Important for VWOs to organise themselves well: Tan Chuan-Jin

Saw the news on the Channel NewsAsia in regard to the "Important for VWOs to organise themselves well: Tan Chuan-Jin", which I personally agreed to what he had said in the interview video, click HERE. At Project Awareness, through our monthly distribution, weekly house visiting and follow-ups by our team and volunteers, we are still manageable and trying to improve our system further.

Project Awareness also worked closely with a couple of Senior Activity Centres and Family Service Centres in Singapore, as well as Social and Family Development (MSF) and Singapore Kindness Movement (SKM). I also constantly contribute my part to promote volunteerism and kindness through my public music performance, media interview and social media platform. 

In addition, Project Awareness also worked with a number of volunteer groups and corporate companies in serving our beneficiaries too. I hope to see more people, more volunteer groups and corporate companies stepping forward with your helping hand to build a more gracious Singapore together with us. 

Project Awareness Facebook: Click HERE.

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News from Channel NewsAsia: Voluntary welfare organisations need to organise themselves well, to ensure that volunteers can help in a more meaningful way and meet real needs, said Social and Family Development Minister Tan Chuan-Jin.

He said this on the sidelines of a visit to some rental flats in Chai Chee Road, which were being spruced up. Some of these residents faced a bed bug infestation, and volunteers helped to fumigate and clean the units.

"If you have a lot of volunteers who want to come in and help, but you're not organised well, it's going to be a poor experience and you could turn people off and you're not going to be very effective in your help," said Mr Tan.

He said one way this can be done is through longer-term corporate partnerships, which can lead to a win-win situation for both the beneficiaries, and the employees who are volunteering.

"The beauty of a long-term partnership is that the employees who are volunteering - we find that many people want to get more regularly involved. Because they get to know the people, and you're not just anonymously helping someone and then move on and have no idea what happens in their lives. You actually become interested in someone else's life, and I think that's when the real change happens," said Mr Tan.

Mr Tan also said with Singapore's ageing population, there is a need to ensure there are programmes in place to support the elderly, whether or not they fall into the low-income bracket.

"I'm actually quite concerned about those who are ageing in the private estates. Because isolation could sometimes even be more pronounced in those areas," he added.