I came across this opportunity of volunteering to be part of the Youth Day Appeal on the Saints' Ignite space as I wanted to venture into multiple groups of the needy in Singapore. Many of us know their existence, yet we fail to be inclusive of them. Hence, I wanted to raise awareness of these people who faced different adversities such as children with special needs, youth-at-risk, seniors in need of support, adults with disabilities, persons with mental health conditions and families in need of assistance. Together with my online advocacy team, we worked as one to design these posters to prompt Saints to deepen our appreciation towards the needy in our country. The whole team was rostered to set up the booths to promote our advocacy to the other students in school, and from this experience, voicing out our motivations towards this fundraising became easier for me. Additionally, as an introverted person, this platform elevated my social skills and I seized this opportunity to connect with students I have never exchanged a word with.

The last time I had volunteered for seniors was in secondary school, hence this made me more excited to serve the seniors in Buona Vista. Although we could have been more prepared, our class had a really memorable experience here. From teaching the seniors how to take a 0.5x picture to singing songs with them, I personally felt an intangible feeling of warmth inside me. Before indulging in the meaningful conversations I exchanged with the seniors, I thought most of them did not like coming down to the centre every day, as it may seem mundane to them. However, after conversing to the seniors there, they expressed their positive opinions about attending this centre daily. Not only did the seniors learn some skills such as folding a 3D sunglasses with a piece of A4 paper, I also managed to take home basic knowledge of dialect. I genuinely wanted to learn how to speak basic hokkien since I am hokkien but I lack a sound understanding, and by simply asking them, they even taught me the similarities and differences between certain dialects, like teochew and hokkien. Overall, despite the long journey from Potong Pasir to Buona Vista, it was a fruitful experience and I was blessed to have the chance to reach out to the seniors of our country. It really made me reflect of how important the community is and that seniors have several stories which most of them take initiate to share with us. This visit broadened my perspective of the seniors too, thus I hope others in Singapore will be able to see the worth of them.

Although getting up was indeed a struggle for me, nevertheless, this experience was an eye-opener for me. This volunteering session was introduced to me through my school, and I felt that this would prompt me to step out of my comfort zone to connect with the needy in other parts of Singapore which I was not familiar with, especially in Potong Pasir. As I had small conversations with the residents, I realised that there were common issues that they faced--low savings left due to necessary medical bills to be paid off. Many residents were wheelchair-bound, and some even lacked of hearing or sight, which definitely evoked an immense sense of sympathy in me. By expressing a simple gesture of care, the residents were already so grateful as there were many smiles and "thank you"s reflected back to us, and this helped me realise how appreciative people are. This taught me to be grateful for whatever I have, and appreciate the people around me, as I tend to underappreciate them sometimes. If we all did our due diligence, I believe Singapore will be filled with more thankful hearts and less complaints.

Together with my friends, we volunteered to befriend 160 seniors from an active aging centre managed by my church. There were programmes such as bingo, karaoke and line dancing, which we learnt together with some of the seniors. In order to celebrate them, there were special meals provided for them and we helped to bring over these meals and other materials when required. Overall, I had a blast and was definitely influenced by the enthusiasm and positive energy that the seniors had shown throughout!

I joined this programme as I wanted to help a new group of people -- children with special needs. The volunteers were required to accompany the children through a sports carnival, where they could venture different sports and obstacle courses. Although it was a tiring experience, it was a valuable experience as I learnt the different needs of the children. There were stories shared by parents, how society had stereotyped their children yet their children were able to shine in their own ways, which was absolutely inspiring. 

I took care of Zaryf, an 18-month-old boy, who was introverted yet enthusiastic when playing sports. At certain stations like the Floorball and the Bowling stations, he was so determined to hit everything down despite having to try multiple times. His attitude towards such a small activity had a rousing impact on me as I realised how important it was to keep trying and be motivated to achieve my goals, no matter the difficulty. Personally, I am someone who gives up easily so Zaryf was an excellent example of how all of us, old or young, should always try out best in everything we do. 

We came up for the idea for Cooking Mama when we participated in our first ideathon from NUS CSC Sparkseed, without ever anticipating that our plans could have been brought to fruition. After being approached by FaithActs, it gave us the courage to embark on the project and we decided that we would love to see our efforts being implemented and actually making an impact on the seniors and the community, which motivated us to see the project through. 

Our pre-planning journey was not an easy one, as there were many delays (project was supposed to be done in Dec 23' at first) due to the packed schedules both parties had. Moreover, we were worried that it'll spillover too much to the extent it would affect our academics since it was our A-level year. When the dates were confirmed, we had to go down for site checking and film videos of how to get to the centre for the volunteers etc. Since the programme was over 2 days, we had to ensure there was enough tables and chairs over the span of the activity, as well as charging points for the induction cookers. One concern was that the power might trip due to many induction cookers being used at the same time. Thankfully, the seniors had took turns to use the induction cookers and pots so the cooking segment turned out well. 

My biggest personal achievements:

The success of the event was an achievement in itself for me seeing how well the seniors interacted with the volunteers, with some of them even saying they wanted us to come back with the same volunteers. Being selected to have this event brought to life was also an achievement for me, despite how many holes our proposal had at the beginning. Next, conducting the grocery shopping efficiently was also an achievement since our biggest concern was that it would be very messy and take a long time. I was also in charge of the publicity posts on our instagram account, so I was delighted to be able to help spread awareness online regarding this programme.

How this project has challenged us to think holistically:

This project allowed us to probe our proposals for any shortcomings or inconveniences that could have disrupted the flow of the event on the day itself. It allowed us to challenge our own ideas and think from different standpoints. For example, in our original proposal we wanted every group to buy their own separate ingredients. However, due to budget and time constraints we decided it would be too wasteful to do this so we had to come up with a plan to arrange for everyone to help buy the common ingredients for one another in an efficient manner. We also had to think of several “what ifs” and learn how to face potential loopholes. For example, to prepare a wet weather plan as the walk from the centre to the grocery store was not sheltered; what if someone got hurt;  what if volunteers were late/could not make it at the last minute etc. We had to try our best to come up with solutions, preparing as much as we could in the event of these incidents. Thankfully, the weather was good, the seniors and students were all present and well, so everything went quite smoothly!

How this project has improved my communication and leadership skills:

The project taught me how to work with my teammates seamlessly by listening and validating everyone’s opinions, as well as acknowledging their contributions and hard work. It also taught me how to communicate instructions to both volunteers and seniors clearly as I find it challenging to get a crowd's attention but this project helped me become more courageous.

What challenges did we face and how did we overcome them?

When we approached the organisers, we realised that they were short of cooking resources in the centre and were perplexed as to how to obtain some of these materials and where to store our ingredients. However, with active communication with the organisers we contributed some of our own household items and the organisers brought over cooking materials from the other centres. The seniors even volunteered to bring their own, niche cooking tools. Eventually, there were enough tools to go around for everyone without having to wait or share them. 

Overall, I am very grateful to my teammates for being so reliable and productive during the entire process of the project. Whenever I came to a dead end or started doubting if the event would be successful, their hard work encouraged me to keep going. I am also thankful for Mr Ma for helping with the fundraising as the event would have otherwise taken a very long time before we could implement it. Although we were worried that we would spend over $200 (budget given), we managed to spend just slightly less than the budget! Lastly, I am also thankful to the people from FaithActs for giving us this opportunity to have such a valuable experience. 

I am honoured to be invited as a representative of my school to this engagement session. The session had helped me gain insights towards the education system and the approach Singapore was taking. As a current student, I was curious as to how MOE is continuing to improve our education system as to becoming a more holistic one and other issues like mental health. 

The case studies on students with various backgrounds reflected real situations some Singaporean students face, mainly focusing on two topics (Lifelong Learning and Social Mobility). We received a case study on Sarah, who struggles with relationship problems and financial issues. As a group, we got to share our thoughts based on the different perspectives, such as the character herself, his peers, parents, youth mentors. I shared how as her youth mentor in this case, provide financial literacy assistance, counselling sessions and offer courses related to her post graduate degree which can relieve her financial burden. We were asked what role as youths could we play to support our peers and uplift the community, and some of the responses were to volunteer, advocate, be a listening ear and to simply offer our time and help within our personal capacities.

Hearing Minister Chan Chun Sing talk about the root of Singapore's survival and how the education system aims to sustain it enlightened me as students may not realise the purpose of learning foundational skills etc. Regarding social mobility in the education system is also a perplexing issue to address, and could not be done with just financial aid and policies as Minister Chan emphasised on the long term financial buoyancy of students from lower-income groups. By stretching more capable students and lifting the bottom, Singapore can produce an exceptional future workforce that can help sustain our country's economy too.

Minister Chan also brought up: what success meant to us. He pointed out the importance of broadening our definition of success and to define it through our contributions to the society. Many complex topics were raised, like why must Singapore be exceptional, is happiness defined by the amount of money we earn and so on. He then concluded how there will never be an end conclusion, as there will always be someone out there better than us in life. Hence, as a small country, we may not survive if we are not exceptional especially in trade, and what makes Singapore an attractive place to trade -- its talented pool of labour is a factor. I learnt how we have to play on our own strengths and not on others strengths or weaknesses. This can collectively help us build our reputation such that we have international trust.