing this magazine.

Alvin Yong Scent’alite Network

Trevor Xie President, Student Advisory Centre

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WELL READ

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A WRAP-UP OF HAPPENINGS AROUND SINGAPORE

n the best spirit of community partnerships, the National Library Board’s (NLB) staff volunteers roped in other partners to provide a new library at the Changi Women’s Prison (CWP). The 50sqm CWP library provides 1,500 inmates with over 7,500 books and magazines. The NLB donated most of them and annual contributions will continue.

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Up for Grabs

Participants from Persatuan

t was the Amazing Race and Home Shopping Network rolled Persatuan Pemuda Pemudi Melayu (4PM) speed off up in one as members from five charities raced for the finish on their shopping dash at Esso Bedok. line on 8 January at the Mobil East Coast Road station.

The event launched a new service station retail collaboration between ExxonMobil and NTUC FairPrice. Now motorists can tank up and pick up groceries.

The participating charities were tasked with grabbing $200 worth of items in 10 minutes.

The winner by a whisker was the Marine Parade Family Service Centre team; they grabbed $199 worth of groceries. Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister of State, National Development and Trade and Industry, graced the occasion and all the charities involved received more than $18,000 in donations from ExxonMobil and NTUC FairPrice.

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PASSING GLIMPSE ome 300 copies sold through public bidding, and with almost $500,000 raised at press time, former President Wee Kim Wee’s recent memoirs, Glimpses and Reflections, recall the man’s generosity of spirit and his winning touch with people from all levels of society.

The fascinating, personal insights of his term as Head of State from 1985 to 1993, include loving recollections of his family, discourses on the value of filial piety and the political mood of the period. All proceeds from the book will go to eight charities (Community Chest, Ang Mo Kio Community Hospital, Jamiyah Nursing Home, Rainbow Centre, Ren Ci Hospital, Society for the Physically Disabled, Sree Narayana Mission Home and The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund).

Publisher Landmark Books printed 6,000 hardback copies available in bookstores at $25 each.

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NLB staff volunteers befriended and trained inmates in simple library and information management skills using the fully automated lending system. Inmates are trained to catalogue and manage the system co-sponsored by V-Tech Pte Ltd. They also shelve and organise books for easy borrowing.

The library was launched on 3 March at the prison. A host of other organisations from bookstores Kinokuniya, Popular, Muslimedia Distributors to SPH Magazines and Chinese Newspapers, to Tan & Tsakonas Architects and SEF Construction were involved in the library project.

NLB staff volunteer twice a week at the library and also host talks, craft classes and skills programmes to help inmates with training to integrate back into society.

SHOP AND SAVE ive shopping outlets, 400 students, strong international grassroots links plus caring and giving Singaporeans – this is the winning formula that raised over $500,000 in November and December last year for disadvantaged children in the region.

For the third successive year, the Singapore International Foundation (SIF) partnered Metro Singapore and Raffles Junior College to raise funds for Metro for Children, an initiative that helps children from needy communities in countries including Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.

Volunteer students from Raffles Junior College took time out from studies and exams to spread the word at Metro’s five stores and collect donations.

In turn, SIF facilitated funding, rehabilitation and education by working with the local organisations that look after the beneficiaries. It gives new meaning to ‘Shopping for a Cause’.

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Picture Perfect

PEOPLE MOVEMENTS

rt for children’s sake is behind Art Outreach, an initiative run by art management company, Asian Art Options. The first-of-its-kind classroom based art education, the community outreach project aims to energise youth art literacy.

The courses cover local, regional and overseas art works including Singaporean public sculptures, Georgette Chen paintings and classical portrait painters such as Gainsborough. The programme draws on the expertise of over 70 volunteers from all walks of life, including architects, local artists, lawyers, academics and students. The American Express Foundation has donated US$45,000 towards the pilot phase while United World College of South East Asia has donated office and classroom space. For more information, visit www.artoutreachprogram.org.

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BITE ME! One in four deaths in Singapore is caused by cancer and many cases can be prevented or cured with early detection.

This message was behind FirstLight Singapore, organised by the National Cancer Society to mark World Cancer Day on 4 February.

FirstLight aims to raise greater public awareness of cancer by helping to overcome unfounded fears and to give hope to sufferers and care-givers.

The two-year project includes national seminars and forums on cancer issues, and updates on medical research. It will also act as a link between cancer patients, care-givers and various other support or financial services who support the cause.

The project kicked off with Apples Against Cancer on 4 February.

Aimed to encourage people to eat healthily and include anti-cancer fruits as part of the diet, the project needs volunteers to help kit and sell Apple bags and T-shirts to raise money for the Cancer Research and Education Fund. For more details, call FirstLight at 62369435.

The executive committee with images from their first portfolio “The Evolution of Portraiture”. Clockwise from top left: Audrey Phng (holding the Mona Lisa image), Rani Santhanam, Angelina Neo, Claudia Cellini, Richard Loh, Alexandra Otis, Mariko Stynes, Carolyn Wong.

BACK TO SCHOOL purred by the lack of a united group to air concerns about educational issues and provide feedback to education officials, a group of parent volunteers set up Singapore’s first National Association of Parent Support Groups (PSG).

Under the banner Partners In Education, the association’s main objective is to provide a platform for all PSG’s to share knowledge and learn from one another. It will act as a forum to generate interest, encourage and facilitate active parentvolunteerism in schools, and in the community.

The 14 pioneering parents in the protem committee represent their respective parents’ support groups and over 45 schools are founding members.

Around 1,250 parents from schools such as CHIJ Katong Convent Secondary, Dunman Secondary, St Nicholas Girls’, West Grove Primary and Tampines Primary are now linking up in a forum called ‘parents2parents’. The Association hopes to be up and running by this June. More information is available on www.partnersinedu.com.sg.

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Dr Tan Tay Keong has been appointed Executive Director of the Singapore International Foundation.

From 2001 to 2003, Dr Tan served as Chief of Staff and Special Assistant to the UnderSecretary-General at the United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services, promoting integrity, efficiency and quality management in the UN system.

An Adjunct Fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies, he was involved in research and policy forums on governance, civil society development and social capital formation. He also specialised in training senior officials in various executive programmes. Tel: 68378701

John Cheong has joined the YMCA of Singapore as its General Secretary.

He is also the Chairman of the Methodist Church of Singapore for the Methodist Volunteers. Cheong was formerly the Group Managing Director of a regional logistics group of companies and has worked with Multi-National Corporations for the past 20 years.

He has been involved in many Volunteer Welfare Organisations for over 15 years and is presently a Grassroots leader for Queenstown/Alexandra Communities, and also a Council Member of the MultiService Centre for the Elderly. Tel: 64302201, email: johncheong@ymca.org.sg

Daniel Lee relocated to Singapore from New York to be Community Affairs Manager at Levi Strauss & Co. Asia Pacific and the Levi Strauss Foundation.

He implements and manages corporate social responsibility programmes and grantmaking in the region in line with the company’s global giving areas of HIV/AIDS prevention and advocacy, economic development, and access to education.

He also serves as a resource to Community Involvement Teams in 12 Levi Strauss & Co regional affiliates, partnering with local charities to identify needs, plan activities, and create volunteer and donation opportunities for employees. Tel: 67307906, email: dlee4@levi.com

Active parent volunteers unite to form a national association for parent support groups in Singapore.

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PEOPLE MOVEMENTS Colin See is now Executive Director of the Restroom Association Singapore (RAS).

Formerly the Marketing Manager of a publicly listed company, he joins Jack Sim, President of the association.

See brings to RAS his broad experience in business development and marketing of products and services. He has been involved in volunteer work in the youth sector since his teenage years and was an RAS volunteer since 2000. Tel: 68411621, email: colin@worldtoilet.org Dr Ow Chee Chung has joined The Society for the Physically Disabled as Executive Director. Formerly Director of Corporate Services, Ministry of Community Development & Sports, he has also worked in the Ministry of Health and the Restructured Hospitals.

Tel: 62366352

Crystal Clear ransparency and accountability – these are the touchstones of the newly launched Council on Governance of Institutions of Public Character (CGI).

Launched on 27 January, the 10-member council, chaired by Ms Lim Soo Hoon, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Community Development and Sports (MCDS), Clockwise from top left: Ms Susan Loh; Mr Howard Shaw, Executive Director of Singapore Environment works with the Ministry of Finance and Council; Mr S Vivakanandan, CEO of SINDA; Mr Lim Siong Guan; Mr Ng Boon Yew, Group CFO of SingaMCDS to improve the regulatory framepore Technologies; Ms Jacqueline Poh, MC for the work for Institutions of Public Character. launch; Ms Amy Hing, Secretary of Council on Governance of IPCs; Mr Willie Cheng, Chairman of NVPC. It also promotes best practices in the nonprofit sector. Council members include National Council of Social Service President Gerard Ee, SingPools CEO Tan Soo Nan and NVPC Chairman Willie Cheng.

By encouraging more transparency on the use of charitable funds, CGI aims to encourage informed donors to be more forthcoming with their donations to registered charities. Which sounds like good news for many needy beneficiaries.

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Raphael Lim has taken over as the Executive Director of Singapore Anti-Narcotics Association (SANA) from Mrs Magdalene Yeow who has retired. Mrs Yeow is now SANA’s Vice-President. Lim was formerly the Deputy Director, Family Policy Unit, Family Development Division, at the Ministry of Community Development & Sports.

His current work includes facilitating new policies focusing on SANA’s strategic fight against drug abuse. This includes identifying trends and service gaps in the community, including relevant research and surveys.

Tel: 68387456, email: Raphael.Lim@sana.org.sg Christopher Pang, formerly a Lecturer with the School of Business Management from Nanyang Polytechnic, has joined the National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre (NVPC) as Senior Asst Director of Marketing & Community Partnerships. He taught Business Communications at the Poly. He also conducted corporate training and consultancy work for local companies.

Previously, he was Project Manager for the Singapore Environment Council’s Green Volunteers Network.

He volunteers at the Feedback Unit’s Physical Development Core Group, and is the current Honorary Secretary with the Rotary Club of Singapore South, and a member of the Rotary District 3310 Preserve the Planet Earth Committee. Tel: 64227112, email: christopher@nvpc.org.sg

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BLIND FAITH? he Independent Society of the Blind (ISB) made headlines in February when it linked up with Singapore Power in a fund-raising appeal.

In a mailer sent to 800,000 homes with the power bill, the appeal raised protests from other blind charities. The ISB is not a registered charity enjoying taxfree status, nor is it an Institution of Public Character (IPC) which can issue tax exemptions to donors.

It is, however, a registered society permitted to raise funds.

The case has highlighted some grey areas and could bring changes to fund raising regulations. The ISB controversy does suggest Singaporeans are a trusting lot and most donors don’t do checks or ask questions when asked to give. For well-intentioned companies backing fundraising efforts, it also suggests more thorough checks according to their own comfort levels.

Some basic questions to ask: Who are you giving to? Is the organisation registered? How will your donation be used? The National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre (NVPC) will work with relevant agencies to drive the cause of informed giving and clearer regulations.

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ART ATTACK here politicians once gathered to make history and to steer a young nation, artistes now gather to make their own mark and nurture a cultural garden for the next generation.

The old Parliament House (Singapore’s oldest government building at 177 years), has been re-christened The Arts House at the Old Parliament. The official opening on 26 March kicks off a 10-day festival of events including song, dance and art film screenings.

The Arts House is Singapore’s newest non-profit arts and heritage venue. It aims to guide artists and performers to earn their keep and build audiences. The public can engage in a range of contemporary multi-disciplinary arts and interact with artists in the delightful and richly historical setting.

In a pilot risk sharing scheme, the Arts House will absorb venue costs on all performance nights and receive only 20% of gross box office takings.

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Class Act

Former beauty queen and Wheel of Fortune host, Eunice Olsen rolls up her sleeves and gets real off-camera. By DAVEN WU. Age: 26 * * * Day Job: FREELANCE PRESENTER * * * Volunteer: AT THE TOA PAYOH GIRLS’ HOME AND AG HOME * * * How did you first get involved? After I won the Ms Singapore Universe title in 2000, I told myself that I wanted my title to have a meaning rather than just have it sitting on the shelf. A friend put me in touch with NVPC, which told me that Toa Payoh Girls’ Home needed a motivational speaker.

I found I could really relate to the girls and realised that this was what I wanted to do – working with young people.

I started out trying to give meaning to my title by volunteering, but pretty soon, I discovered that volunteering had its own meaning.

In what way do you relate? From the start, I got along very well with the girls.

They just impress me all the time with their creativity. I could just talk to them.

They’re at the age when they’re pretty impressionable and the age gap between us wasn’t that great. I liked what I felt and they kept asking if I was going to come back.

What do you do? I started at Toa Payoh Girls’ Home three years ago teaching deportment and grooming, and now I conduct one-on-one counselling with juvenile delinquent girls who’ve been sent there by the juvenile courts. AG Homes was started by Pastor Andrew and his wife, Grace, for juvenile girls who’ve committed less serious offences and just need to seek some solace.

How much time do you spend? I try to make it at least once a week but I go more frequently if there are events.

Your most fulfilling moment? When the girls tell you how much you mean to them and how much you’ve helped them

“People have a very warped perception of volunteering.

It’s not a self-sacrificial state. It’s how you go about doing it.” on their journey and moving on with their lives. I can’t ask for anything else.

I went in there not expecting anything but for them to thank me for inspiring them, I think that’s really something. Last year, I helped choreograph a fashion show.

Three of the girls also sang a song; they modified the lyrics of Westlife’s ‘If I Let You Go’ for a volunteering theme. One of the girls I was counselling looked at me the entire time she was singing.

I just burst into tears and was bawling non-stop! Very glam, right?

Any down moments? There are frustrations because sometimes you just don’t get through. But then volunteering for me is not like I will go in and overnight change their lives. But when you do get through, the appreciation you receive, the fulfillment – that surpasses everything I’ve ever experienced in my life.

What do you say to people who say they don’t have time to volunteer?

This is something I feel very strongly about. It’s not how much you do, it’s about the thought and effort, no matter how small it is. All people have to do is try it just once and I guarantee they’ll get addicted to it!

Have the stories in the NVPC book ‘I’m a Volunteer Too’ helped you? Absolutely. The reality is that the Singaporean volunteering scene has begun a journey.

A lot of Singaporeans think that volunteering for anything means giving up their life. This book has helped change all that and helped boost that journey.

It dispels the myths of volunteerism and shows how it can complement the life you lead rather than take from it.

You read stories of people from all walks of life. My own experiences paled in comparison to what they did and the stories

Photo by Mark Law; Makeup by Lynette Leong using M.A.C; Hair by REDS HAIRDRESSING; Dress by LAICHAN

revealed one constant – the individual enthusiasm for volunteering, the personal stories inspired me to continue volunteering.

What’s next for you? I want to spend the next year concentrating on my musical career. (Eunice is a trained classical pianist.) I need to give it a shot, otherwise I’m never going to know. ✩ *** *** *** See book review on pg 36.

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Happy Families The Family as a hot potato? Or a group species in danger of being extinct?

DAVEN WU listens to Tan Thuan Seng’s grandfather story on how to focus on the family. t 62 years old, after a long, successful career as an investment consultant and a high flying marketing executive, you’d think that Tan Thuan Seng has better things to do with his retirement than to be still putting in full days at the office.

More than that, he’s been fielding rather fierce media scrutiny of the small, charitable outfit he oversees as the fulltime, unpaid volunteer President of Focus On the Family Singapore (FOF).

First founded in America, FOF now has a presence in 50 countries. Its mission is to reinstate the central role of marriage and family in society through workshops, counselling and seminars. A core FOF strategy is to provide family life education for the community, focusing on preventive work rather than remedial patchups after the family breaks up. And the Singapore chapter’s mission is simply to be an effective advocate for family.

An accountant by training, Tan spent over 20 years marketing petroleum products for Shell and BP before focusing on more regional work, providing investment advice to a British publicly listed company. Later on, he began his own consulting group specialising in technology licensing and franchising. Time to enjoy his retirement, one would think.

Instead, in 1996, he began pouring his energy into establishing the Singapore chapter of the FOF – it was incorporated as a local charity in December 2001.

Much of the hot potato media debate resulted from FOF’s public seminars “No Apologies: The Truth about Life, Love and Sex” and “Straight Talk”.

His black and white support for the institution of marriage and its unbreakable vows, children and their role in marriage, and a jaundiced eye on “alternative”

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Tan Thuan Seng, wife Mei Lee, and the reason for his commitment to Focus on the Family – granddaughter Dara.

lifestyle options, made him and FOF a magnet for Singapore’s more conservative members even as it riled more liberal citizens.

Tan and FOF faced down a storm of public debate, some currents accused the FOF of being, “an ultra right-wing Christian group [with] conservative, Victorian values”.

Others chaffed on the side-lines as outrage and fervent support played out in the domain of public opinion, most of the passionate arguments going in circles.

In an era of social transition, FOF’s black and white values struck a nerve, prickling sensitivities across generations, religions, gender, race and politics. As a frontman, Tan represents the unclear scope of a social animal perhaps necessary in evolving societies such as this one – the advocate.

Not that he wasn’t expecting flak.

“We were well aware [of what people would say],” he says. “But I’m not unhappy to have these issues aired. Even though not all the media has been friendly to us, we have had a reasonable share of our viewpoints expressed. But we also realised that we have to learn how to communicate more effectively to the media and be more media savvy.”

Tan hopes the means justify the ends.

And in his case, the ends strike very much close to the heart.

“I’m doing this because I have three grandchildren all growing up in America,” he says. He points to the screen saver on his computer: a picture of himself with his wife and a cherubic little girl. “She’s the reason I’m doing all this,” he says of his granddaughter with quiet pride.

“I see the world they’re growing up in as much more challenging than the one I knew. It’s a lot more difficult to keep the family together. There are many community and socio-economic stresses on the institution of family.

When families break down, there’s a heavy social price to pay and that price eventually falls on the nation.”

The ‘stresses’ Tan identifies include rising levels of divorce and the impact of broken families on children. The FOF is funded from a variety of sources and donations with the bulk from the workshops and programmes. It keeps its overheads low with a core staff of four and a team of part-time volunteers pitch in half-days. The rent-free office is on the ground floor of Tan’s own home.

“Singapore is having to embrace a lot more of the good and the bad of being a first world country,” Tan notes.

Some of the bad, for him, includes the sometimes negative impact the family suffers in the name of progress. But he’s heartened that even negative publicity shows that people are now more willing to speak out and put their views across.

“We’re not a society that’s used to expressing views honestly and frankly,” he says. It’s all in a day’s work, and made slightly more urgent: Tan Thuan Seng’s goal and hope is nothing less than a stable and secure world for his grandchildren. ✩ Mar-Apr 2004 S A LT •

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Why are Singaporeans so enamoured with stunt shows to raise funds for charity? Does it matter so long as they give?

BRENDA YEO juggles the question.

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No pain, no gain? Jack Neo braves broken glass as Desmond Koh adds weight to the stunt for the National Kidney Foundation. Photo by NKF

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hat hits you hard in the stomach, leading to your heart, head and then your wallet?

The sight of a scared celebrity reluctantly kissing a snake?

A charismatic monk in orange robes abseiling down a skyscraper? Ask yourself. Then ask a Singaporean, any Singaporean.

“The sight of a child in need,” said Mr Remesh Kumar, Senior Assistant Vice-President of Entertainment Productions, MediaCorp Studios and executive producer of the President’s Star Charity Show 2003.

The answer is more or less the same from voluntary sector leaders, corporate leaders, media executives and housewives. The face of an underprivileged individual, a profile insight into the daily life of a beneficiary benefiting from care and assistance made possible by donations – those are the powerful pulls on the heart, brain and purse.

And beyond that, a clear understanding of a worthy cause.

Yet, in one mega media production after another, now annual staples on the fundraising front, images of celebrities kissing snakes, performing gravity defying stunts and literally playing with fire, have outshone the quieter appeal of the beneficiary.

Pioneered by the National Kidney Foundation (NKF) in 1994, charity shows have become prime fundraising platforms for charities such as the Community Chest, Ren Ci Hospital and Medicare Centre and the President’s Star Charity (PSC).

Over the years, stunts have become de rigueur in the entertainment mix of broadcast fundraisers. Not surprisingly, show producers have upped the stakes, and with each passing year, stunts have surpassed their predecessors in terms of impact and sensationalism.

In the 1998 NKF Charity Show, actor and film director Jack Neo’s impromptu consumption of three raw eggs was hailed as a “most heroic feat”. In 2000, MediaCorp star Zoe Tay twirled fire-lit poles and kicked flaming balls to raise funds for NKF patients.

In 2003, Hong Kong-based Singaporean artiste, Choo Mimi, was wired up, suspended, then lowered head first into a tank rapidly filling with water to rescue a chained Aaron Aziz for the President’s Star Charity Show.

This year, Chairman and CEO of Ren Ci Hospital and Medicare Centre, the Venerable Shi Ming Yi, immersed himself in 1,000 kilos of ice cubes, and MediaWorks artiste Darren Lim fought to free himself from a straitjacket and chains while suspended above a bonfire.

Undeniably, these sensational, anxiety-rich charity shows have been resounding fundraising successes. The numbers speak for themselves. In 2003, the year when SARS and job losses hit the country, the NKF 10th Anniversary Charity Shows outdid itself and raised $13.4 million; the Ren Ci Charity Show raised $6.4 million; the True Hearts-ComChest

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Above: Five CEOs swim with sharks for President Nathan’s President’s Challenge Sharkathon! event.

Right: All hung up on charity. Darren Lim suspended over a bonfire to raise funds for the Ren Ci Hospital and Medicare Centre. Picture

by The Straits Times Below: MediaCorp artistes hang on to raise funds for the President’s Star Charity. Picture from www.channel5.com.sg

‘‘Singapore viewers do

seem to like the stunts.

The song and dance items do not get as many calls as stunt items.’’

Mr Remesh Kumar, Entertainment Productions, MediaCorp Studios; Executive Producer, President’s Star Charity

TV Charity Show raised $2.9 million and the President’s Star Charity raised $2.4 million. This year, the Ren Ci Charity show raised $7.7 million ($2.7 million more than its initial target).

PACKAGING, PACKAGING...

Show producers argue that celebrity stunts are not the only draw in these charity shows. From the programming perspective, stunts are simply part of the entertainment.

“The public perceives the NKF show to be stunt-based.

But stunts are just part of the draw. Different items appeal differently. Showcasing the artistes in training and rehearsals and having them accomplish difficult stunts gets us eyeballs,” concedes Mr Lee Ee Wurn, Assistant VicePresident at MediaCorp Studios and Executive Producer of the NKF Charity Show.

“But the patient profiles are the real call to action.

We’ve received calls after shows from donors who say we want to help so-and-so from the show,” Lee notes.

“The show must both entertain and attract donations.

We prefer to programme a range of activities,” says Remesh Kumar of PSC. “The PSC show has a telematchlike concept and every year, we make it a point to showcase 10 beneficiaries. We also organise activities that include beneficiaries, such as the run from the Istana to the studio during the show two years ago. Sixty beneficiaries, their Putting his comfort on ice, friends and family, together with Venerable Shi Ming Yi does celebrities participated. Our message his part for Ren Ci. Picture

by Lianhe Zaobao – even the underprivileged are doing their part. Now do yours.”

But he agrees, “Singapore viewers do seem to like the stunts.

The song and dance items do not get as many calls as stunt items.”

Celebrity stunts appear to be the master keys to the chambers of donors’ hearts, and their purses. But do we really need to see celebrities and well-loved personalities enduring such extremes for their cause to move us to charity?

Perhaps not. The Straits Times Pocket Money Fund has raised nearly $11 million since its inception in 2000, on the strength of its cause and a range of events from concerts to marathons, and legwork by volunteers. The President’s Challenge, of which the PSC is one platform, raised the majority of its funds without the benefit of celebrity stunts.

So what’s going on with these stunts?

“There is a symbolism to these stunts,” a Singaporean psychiatrist suggested. “Seeing someone risk life and limb for charity would push my buttons – you’re giving me a reason to give. Throw in the celebrity status of the performers and the novelty of the stunts, and you have a powerful mix.”

Watching Venerable Ming Yi stoically biding his time, chest-deep in a tank of ice, businessman Desmond Tan found

himself picking up the phone to pledge $15. “Seeing a monk suffering like that is gut wrenching. I had to show him some support,” he said.

Mr Tan was one of many who responded to Venerable Ming Yi’s efforts. The monk’s stunt garnered 130,000 calls, the highest number of calls for the show, each pledging at least $5.

Jenny Lee, Vice President of Group Communications at DBS Bank, said: “The song and dance routines do nothing for me. But when I see someone demonstrate extraordinary courage or endurance in a stunt outside of his normal repertoire, I would feel compelled to support him.”

Celebrity feats and the commitment and courage demonstrated clearly resonate with viewers and spark a show of support, which in turn translate to cash for charities.

PEOPLE GIVE, SO WHAT? Consider this candid observation on charity shows posted on the Temasek Junior College online forum (http://forums.tjc.edu.sg): “Perhaps some people are really concerned about the needy, but I guess the majority donate because they are amused/entertained

‘‘But packaging is very important and there are many ways of introducing a cause.’’

The Venerable Shi Ming Yi, CEO of Ren Ci Hospital and Medicare Centre

by the artistes’ performances. It seems more like an encouragement of circus/stunt performers rather than a real desire to donate.

“Or perhaps they wanted to support their idols. But as long as people donate, and the organisers get the money for the needy, who cares about whether people are really interested in helping or not, really?”

Indeed, if charity shows and their stunts fulfill a worthy purpose, why cry foul? Gerard Ee, President of the National Council of Social Service says there are broader issues at stake.

He is concerned about the values transmitted by these shows, about young Singaporeans growing up watching charity shows without taking in the underlying values of giving and recognising the real needs of the underprivileged.

“Do they [the shows and stunts] effectively promote and clarify what the charity is about? Do they draw attention to the work of the charity or are they nothing more than just commercial things, marketing ploys? By attracting such large viewerships, do they make viewers respond to a cause or are they just showpieces?” he asked.

“There’s no denying that charity shows help to open up wallets of people who might otherwise not give,” says Mrs Tan Chee Koon, Executive Director of the National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre (NVPC).

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‘‘Today, it’s immersion in ice. Tomorrow, will it be lying on burning coals?’’

Mrs Tan Chee Koon, Executive Director, NVPC

“But I do have two areas of concern. One is that it is a formulaic approach to fund-raising. It works, and creativity is stifled in the process as organisers go with the tried and tested. Secondly, we have to guard against a hardening of the heart. Today, it’s immersion in ice. Tomorrow will it be lying on burning coals?” she asks.

“You have to up the ante to feed the appetite of the viewing public for more daring acts to get them to pick up the phone.

At the end of it all, it is real-life exposure to the needs of our society that is going to move people to give from a sense of conviction,” Mrs Tan states.

Does this scenario also set everyone else up for a tougher fundraising future? A psychologist in private practice agrees with Mrs Tan as these stunts prime people for a certain behaviour.

“What you may find is a stiffening of the donor’s resolve.

Indeed, how appealing can a teenager beating the streets with a tin can seem, compared to the spectacle of a Buddhist monk risking himself on national television for the needy?” he argues.

For Gerard Ee, the real danger is establishing questionable premises for young Singaporeans when it comes to giving. “They start supporting on the basis of ‘what’s in it for me?’, ‘What’s the first prize?’ or how exciting a show is rather than on the basis of empathy for the cause,” he notes.

“Then, you are facing a subtle erosion of values,” said Mr Ee. “I think stunts are fine, as long as at the end of the show, the message of the work that is being done by the charity is not lost.”

A GOOD CAUSE IS A GOOD CAUSE? Gerard Ee is not alone in his views. In a letter to the Straits Times Interactive Forum, Ms Ruth Lim wrote, “I feel that the motivation behind the act of giving is important.”

She wrote that had she responded to Venerable Ming Yi’s stunt, it would have been out of sympathy for him, rather than compassion for the Ren Ci’s patients.

Despite the overwhelming support for his personal sacrifice, and the arguably “lesser” profile of the hospital and its patients, the Venerable Ming Yi does not disagree with the sentiment.

“I would like people to donate out of knowledge of the hospital, for them to know that it is a worthy cause,” he says. “But packaging is very important and there are many ways of introducing a cause. For example, if I meet a nonBuddhist, I will not straight away get them into Buddhism by talking about emptiness. If I do, it will drive them away.

“In the same way, the Ren Ci show and stunts are just a start and a way to introduce viewers to the hospital. It is a catalyst, a reminder that we are still around and need funds.

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Wheel of Gladiators: Gladiathon competitors aim at Janet Ang (IBM Singapore’s MD). Archer: Willie Cheng, Chairman, NVPC.

Hopefully, viewers seeing the artistes performing the stunts, will think ‘Hey, they are really putting in an effort… why? There must be a great cause behind all this’. That is when I can talk more about the cause.”

For Ren Ci Hospital & Medicare Centre, the process of educating donors is largely done post-show. The show’s callers have their details stored in a databank. Follow-up calls are made to explain more about the charity, its work and its beneficiaries.

Whatever the pros and cons of each fundraising approach, charities are quick to point out that the shows and stunts benefit worthy causes. As an NKF spokesman said simply, “We want to save lives.”

For Ren Ci, and indeed, the other charities on the mega production bandwagon, the shows deliver needed funds.

Before the first Ren Ci Charity Show, the organisation drew in about $3 to $4 million. Over the past 2 years, the show has almost doubled those figures.

We want to nurture a civic society with a sustainable interest in causes rather than the more transient, if evocative lure of high profile stunts. Today’s highly visual media world has hardwired people into expecting something for something. The hard truth may well be that it’s increasingly in the packaging, for better or for worse.

After all there will always be those among us who are content to give what we can without too deep an insight into charities. And others respond better with a complete understanding of charities and their work.

Even as charities and donors keep their eye focused on why they give, who is to say there isn’t room for them to choose how they want their heart strings yanked? ✩ Brenda Yeo is a freelance writer. SALT welcomes your views on this issue. Email SALT at salt@nvpc.org.sg.

More of the

Civic Society?

The Civic Society as a climbing frame for genuine growth, sparked much public debate when it was raised by Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the recent Harvard Club dinner. Guest writer ELIZABETH SU, a Harvard Club member, canvasses community leaders on the value of “civic” citizens.

he lay man might just as well think of “the civic society” in terms of glue.

It’s the good, strong social gum that binds a network of community-based, voluntary groups to build social and intellectual resources into national capital. In fact, as Harvard-based political scientist Robert Putnam suggested, “the fabric of a democratic civic society [makes] democracy work”.

In short, voluntary participation in civic groups allows citizens to practice skills and habits of thinking and behaviour that enable them to be “better” citizens.

Any discussion on the civic society raises questions on the role of citizens, the society’s rights and responsibilities, and the virtues and values that allow citizens to engage and trust each other for mutual benefit.

This means citizens act collectively in a public space, to express their interests, passions, preferences and ideas to achieve some common goals. It also means appreciating that diversity plays an important role in the growth of any civic society as it seeks to blend fragmented elements. This is achieved through social contact, alliance and freedom of association.

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The other side of the civic debate is best summarised by the eminent political economist Francis Fukuyama, in an address to the International Monetary Fund in 1999. He warned “states can have a serious negative impact on social capital when they start to undertake activities that are better left to the private sector or to civil society.

“The ability to cooperate is based on habit and practice; if the state gets into the business of organising everything, people will become dependent on it and lose their spontaneous ability to work with one another.”

In a civic society, associations and groupings are essential for encouraging a healthy spirit of engagement.

“The ability to cooperate is based on habit and practice; if the state gets into the business of organising everything, people will become dependent on it and lose their spontaneous ability to work with one another.”

“As a multi-racial, multi-religious society, our people face a lot of gaps in information,” notes Mr Zainul Abidin Rasheed, Mayor, North-East Community Development Council (CDC).

“We need a better understanding of the basics of what makes our society tick so that we can reach out to others better. We also need a better understanding of the fault-lines and the will to instill values to promote a greater sense of compassion in our society.”

Volunteerism is one route to involving different individuals to work in community projects, and the CDCs play a big role here.

“We have one of the highest per capita income in our part of the world. Our achievements with success markers could easily make us arrogant and less compassionate. We need to encourage the more successful to think of the needy and help them,” Mr Zainul emphasises.

Singapore is an international business hub. As a society, it is often criticised for its hard commercialism and materialism.

But Mr Sat Pal Khattar of the Singapore Indian Development Association (SINDA), defends the vital role of commerce in the development of a civic society.

Volunteers and the Civic Society– So What?

Do grassroots associations and groupings in multiracial Singapore help to develop a stronger civic society? Do they provide facilities for members to actively participate in service and community work, to encourage the civic spirit through volunteerism?

Here are some views from community leaders:

“All businesses survive in an environment where there is some degree of openness and communication. Commerce is an economic ingredient; it is not pure manufacturing or production. Commerce takes advantage of a situation to make some money, any place, any time. It can only happen if you have the nimble-footedness to take advantage of economic imperfections,” he states.

“For that to happen, you need to think fast. For a long time, we had a government that knew best and people did not think for themselves and left government to decide everything. The result is we lost our entrepreneurial flair. For civic engagement to happen, you need people to think, to take advantage and be nimble, they need to think against the status quo,” he argues.

It would appear that Singapore still has some way to go before it becomes a strong civic society. Volunteerism is doing its part by engaging our citizens in community and service work.

Through the power of association, our society is learning the importance of civic engagement and building the foundation for a community that truly cares for its citizens. ✩

❛ We need self-reliance to bring about a sense of ownership and service. It cannot succeed as a society over-dependent on the government. Volunteerism is key to our progressing toward a more civic society.❜ Zainul Abidin Rasheed, Mayor, North-East Community Development Council

❛ The spirit of volunteerism and giving is strong in the Chinese community.

Buddhism advocates the concept of ren ci, mei ri yi san – in everything, you must do one good thing. Whenever people are engaged in philanthropy, their minds are more open and they are more willing to exchange.❜ Lee Peng Shu, Board member, Singapore Federation of Chinese Clan Associations

❛ I don’t think you can enforce volunteerism in society. It must evolve from your own spiritual feelings. We must genuinely feel good about what we are doing.

We must give people the passion to become a civic society. We can do this when we connect them with something they enjoy doing. When Singaporeans know that through their volunteerism efforts, they are making the difference to the community, they will stand tall and give more of themselves.❜ Bryan Davenport, President, Eurasian Association

❛ You cannot have a civic society if you do not have volunteerism to put into effect the problem-solving aspects of society. Volunteerism is the catalyst or balm, and is intertwined with the development of a civic society.

We still need more volunteers with dedication and we need to motivate.

For me personally, volunteerism is pitching the message, looking after policy and funding in an environment where managerial types, including myself, will be able to contribute.

Proven management is essential and not so easily available in volunteerism.

Management is as critical as on-the-ground work in volunteerism. It is also critical to civic society. Programmes, not properly handled, can lead to a depreciation of value, not only financially but also in motivation and spirit.❜ Sat Pal Khattar, Life Trustee, Singapore Indian Development Association (SINDA)

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Credit Ratings It’s do what you can, when you can. DAVEN WU checks out why HSBC’s Singapore staff volunteers are such happy campers. ou’ve seen and heard the commercial tag line: “HSBC. The World’s Local Bank.” So how local is local? At the Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corporation, the answer required a corporate “dig”.

“We did a lot of research, inside the bank and outside in the community,” said Mr Goh Kong Aik, Vice-President, Group Public Affairs at HSBC Singapore.

“We asked ourselves, why don’t people volunteer? What do welfare organisations want from volunteers?”

The bank’s staff volunteer programme was very much a Singapore initiative started back in 1997. Back then, Goh and his start-up team faced “a certain reluctance” among bank staff to come forward as volunteers. The bank is a global entity, but the demanding hours typical of a Singapore work day meant addressing local needs for local volunteering aims.

“They had hang-ups,” he recalls. “A lot of people said they didn’t have time.

And they were concerned that they would be signing on for life! But we explained to them that they only needed to give as much of their time as and when they could afford it. As long as the job got done, it didn’t really matter who did what. If they couldn’t meet a commitment, their colleagues would fill in for them. It started making sense.”

The operating principle for HSBC’s volunteer programme makes overall sense for staff morale as well: “All it takes is team effort. The cause is served as long as the task gets completed,” Goh states simply.

The bank’s central message behind its volunteer programme was very much a matter of customised homework and research, asking the right questions, working out the whats and wheres of social demand, and the hows of managing the supply of

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The reforestation project at Bukit Batok Nature Park is jointly adopted by HSBC and the Singapore Children’s Society.

volunteers. In short, an accurate working map of the internal landscape.

This “logic” has been the glue that binds the 1,000 odd volunteers, over half the bank’s employees. Called Volunteers@HSBC, the programme empowers volunteers to manage projects which are centrally operated, but entirely employee-driven.

And it’s open to all. More experienced volunteers, especially those familiar with the beneficiary organisations, take the lead. There is no rank. Clerical staff can lead senior managers. The bedrock of the programme is providing mentoring for new volunteers. This ensures the experience is sufficiently meaningful for them to want to repeat the exercise.

When recruiting volunteers, the principle is simply for each employee to only do what he or she can. More importantly, staff volunteers are clear that they do not volunteer for self-gratification.

“You do it because someone needs your help,” Goh says bluntly.

At the end of each project, the results are posted on the bank’s intranet newsletter, both to recognise the partici-

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K pants, and to publicise the project.

Clear reports on satisfying and successful projects demystify volunteerism, and serve as an encouragement for recruiting new volunteers for later projects.

There is no pressure for employees to sign up. Volunteering is not a performance goal on the appraisal system.

“But we do create a different system of recognition,” says Goh. “We hold an annual gathering of all the active volunteers with the CEO, and the top employees who have made a significant or consistent contribution, receive a Swatch watch as a token of the bank’s appreciation. The watch represents ‘Time for Your Time’.”

These gestures foster a sense of collective achievement, a kind of “group high” for work well done and well enjoyed. It’s a key element in the programme success.

Last year alone, Volunteers@HSBC clocked over 3,000 hours in direct volunteer activities. Indeed, United Way International awarded HSBC Singapore the 2002 Outstanding Global Community Building Award. And last year, the bank won the Award for Outstanding Corporate Volunteer of the Year at the National Volunteerism Awards 2003 organised by the National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre. ✩

haring its success is deeply ingrained in HSBC’s corporate culture and tradition. In Singapore, HSBC has made education, the environment and volunteerism priorities in corporate social responsibility programmes.

The three broad veins in its community activities are Care-for-Nature, Volunteers@HSBC and Youth Excellence Initiative. The programmes serve varying community needs.

HSBC takes pains to integrate and dovetail these activities to deliver broader and deeper community benefits, for example, harnessing the efforts of its Green Volunteers to teach conservation to underprivileged children. The Youth Excellence Initiative taps into the talent of outstanding young Singaporeans who conduct community outreach activities to raise funds for charities.

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S A L T S H A K E R S & M O V E R S

Sim-ply Ron He ducks the poster boy notion of “the Modern Singapore Philanthropist”.

There’s still a long way for him to go in planned and studied giving suggests Ron Sim, founder of the Osim companies. By guest writer GENEVIEVE CUA, The Business Times. alk about Osim and high tech chairs may come to mind. Or the chain of stores dotting the island with their clean white and green motif. Or perhaps, the $1 million pledge that 45-year old entrepreneur and Osim founder Ron Sim made to the Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund late last year. It was the largest single pledge the three-year old fund, set up to help needy children, has ever received from an individual.

At the mention of the fund, Sim flinches. “I’ve been (giving to charity) all this while, but they were smaller donations.

You won’t find these things on the Osim website. There is no need to talk about it.

I don’t need to advertise the philanthropist act.’’ Even talking about his contributions for this interview is “a bit scary’’, he says.

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THE MODERN PHILANTHROPIST

But at the rate Ron Sim is going, he may well become a poster boy for the modern Singapore philanthropist. He’s already one for entrepreneurship. Last year, he also personally gave $1 million to the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, which aims to put Singapore on the map as a place for the study of public policy and management.

That’s on top of a number of other causes Osim has lent its support to as a company. In 2002, for instance, Osim adopted the Children’s Cancer Foundation as its charity over a four-year period.

This involved a pledge of $100,000, in addition to work on selected programmes to improve the quality of life of affected children and their families.

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“There are two kinds of people.

Those who say: ‘Do also die, don’t do also die. So, why do so much? Enjoy life!’ But for me, it’s do also die, don’t do also die. So do your bloody best before you die.”

“There are two kinds of people,’’ Sim says. “Those who say: ‘Do also die, don’t do also die. So, why do so much?

Enjoy life!’ But for me, it’s do also die, don’t do also die. So do your bloody best before you die.

“You achieve something if you don’t waste your life. You have to fight and leave something behind rather than just go. Obviously, I try to do my best.

THE FOUR “GS”

“People ask me – what do you live for? Is it for God, gold or glory? Or for

girls?’’ he says with a laugh. “Those are the four G’s. I’m not saying I don’t believe in God. But I’m saying that I don’t live for God. I think God is here,’’ he says, placing an emphatic hand on his chest.

“If you’re honest with yourself that’s good enough. Do I live for gold? I’m lucky, I live beyond gold because I’ve made it.

So I think I’m living more for glory. That’s a sense of achievement.”

Osim is a publicly listed company marketing health and hygiene products globally with over 300 outlets in Singapore, Hongkong and China, and even in the

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

Middle East and USA. Last year, it achieved a group turnover of $287 million.

As Sim and his wife have a combined holding of 188.9 million Osim shares, a strong stock market has pushed his net worth past the $250 million mark.

A LESS GILDED PAST

Still times weren’t always this golden.

Sim grew up poor in the archetypal rags-to-riches tale. That is why the ST Pocket Money Fund spoke to his heart.

“I come from a poor family. I read in the papers of children not having money and drinking water during their break times. I’ve had similar times in my school days. In Primary School we only had five cents, and later 10 cents a day…

I can’t remember when I started to get 10 cents. But I remember five cents.

“I can relate to the children. I’m told there are 8,000 to 9,000 school kids like that. I think some of the charities are too rich already. This is one we should support. I understand every cent raised goes to the children.’’

He made his pledge the year that he was named “Entrepreneur of the Year’’ in an annual event hosted by Ernst & Young.

“There are times when you gain, and there is a time to give. That year I gained, but giving should be reflected too.’’

Does he give because he hopes to reap some benefit? After all, corporate giving does create good public relations mileage for companies. “I don’t think that way… If I give I don’t ask for a return.

It’s meaningless if I ask for a return.’’

PRIVATE & PUBLIC GIVING

Ron Sim is careful to draw the line between his personal charity pledges and Osim’s.

“I have to be very focused. I’m a businessman. My responsibility and duty are to my shareholders. I don’t think I want to send the wrong message. What I do in my private way is my business.’’

Still, Osim’s commitments have been no less substantial and actually gel quite

Specialists in Charity and Philanthropy STRUCTURING • FINANCING • TRUST AND CORPORATE SERVICES • INVESTMENTS • INSURANCE • REAL ESTATE

nicely with its core business. Last year, for example, the group gave $1.5 million to the National University of Singapore Business School to set up an educational fund over three years. The Osim Professorship in Branding and Innovation, the first of its kind, will focus on the study of branding and innovation in successful businesses.

Osim’s donation is matched dollarfor-dollar by the government, making a total fund size of $3 million. Marketing, after all, is Osim’s lifeblood. It was the single minded pursuit of a niche in health and lifestyle products that transformed Osim from a trading firm into a regional – and eventually, Sim hopes, global – brand.

Osim has made other more modest, but significant, contributions. Sales this Lunar New Year, for example, went towards a luncheon treat for the residents of the Yong En Care Centre, an old folk’s home. The lunch was held on January 28, a day designated as “ren li’’ or “everyone’s birthday’’ in the lunar calendar.

Earlier in January, 40 staff also rolled up their sleeves and spring-cleaned the homes of the aged and needy, using – what else? – Osim’s own products: the Mermaid water-based vacuum cleaner and Genie dry-steam cleaner. The elderly were also treated to hand and foot massages with the newly launched iSense, a battery operated massager.

Today, Sim says he is approached “very much’’ by many causes looking for funding. “I have to find ways to say no.

I try to give what I can. A small token is easy.’’

He adds: “”I’m fortunate that I live beyond gold. Whatever I give doesn’t affect my pocket. Still, being young and a business person, I don’t want to overdo it.

There are causes that are meaningful and warrant support. For those, I will support.

“But I have a long way to go. More of my time should be spent on building my business, so that I can give more later rather than give too much now.’’ ✩

World Class Sports – The Osim Triathalon The Osim Triathalon secured its place as a world-ranking sports event when international triathletes competed and secured points towards their world ranking. The event is now marked on the international sporting calendar. t is not often that a chief executive runs 10km, cycles 40 km and swims 1.5 km in a gruelling triathlon. Unless you’re Osim founder Ron Sim of course.

Last November’s Osim Singapore Triathlon, organised with the Singapore Sports Council, and the Triathalon Association of Singapore, was endorsed by the International Triathalon Union, allowing world class athletes to use their times towards their world rankings.

Triathalons are Ron Sim’s sports passion.

He graduated from them after “running a few marathons”. Osim has been sponsoring the national sports event which attracts athletes from around the world, since 2002. The event also serves as a kind of “family day”for Osim’s staff, 52 of whom slugged it out with their CEO,supported by noisy colleagues and family members.

For Ron Sim, last year’s triathlon egged him to mount a personal drive to collect $50,000 for the Children’s Cancer Foundation.

Triathalons are full of personal triumphs and stories of true grit. Completing one as an “average” athlete is already impressive.

Consider Bai Wanli, China’s one-armed triathlete, personally sponsored by Sim. Ban lost his arm while operating a crop machine in a farming accident 35 years ago.“Anyone can become a triathlete,’’ he said before the event.

Ban was the fifth fastest in the first event – the 1,500 metre swim, but fell off his bike trying to avoid a pile up. It didn’t prevent him from finishing the race.

There was also cancer victim, Joanne King, who won the women’s race – her first triathlon in two years. She was diagnosed with skin cancer more than a year ago and had considered retirement.

There’s more to Osim’s sponsorship than the obvious connection between a race that embodies the ultimate in physical endurance, and a brand that espouses the “healthy lifestyle’’.

Osim “is more than just a business because we can have a lasting impact on our customer’s lives’’, says Sim.“We also want to challenge them to do their best,” he points out,“in maintaining their health and in anything they do.’’

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Wanted: Nonprofit Entrepreneurs Tan Kin Lian, CEO of NTUC Income Insurance Cooperative, takes bureaucrats to task and urges non-profits to practice entrepreneurial disciplines.

BY

TAN KIN LIAN CEO NTUC I NCOME I NSURANCE C OOPERATIVE LTD

here is a strong emphasis on developing entrepreneurship in the business sector as a strategy to compete in the global economy. However, I strongly believe that entrepreneurship is needed in all sectors of our economy – in the private sector as well as the public and people sectors.

I like to define entrepreneurship by examining what typical entrepreneurs do. They develop a business with limited resources. They know that if the business does not succeed, they will go bankrupt.

So, they find all ways to make sure the business makes it.

If they encounter any obstacle, entrepreneurs overcome them by being adaptable, resourceful and customer oriented.

Contrast it with the mindset of the bureaucrat. The bureaucrat emphasises following rules and working rigidly. His concept of success is defined by sticking to the rules fixed by his boss and not venturing out of the rules.

Bureaucrats avoid taking personal responsibility. They are not concerned with the actual outcome of their decisions, so long as they follow the rules. In a highly competitive world, the bureaucratic mindset fails as customers reject it and vote with their feet – to competitors.

Many bureaucrats over-rely on planning. They study a problem thoroughly, take a long time and look for the perfect solution. They submit a proposal and get their boss to approve it. Then, they are stuck with the approved plan. Even if it doesn’t work, they find it difficult to submit another proposal to change it,

Salt and pepper shakers courtesy of Willie Cheng

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preferring instead, to keep to the plan, even if it does not produce the right outcome.

The entrepreneurial way challenges the bureaucratic mindset. Simply put, it’s this: • Act promptly • Discuss and agree on the right goals with the stakeholders • Get many people to share the passion for these goals • Have a few strategies to achieve them • Try them out and see which works • Scale up on the winning strategy An entrepreneur looks for a prompt solution. Delay can be costly and fatal to the business. I like to respond to all issues promptly. I give immediate replies to e-mails.

If I’m not sure, I give a tentative reply.

If I do not have all the answers, I give a partial reply to be followed up later with a fuller, more complete reply.

There are many goals worth pursuing – to improve sales and customer service, reduce operating expenses, or enter new markets with new products. The best people to ask which goals impact most on business are the stakeholders – firstly the customers, then the employees, and finally the shareholders.

Most people make the mistake of asking the Board of Directors, who may not be aware about what the customers really want and how it impacts the employees. The Board should make the final decision, but it has to be guided by the reality of business challenges.

It is important that the stakeholders feel passionate about the goals. Active communication during the process of identifying goals encourages stakeholders to develop and achieve goals.

In a fluid environment, customers switch preferences and competitors keep running ahead. What has worked well previously

may not work in the future. I believe in identifying a few possible strategies so there is a contingency when one fails.

It is difficult to find the right or single strategy through planning and prior approval by the boss. This is not likely to be the best answer. We need to be adaptable, ready to modify laid out strategy, or adapt a new one to suit the desired results. Regular market monitoring is crucial to be agile and prompt in changing circumstances.

A learning culture helps. We must be willing to test and see what works. Some strategies fail because of inherent faults or bad implementation. These have to be sussed out immediately. The best business lessons are learnt from success – and mistakes. We must “do, learn, adapt”.

Through 25 years of managing NTUC Income, some operational must-dos are now actively promoted in the organisation.

Among them: • prompt response to customer needs • a flexible approach • ability to tap new opportunities • adept with decisions in uncertain conditions • the will to combine team knowledge • better focus on results The challenges for the non-profit and commercial sectors are similar: how to use limited resources most effectively to serve customers and succeed in a competitive environment?

Non-profit entities can raise more funds if they are efficient and effective and show concrete results. Moving away from bureaucratic practices to entrepreneurial disciplines help non-profits to push their own envelope towards greater efficiency.

If nothing else, there is seldom a dull moment the entrepreneur’s way! ✩ Mr Tan Kin Lian has been the chief executive officer of NTUC Income for the past 27 years. He is known for speaking his mind and writes on a broad range of issues.

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The Missing Hand of Adam Smith There is a structural disconnect between revenue and expenses in the non-profit sector.

Can the visible hand of the donor replace the invisible hand of Adam Smith in plugging this divide?

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WILLIE CHENG CHAIRMAN NVPC

n the wake of its runaway success, the Courage Fund invited controversy: Did it raise more money than it truly needed? Did it divert funds from other charities? These and other questions were addressed by Dr Lim Suet Wun, CEO of National Health Group, in the launch issue of SALT (Jan/Feb 2004).

In my view, the phenomenon of the Courage Fund highlights a key structural problem with the non-profit sector: the dichotomy that exists between revenue and expenditure.

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COMMERCIAL REALITY

In the commercial world, organisations are mainly driven by profits.

(That creates a different set of issues which we will not discuss here.) In the main, companies produce goods and services and they sell these to their customers at a price that hopefully recovers their costs and produces a tidy profit.

And companies live and die by their prices and profits. Those making losses will eventually close down, reducing supply in the market. If existing companies in a market space make too much profit, other competitors will jump into the fray, increasing supply and bringing prices and profits down.

Adam Smith, the well known economist and first proponent of laissez-faire, calls this the “invisible hand” that keeps the market in equilibrium.

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THE NON-PROFIT DIFFERENCE

In the non-profit world, non-profit organisations (NPOs) also produce goods and services, but these are not delivered to customers. Rather, they are delivered to beneficiaries who pay nothing or less than the cost of providing these goods and services.

To make up for any difference between the cost of services produced and what they can recover from their beneficiaries, NPOs rely on raising money and volunteer time from the government and the community.

“It’s debatable whether the cause is the cause of the donations, or the cleverness of the campaigning that makes people give.”

However, the fundraising may bear little relation to the nature and value of the services delivered to the beneficiaries.

The success of fundraising is often more dependent on connections and the approaches used.

Consider the increasing popularity of live TV shows featuring personalities, stunts and challenges with call-in donations. The shows’ content bears little if any relation to the charity cause.

In the annual Ren Ci Charity Show, Venerable Shi Ming Yi, the charismatic CEO of Ren Ci Hospital, consistently captures the imagination of TV viewers by putting himself on the line. His abseiling in 2003 and ice-man stunt in

2004 alone generated nearly $2 million of the $13 plus million raised in the two years.

Clinching the right benefactors or supporters can make a big difference in making ends meet. The Courage Fund had the benefit of almost the entire cabinet of the country rooting for it.

The Tent, a welfare shelter for troubled teenage girls, struggled with fund raising until it found a benefactor, who auctioned some of her treasured family memorabilia to support its cause.

The charity auction raised over $2 million. With its 2003 expenditure of $350,000, the Tent is now able to focus on expansion.

Of course, in the course of fund raising, the causes and beneficiaries are usually highlighted. However, it’s debatable whether the cause is the cause of the donations, or the cleverness of the campaigning that makes people give.

A study in contrast would be the National Kidney Foundation (NKF) and the Kidney Dialysis Foundation (KDF). Both causes are similar, but their financial performances are dramatically different.

In 2002, the KDF raised $1.5 million while NKF raised a staggering $67.5 million in donations. KDF has 174 dialysis patients, while NKF services 2,200 dialysis patients in addition to its other programmes such organ donation advocacy, preventive healthcare and clinical research.

KDF and NKF ended their years with a contrasting $0.26 million and $28.8 million surplus respectively. To

date, NKF has accumulated a healthy reserve of $189 million, which could potentially fund its operations for the next three years without further fund raising. Certainly the slick marketing and the sometimes controversial fund raising “incentives” offered by the NKF have helped in its financial success.

MARKET FAILURE?

So, there can be little connection between what an NPO actually does and how successful or unsuccessful it is in getting the money to do what it does.

There is no invisible hand of Adam Smith to ensure that an NPO raises just enough money to deliver an optimal level of services to its beneficiaries.

It is possible to have over-funded NPOs with more money than they need, and which can end up being splurged on peripherals.

On the other hand, we could have NPOs serving critical community needs which are unable to find funding to continue. Recently, Humanity & Golden Kids, a non-profit centre run by Cancerstory.com which offers complementary cancer treatment methods, closed because funds were short for its operations and publicity efforts.

Food From The Heart, which was started by an expatriate couple in 2003 to deliver unsold bread from bakeries to charity homes, almost didn’t get past its first year. After investing $70,000 of their own money, the Laimers were initially unable to find the remaining $250,000 needed for its first year operations. It had a reprieve when the President’s Challenge 2003 extended it a help line. Today, the Laimers still seek sponsors and support for their second year’s growth.

suggest that donors are becoming more discerning about the causes they support, and the appropriate use of their donations for the purposes stated.

There is certainly a push by some donors for their hand to be more visible than just in the handouts.

Major donors are becoming more directly involved with NPOs by being active on their governing boards. They demand a level of accountability and corporate governance similar to that in the corporate world. Some donors are insisting on “outcomes-based funding” of programmes for better alignment between funding and its purpose.

BRIDGING THE DISCONNECT

“There is certainly a push by some donors for their hand to be more visible than just in the handouts.”

Is there something we can do about this dichotomy and disconnect between the value of services delivered and the source of funding for those services?

Alignment of donations to expenditure can help bridge this divide.

Trends globally and in Singapore

Significant donors can do these.

It is more difficult for the mass of smaller donors in the larger community to be similarly involved. However, umbrella bodies like the National Council for Social Service and the

A daily collection

Singapore Sports Council, of unsold bread from Délifrance’s can, and have, serve as a Parkway Parade outlet to Food proxy for these donors.

From The Heart.

They ensure accountability and governance of their respective nonprofit constituencies.

We should recognise that the visible hand of the donor is not the complete equivalent of the invisible hand of Adam Smith. Donors, when they do get involved, are in a sense, deciding on behalf of the beneficiaries. In the free market, it is the customers themselves, not surrogates, who make the final call on the value of services delivered.

Donors have their own perspectives and motivations, separate from the beneficiaries and perhaps the greater community’s interest.

Nevertheless, when donors demand greater accountability from NPOs, and when they pay attention to the cause rather than the fundraising connection or approach, there is more likely to be better alignment between the money raised and the money spent.

Which is why at the National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre (NVPC), we see our mission as not merely to promote more philanthropic giving, but to also advocate more informed giving. ✩ Mar-Apr 2004 S A LT •

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What’s Up,Doc? In the first of a series on volunteer start-ups, SALT cosies up to the furry friends of the House Rabbit Society Singapore. hey may not all be like their wisecracking Loony Tunes bunny brother with a penchant for razor-sharp comebacks, but rabbits still top the list of Singapore’s favourite pets.

Unfortunately, many find themselves abandoned after the initial Christmas euphoria passes and the reality of looking after a real life bunny hits their owners.

“People just dump rabbits by reservoirs, the Botanic Gardens, even the void deck!” laments Ms Sanz Tan, President of House Rabbit Society Singapore (HRSS). “Once, we went to a party with our rabbits at MacRitchie and left with an extra one – someone found an abandoned rabbit in the bushes. This sort of thing happens all the time.”

And so, eight rabbit lovers banded together in April 2002 to form HRSS, a non-profit society with a mission to educate the public about rabbits.

“We need to reduce the number of unwanted rabbits here, so we have a nobreeding policy. Our busiest times are shortly after the festive seasons, or during Chinese New Year, when families do their spring cleaning and throw out unwanted stuff,” says Tan, the society’s volunteer President.

Which these days, includes rabbits.

Tan can reel off heart-wrenching tales. She recalls live rabbits wrapped in plastic bags as they’re taken to the rubbish

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tip. Or when an HRSS member passed a coffee shop and saw a rabbit cooped up in the same cage as a chicken that constantly jabbed sharp pecks at it.

“The poor rabbit had different coloured patches from the ordeal. But it’s now happily fostered!” Tan notes satisfied.

Such tales are sobering. For many owners, rabbits often get the boot at the first sign of inconvenience.

“We get calls all the time from people who want to give away bunnies because they (the owners) are suffering from rabbit related allergies. Or they’re moving house, or their kids have lost interest,”

“We need to reduce the number of unwanted rabbits here. Our busiest times are shortly after the festive seasons, or during Chinese New Year, when families do their spring cleaning and throw out unwanted stuff, including rabbits.”

says Tan. “If we can’t take in any more rabbits, we give them to the SPCA.” Although no hard statistics are available for the number of abandoned rabbits, it’s clear that they are just a small part of the larger problem of abandoned animals. Last year, the SPCA received around 12,300 unwanted animals and less than 10% were adopted – the rest were put down.

To date, HRSS has attracted around 160 members, many of them teens and students. Annual membership fees hop in at $25. These go into the general funds pool to help re-home rabbits; other funds come from adoption drives and fundraising events.

The society is run entirely by volunteers, all of who own at least one rabbit. Volunteers are all working professionals. The society’s vice president is with consulting firm, McKinsey, the treasurer with Hewlett Packard and Tan herself is a graphic designer.

As the society does not run a shelter, the goal is to place abandoned rabbits in permanent adopted homes. “We send the rabbits to vets and provide food and cages. We’ll even provide some money to the foster homes, but most people don’t ask for funding,” says Tan. We daresay Bugs would approve heartily of the HRSS’s efforts. ✩ House Rabbit Society Singapore, Toa Payoh Central Post Office PO Box 108, Singapore 913104. Interested adopters can check out the adoption gallery link on the society’s website www.hrss.net. Tel: 7000-RABBITS (7000-7222487). On 7 March, HRSS is holding a fundraiser/adoption drive “Yours for Life” at the National Youth Park, Somerset.

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SCENE&SEEN Adding SALT to the people and non-profit sector: (L-R) V Thirupathy; Willie Cheng, Chairman, NVPC; Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, Minister for Community Development and Sports; Tan Chee Koon, Executive Director, NVPC; Gerard Ee, President, National Council of Social Service.

Pass the Salt!

The launch issue of SALT, the magazine for the people and non-profit sector, turned into an engaging story telling session on the significance of salt in the different ethnic and religious cultures.

Salt lamps, salted ikan bilis, and a delightful exhibition of salt and pepper shakers, added to the cheer.

Partners, friends, corporate sponsors and NVPC supporters joined Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, Minister for Community Development and Sports, as he added a little salt to the occasion. The historic Blue Room in the graceful and beautifully restored Old Parliament House, hosted the launch of the first magazine of its kind in Singapore.

SALT Launch The Blue Room, The Arts House at Old Parliament, 13 January 2004

Right: (L-R) Felix Tan, Fencing Singapore; Jennifer Lim, Singapore Association of the Visually Handicapped; Dr Lee Ngak Siang, Thye Hua Kwan Moral Society.

Far right: (L-R) Audrey Phng, Lianne Wong and Mariko Francis from Art Outreach.

Share-A-Meal

Keeping Track

28 January 2003

Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon 7 December 2003, National Stadium to the Padang

A beautiful donation drum attracts curious stares and donations.

Speed was the name of the game on 7 December last year as around 9,900 gung-ho runners from 35 countries lined up for the various race categories in the annual Standard Chartered Marathon. Cheered on by nearly 10,000 supporters, the runners competed for US$124,000 worth of prize money. In the men’s group, Kenya’s John Kelai posted the winning time of 2:19:02 while China’s Wang Yu clocked 2:43:57 in the women’s competition.

Behind the scenes were about 700 volunteers including students from secondary schools, tertiary institutions and senior citizens. They helped ensure the race ran like, well, clockwork. A cool $100,000 was raised for the Marathon’s adopted charity, Action for Aids.

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Above left: Standard Charted Bank’s Group Executive Director Mike DeNoma and his family running the mini-marathon.

Above: Never too young to be a supporter!

What a simple idea – donating the money you would otherwise have spent on lunch so that a needy child won’t go hungry. On 28 January, the seventh day of the Chinese Lunar New Year, a day marked as “everyone’s birthday”, there were good wishes to go around as donations poured in at Share-A-Meal collection boxes at all SMRT stations, and selected Tibs bus interchanges.

Share-A-Meal is part of the MILK (Mainly I Love Kids) Fund; the latter is set up to help needy children and teenagers with medical treatment, therapy, education and counselling. The beneficiaries are KK Hospital Outreach to Kids Fund, Autism Resource Centre, Beyond Social Sciences, Very Special Arts and Care Community Services.

Mercy Dash

MakeYour Life Over: Volunteer!

Mox Bar & Cafe, 5 December 2003

To celebrate Volunteer Month last December, three women’s magazines, Her World, The Singapore Women’s Weekly and Seventeen, participated in a unique “volunteers for volunteers” project. Each title worked with 14 volunteers featured in the NVPC book,“I’m a Volunteer Too”, and stamped their special style in a series of outstanding photographs.

The magazines roped in celebrity hair stylists, make-up artists, and photographers for the make-over sessions for the volunteers. A star performance all round!

Mr Abdullah Tarmugi, Speaker of Parliament and Mr Zulkifli Baharudin, Chairman of Mercy Relief gave red packets to children during the street collection.

The massive earthquake that devastated the ancient city of Bam in Iran left a humanitarian crisis with most of the city’s population homeless and destitute. In January, Mercy Relief joined hands with its partners from the InterReligious Organisation, the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS), the Singapore Catholic Archdiocese, the Singapore Soka Association (SSA), the Young Sikh Association Singapore and the Iranian community in Singapore to raise funds for the victims.

The efforts added to the national fundraising campaign initiated by the Singapore Red Cross Society. The month-long appeal raised $225,000 and included an island wide Sunday street collection on 25 January. The appeal has officially ended but the public can still donate; simply mark “Mercy Relief” on the back of the cheque. For more details, contact 6332 6320 or query@mercyrelief.org.

Left: Photo by Seventeen magazine. Photographer: Veronica Tay, Chief Photographer, Blu Inc Media; Hair & Makeup: Clive Ho; Stylist: Ng Say Lee, Associate Art Director, Seventeen Centre: Photo by The Singapore Women’s Weekly magazine.

Photographer: Sara Aman, Rave Photography; Hair: Reds Hairdressing; Makeup: Shu Uemura; Outfits: Robinsons Right: Photo

by Her World magazine. Photographer: Mark Law; Hair & Makeup: Clarence Lee; Stylist: Jeremy Tan

Mendaki Volunteer Appreciation Tea 4 January 2004, Meritus Mandarin Ballroom

Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, Minister for Community Development and Sports, with the 13 volunteers from Mendaki who received an award for their volunteering contributions.

It was a case of tea for two and more than 1,000 volunteers at the Mendaki Volunteer Appreciation Tea. The small thank-you was for the many who had selflessly contributed their time, energy and ideas to Mendaki’s Volunteer Relations Unit over the past year.

Themed “Service From the Heart”, the tea served up performances and games and an appropriate door-gift: a heart-shaped potpourri case. The highlight was an awards presentation ceremony, graced by Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, Minister for Community Development and Sports and Minister in charge of Muslim Affairs. A deserving mark of recognition for volunteers and their outstanding contributions.

Orchard of Hope Project Orchard Park, 20 January – 16 February 2004 Simple words to inspire.That was the goal behind the Orchard of Hope Project, a “planting” of 10,000 flower windmills, each with a handwritten message from members of the public, expressing their individual hope for the year ahead.

A community partnership between Serangoon Junior College, Kuo Chuan Presbyterian School and youth charity Heartware Network, the organisers sought to bring hope and cheer to the country and everyone affected by the events of 2003. There are plans to make the event an annual Festival of Hope, rallying spirits at the start of each year. Guest-of-Honour Mr Chan Soo Sen, Minister of State for Community Development and Sports and Education, attended the launch.

(L-R) Mr Choong Yip Weng, General Manager of event partner VTI; Mrs Kok Chwee Kee, Principal of Serangoon JC; Mr Chan Soo Sen, Minister of State for Community Development and Sports and Education; Mrs Agnes Ong, Head, Pastoral Care and Career Guidance of Kuo Chuan Presbyterian School; Mr Raymond Huang, Founding Chairman of Heartware Network.

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March 2004 M1 Theatre Connect 2004 presented by The Necessary Stage Volunteers as front-of-house ushers are welcome for the following productions: i) Such Sweet Sorrow: R+J Remixed (A remix of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet) Dates & Times: 4-6 March, 3pm & 8pm Venue: Victoria Theatre ii) Mixed Blessings (Forum Theatre) Dates & Times: 10-13, 17-20 March, 8pm; 11-14, 17-20 March, 3pm Venue: The Necessary Stage Black Box ii) Secrets From My Room Dates & Times: 25-27 March, 8pm; 27 March, 3pm Venue: The Necessary Stage Black Box For more information, contact Caroline Chua at 64408115 or email festivals@necessary.org.

6 March – 17 April 2004 Basic Computer Skills for the Deaf by TOUCH Silent Club TOUCH Silent Club will be conducting basic computer courses for the Deaf. It aims to raise IT literacy among the deaf and integrate IT into their daily lives. The courses also work to overcome any psychological barriers towards IT and are conducted mainly by deaf volunteer instructors.

About 60 people have attended the course since it was introduced in 2002. For more information, contact Michelle Kho at 62700690.

7 March 2004 “Yours For Life” Adoption Drive cum Jumble Sale Event by House Rabbit Society of Singapore (HRSS) 10am – 6pm at National Youth Park (behind Somerset MRT) HRSS is an all-volunteer, non-profit organisation which seeks to reduce the number of unwanted rabbits in Singapore and improve rabbits’ lives through education.

Rabbits which have been abandoned are put up for adoption. HRSS volunteers are on-site giving tips and answering queries on proper care of rabbits. Also available are rabbit grooming services to spoil and pamper rabbits. HRSS’ everpopular Binky Biscuits are on sale too. Check out the jumble sale of accessories, toys, clothes, shoes, gifts and much more.

All proceeds go towards HRSS’ rehoming and education efforts. For more information or to volunteer, email Sanz-Tan at sanz@hrss.net or visit www.hrss.net.

10 March 2004 Developing Volunteer Management System (VMS) Work Tools Workshop #3: Drafting Policies, by the National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre (NVPC) 9am – 12.30pm at NVPC, 7 Maxwell Road, #05-01 Annex B, MND Complex For more information, visit http://www.nvpc.org.sg/ our_services/training.html, or contact Aye Shwe Yee at 64227116 or email shweyee@nvpc.org.sg.

13-14 March 2004 PAGi’s Internet Safety Carnival 11am – 8pm at IMM Building Atrium Interested to find out how your family can benefit from using the Internet? The Parents Advisory Group for the Internet (PAGi) is organising the PAGi Families Week. The week’s highlight is a carnival with games, shows and other activities for all family members. PAGi volunteers also share tips on how to make Internet surfing a happy and safe experience for children. For more information, contact Ms Chanthel Cheong at 63722795 or email secretariat@pagi.org.sg.

3 April 2004 Red Cross International Bazaar 2004 by the Singapore Red Cross Society 10am to 10pm at Singapore Expo, Hall 4 The Red Cross International Bazaar, the only bazaar to involve the international diplomatic community in Singapore, returns in 2004.

President S R Nathan and Mrs Nathan will be the Guests-of-Honour.

The Singapore Expo Hall 4 will be filled with a variety of stalls of participating international communities, companies, civic organisations and others. Expect lots of food, drinks, handicraft and games, and something for everyone, all towards a good cause. You can also join the special evening programme, ‘Cocktail & Sambal Night’ from 6-10pm.

Guests can see Ambassadors and CEOs mix cocktails and other exciting performances from the Chinese Women Association and cultural dances from Embassies. The evening programme including an international dinner buffet will cost only $40 per person.

For more information, contact the Fund Raising Division at 63360269 or email them at fundrais@singnet.com.sg.

27 March/24 April 2004 Volunteer Orientation by the National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre (NVPC) 1.30-3.30pm at NVPC, 7 Maxwell Road, #05-01 Annex B, MND Complex This Orientation aims to provide first-time volunteers with an understanding of the exciting world of volunteering. It offers an insight into what volunteerism is about, the expectations and responsibilities of a volunteer, and how to find the best fit with a Volunteer Hosting Organisation.

There is also a small group discussion and a Q&A session to address doubts and queries. To register, visit http://www.nvpc.org.sg/keen_to_volunteer/ registration.asp, or contact Vanessa Tan at 64227121 or email vanessa@nvpc.org.sg.

27 March 2004 The Salvation Army Family Fiesta 2004 11am – 8pm at Ngee Ann City Civic Plaza The carnival of games, sale of clothes, accessories and children’s toys and good food includes a performance by Agapella. Funds from the carnival will help destitute individuals and families in the community through residential homes and care centres. For tickets and more information, contact Lucille at 65550242 or email public_relations@ smm.salvationarmy.org. Corporations who wish to buy bulk tickets for their staff and friends are welcome. If you would like to volunteer as a group of 10 or more to help man stalls or distribute flyers, email Tan Hwee Keow at tan_hwee_keow@ smm.salvationarmy.org.sg.

28 March 2004 Metta Island-Wide Street Sale 2004 by Metta Welfare Association Volunteers are needed for selling items Half Day 1-6pm or Full Day 9am – 6pm at North Zone, Central Zone, East Zone or West Zone Metta Welfare Association is a non-profit charitable organisation with nine centres, caring for the intellectually disabled and elderly, regardless of race and religion. The funding for its welfare and health services is mainly from public donations and fund raising projects such as this Street Sale.

For more information, contact Eileen Soh at 62406362/64442122 or email eileen@metta.org.sg.

13-17 April 2004 Launch of Caregivers’ Week 2004 by TOUCH Caregivers Centre TOUCH Caregivers Centre, the national caregivers’ resource centre, launches Caregivers’ Week.

Supported by the Ministry of Community Development and Sports and the National Council of Social Service, the week aims to raise awareness among caregivers on information and support available in the community. For more information, contact Cristal Chong at 1800 3521622.

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I’m a Volunteer Too $12 (Paperback), $22 (Hard cover) Published by National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre

BOOK REVIEW BY Eleanor Wong Lawyer, Playwright, Active Citizen

here’s no way to review a book about volunteers critically and that’s the honest truth. You can’t be churlish and uncharitable and focus on fonts or format when you’re reading page after page of stirring testimony. So I shan’t try.

Instead, I shall confirm that this book lives up to the promise on its cover and does indeed contain 40 heart-warming Singapore stories. The stories are told in the words of admirable men and women who volunteer their time, energy and talents to causes ranging from improving the toilet habits of Singaporeans to spearheading corporate volunteerism. Each story is personal, intimate, preceded by a pithy profile, and accompanied by evocative blackand-white snapshots. Each story re-affirms the central message of this volume, that many Singaporeans, without fanfare or fuss, are committed to sharing some part of themselves with those who have less.

And each story does indeed raise the question which closes NVPC Executive Director Tan Chee Koon’s Preface – “And how about you?”

If anything, this book tells so many individual stories so well that, at times, I was left wondering whether there were any larger organising principles to take away. If there were overarching themes – of motivation, of mobilisation – they were not apparent.

The stories did not appear to be arranged in any particular order or sequence. But perhaps that was the point. Perhaps it does all come down to singular experiences inspiring singular responses.

And certainly the responses recorded in “I’m a Volunteer Too” are singularly inspiring. ✩

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For book sales, call Vanessa Tan at 64227121 or email vanessa@nvpc.org.sg.

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• •• •••• “Life is like that. Queue up, be nice, be humble and you meet some of the nicest people in the world.

You lose nothing and you gain a lot.”

Dr Wee Kim Wee From his book,“Glimpses and Reflections”

• •• •••• “I could have easily organised a charity football match, but I didn’t. I wanted people to ask, ‘What’s this madman doing?’ and come forward to donate. No amount is too small.”

David O’Connor Former S-League coach after running and walking 18 hours daily for 14 days from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur in aid of The Spastic Children’s Association of Singapore

• •• •••• “When life is too rosy or cosy, you won’t think of others.

My philosophy now is, if there’s a need, get off your butt and help them.”

Queenie Tan Volunteer helper for the Samsui Women’s Welfare in Chinatown

• •• •••• “If you haven’t any charity in your heart, you have the worst kind of heart trouble.”

Bob Hope Comedian

• •• •••• “The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.”

Franklin D Roosevelt

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