Volunteerism in Singapore, or the Lack Thereof

Last week I had a great lunch with the Nike We Run SG organizers to discuss some of the feedback I provided and they also wanted to learn about how things work in Canada. They were really open to sharing what their experiences have been and what mine was like. They really took it all in stride and acknowledge that they have many challenges and also that this event was a bit of an anomaly compared to some of their other events. I followed that with a great dinner discussion with a friend about some very similar topics.

The most important point to me about my volunteer experience was how I felt the time I gave wasn't used to it's greatest potential. Frankly, most of my time was wasted through waiting around. Their major challenge is the lack of public transport for the volunteers to get to the site early in the morning as trains and buses mostly don't run until around 6 or 7am on the weekends. Hence, they have no choice but to ask the volunteers to arrive before the last train or bus the night before. Most of the volunteers are high school kids who rely on public transport and it's safe to say that many families do not own a car. I compared that to my experiences in Vancouver where we can start driving on our own when we're 16.5 (here it's 18) and that there's lots of street parking in most places. We also live in a culture where volunteerism is almost a part of growing up, and have awesome family members who are willing to drive some of us around! Then, in Sri Lanka buses run pretty much 24 hours per day, so no issue there! Another major concern was that they were afraid they would get more no shows for a shift that starts early morning rather than going overnight. As it seemed, (at least for my group), I saw probably about a 50% no show rate!

The best solution is that if people could share taxis or carpool and have parental support to volunteer (i.e. rides to a volunteer assignment), less people would have to check in so early. The challenge here is the culture in Singapore does not promote, encourage, or value volunteering. People who volunteer mostly do it for what they get in return, materialistically. The volunteer entitlements are just as important as the runners' entitlements. The question most people ask is, "what do I get in return for my time?" My warm and fuzzy answer for recruitment in Canada (and in Sri Lanka) of "the joy of knowing you just helped some people accomplish something they never thought they could do, or achieve a goal of being the best athlete they can be" won't cut it here. Mostly, the kids (and others) do it because they have to, and the parents aren't there to tell them why it's good to do donate your time (or give them reasons to keep doing it). So for people to fork out extra money to take a taxi or carpool? Unlikely because volunteering doesn't hold very much value in this society. Heck, I feel like that anyone who gives them a more meaningful reason for volunteering other than for the material goods, just isn't heard. Yes, they would nod, but deep within their hearts, I don't think it's in them.

I crossed out "more meaningful" because I recognized that is a very Western personal and cultural expectation. In my discussions last week, what is meaningful to people here is very different from what is meaningful to many people I know. Many of us find meaning in helping others, volunteering their time, fundraising for charity, and in general, engaging with other human beings. A lot of people here find meaning in having the latest in gadgets and the feeling of having the warm and fuzzy screens of the iPads, tablets, and phones in their hands. Not that they don't think volunteering isn't meaningful, just lower on the list. I make that assumption, because that's all I ever see on the buses, trains, restaurants, malls, and streets. Yup. Everywhere. That, and in those discussions, I came to the conclusion that people here, work to buy the latest gadget, that designer purse, or the swank pair of shoes. They don't work to be a better person, attain that leadership role, go on an adventure, a vacation, or some time off. Seems wrong to the majority of us raised in the Western world, right? But what if, this is your world and this is what you know? Should we impose upon them what they should learn about outside this little protected bubble?

For the younger generation, it's all about "me". What do I get out of it? It doesn't matter that my actions might help someone else, because what do I get out of it for putting that effort in? Back home, you are recognized for being a "good" person to volunteer your time, you maybe get a meal and a t-shirt, you feel good about contributing to an event/project/charity, and you get to put it on your resume. Here, you get a meal, t-shirt, and cash. That's all that is expected. So to change the volunteer experience and to grow volunteerism, a major shift in culture is necessary so that it holds a greater value. The culture would need to recognize that volunteering is an activity that builds character, experience, and life-skills, like sport.  And guess what, sport engagement outside of high school is pretty dismal.

So, a little more food for thought. When primary schools are using parents of potential students as volunteers as a way to increase the probability their kid will be accepted into the school? They'll say that it's to help the school pick the best citizens for their school. Is it a clever scheme to get the resources you need to run school programs, or is a detriment to promoting volunteerism?

Around the Big Island on Two Tanks of Gas – Day 3: Black Sand Beach, Turtles, and Green Sand Beach

What I loved about this trip most were my easy and unrushed mornings. I would wake up around 6:00 am when it got light, step out of the tent, stretch, wash up and then slowly prep and eat my breakfast. I typically sliced up from fruit to snack on throughout the day (oh the papaya, mango, star fruit, and dragon fruits were deelish!), slowly packed up and then by around 8:00 or 9:00 am was on the road to my next point of interest. So that was how this morning began ...

I was on the road to Black Sand Beach and got there nice and early around 8:30am. With the 2nd half of my breakfast in hand, I moseyed on over to the beach to find the turtles that my guidebook told me would be sunbathing there. On the way there, a family from Alabama caught my attention and told me there were 5 or 6 of them about halfway down the beach! Totally stoked, I soon spotted three on the beach and a couple of them floating in the shallow water seemingly enjoying each wave of water washing over them. I found a spot on the rocks, plopped down, then enjoyed the peacefulness of watching the turtles and feeling the sun rising higher in the sky.

As more tourists arrived over the next hour, I walked around to try to find a quieter spot. I found a tide pool where one turtle was cruising around on its own and watched it for awhile. I didn't leave soon enough though. As I once again set to find another quieter spot, an irresponsible tourist family took over my spot, saw the turtle, then approached it and touched it. For those of you who don't know, disturbing turtles in their natural habitat is illegal or "kapu", meaning forbidden, in Hawaiian. Not only that, as I'm sure we have all experienced with the numerous "don't feed the bears", "don't feed the birds" or "don't feed the raccoons" signs, it habituates them with human interaction which distracts them from their natural habits. So as the members of this family touched the turtle, I glared ... I even said something, but they ignored it while I died a little inside (like the time the man we went snorkelling with in the Maldives broke off a giant piece of coral by stepping on it, albeit accidentally). I was so angry that people could be so ignorant and inconsiderate. It took sometime for me again to recognize it was something I could not control, but I really was quite angry because turtles are such a precious and endangered species around the world.


After that, I decided I had to move on. I went on to Naahelu where I had a tent site booked at Margo's Corner. Margo herself was pleasant and such a trooper. She has Parkinsons and runs this little business plus a small shop on her own. She does have workers who visit to help her out and told me she was pretty independent as she's been meeting people from online dating the last few years. Go Margo! Anyhow, I set up my tent, tossed my stuff inside, then went off to find Green Sands beach!

Long, dusty, seaside walk to Green Sands! 

I was SO glad I rented an all-wheel drive SUV as the road from Naahelu to Green Sands Beach and South Point eventually became pot-holed and single-lane where you had to pull over onto the little shoulder there was to let oncoming cars pass. It was a scenic drive going by horse stables, pastures, and even a wind farm! I got to the very dusty parking lot, thought about driving a part of the dirt road towards the beach, but decided to park the car and do the hike/walk as planned. It's a walk - but on very dusty sand covered tracks in full and direct sunlight. It was quite windy which was really helpful in keeping the body temperature down, but I almost got burned having forgotten my sunblock back in the car!

The coast is gorgeous, on your right hand side, as you go along the numerous dirt tracks created by 4x4s. However, you look left and all you can see is brown sand and dirt which makes it look like you're trudging through a desert. There were some moments where I thought "is this really worth it?" Just over an hour later, I finally reach the site where I was rewarded with a uniquely green sand beach (from the Olivine eroded from the giant rock that frames the bay) and beautiful turquoise blue waters. It wasn't very busy as only about 10 others were there, and a one point, it was just me and 3 others. I sat in the shade of the rock and enjoyed a little picnic with my peanut butter and banana sandwich washed down by some green Powerade. Sounds delicious, doesn't it? ;)

The walk back was more enjoyable, because I wasn't thinking so much "are we there yet?" I got back, super dusty, headed back to Margo's for a shower then went to a local bar for a well-deserved (well, at least I thought) meal of Laulau. I found Laulau to be very similar to a Chinese soup made with pork/pork bones and watercress, except, minus the soup. After the filling meal, I spent some time in the common area of Margo's (just me) reading, planning my next day, and helping her do some of her giant puzzle before calling it a night.