My local university is organising an alumni reunion dinner next year. I received an email from the appointed class agent.
This email asked for information about other alumni and class particulars. I assumed the class agent wanted to contact as many alumni as possible to let them know about the dinner.
Imagine my displeasure and disappointment when I checked the next email and found that the class agent had sent promotional information to me about a single premium investment-linked plan, advising me to call him for an appointment.
Some may argue that there is nothing wrong in sending promotional material through this channel as it is just another advertising channel, like the commercials in the mass media or the junk mail in our letter-boxes.
We can assume that the class agent is doing the work for the alumni on a voluntary basis, and so one might applaud him for his spirit of voluntarism. But one wonders if the database is also a convenient resource to increase his business as an insurance agent. Perhaps he should separate his desire to do community work from his business, so that good intentions are not misinterpreted.
Similarly, I attended a Family Life Education talk recently at my workplace. With ministry support, many Volunteer Welfare Organisations (VWOs) organise and deliver a variety of family life education programmes that include talks, workshops and seminars for the public.
I was looking forward to the talk as it was meant to help us de-stress and recharge during a very stressful period of our worklife. Imagine our disappointment, when my colleagues and I realised the speaker was more interested in promoting himself, his training company and the financial services he provides, rather than what was promised.
I can understand that there is a need for companies and consultants to find creative and innovative avenues to promote themselves, their products and their services. But, perhaps, a distinct line needs to be drawn between voluntary work and business, although some may argue that there is no free lunch and that volunteers also need to earn a living.
This practice of giving free talks and workshops to get contacts is especially common among professionals such as insurance agents, multi-marketers, financial advisers, trainers and motivational speakers.
There are others who can draw a distinction and separate these two worlds. There are volunteers who actively choose not to discuss what they do when they are acting for the VWOs, and thereby perhaps lose an opportunity to get business in the short term. In the long term, however, they seem to get more business because their integrity and sincerity are evident.
Volunteer work is about sacrifice, working for free without the thought of gain. Sad to say, in our society, we sometime misuse the word when parents "volunteer" their time in order to gain a place for their child in a premier school, or when a student is compel to complete six hours of Community Involvement Project.
Yet, there are many people in our society who quietly toil and continue to sacrifice their time, money and effort for a cause they believe in, without expecting any personal gain in return. That's the spirit of true volunteerism we should celebrate.
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3 comments:
Letter from Jimmy Ho Kwok Hoong
I refer to Ms Frances Ong Hock Lin's I Say commentary, "'Volunteering' with an agenda" (Nov 8). She calls for volunteers to distinguish and separate volunteerism and business.
Idealistically, there is nothing wrong with her view. Why should people who volunteer for community services sell insurance or promote multi-level marketing, which is much against the spirit of volunteerism?
However, in pragmatic terms, I have reservations about this mindset. Singapore has not matured into a society able to appreciate the true meaning of volunteerism. Often, we read of the stark contrast between the proportion of volunteers in other developed or Western economies and that in Singapore.
The stressful lifestyles of most Singaporeans leave them limited time to serve as volunteers after fulfilling their career and family obligations. Despite a small portion struggling to help out, while the rest fold their arms in indifference, their efforts are frequently not appreciated.
As a grassroots volunteer myself, I have heard comments such as: "A volunteer is a volunteer. You shouldn't ask for more" and "You know it's a thankless job. So, why are you still doing it?" often from those who have refused to volunteer.
Generally, Singaporeans loathe community work but are jealous of volunteers getting the slightest advantage out of their endeavours.
Maximising the use of manpower is a Singaporean habit. Those within a system are often given more and more work until they can no longer take it. To some extent, it is forgotten that volunteers come forward because they seek more meaning to life. Instead, this personal goal is frequently compromised by the drive for "productive" returns.
One example is the Residents' Committees (RCs). Some find themselves overloaded with assignments from the housing board, CPF Board, civil defence or police force, community development councils, social welfare bodies, various ministries and agencies — all introducing packages and "asking" the RCs to approach residents door-to-door by the hundreds, just because they are "nearest to the people".
One might argue that the solution lies in recruitment drives — getting more volunteers to help existing ones. This is easier said than done.
With the current situation of volunteers being often overloaded and yet little appreciated, how do we expect more people to come forward to serve?
So what if certain working individuals are promoting their personal interests while serving voluntarily? Are we to repeat the phrase, "A volunteer is a volunteer", as if there is an army of Singaporeans ready and waiting to serve?
Tolerating such "impure" practices is probably more a question of extent.
Letter from JEFFREY LAW LEE BENG
Not all professionals — such as doctors, trainers and lawyers — who give free public talks and conduct workshops do so with ulterior motives.
We must dispel the notion that every one of them has an agenda, or we may find it difficult to invite professionals to give educational talks gratis. Worse, they may be discouraged from helping at voluntary welfare organisations.
We should not be unduly worried about whether volunteers are altruistic about their work or otherwise. They should be judged by their contributions to the community.
Professionals advised not to promote selves during voluntary presentations
Letter from Leong Sze Hian
President
Society of Financial Service Professionals
I refer to Jimmy Ho Kwok Hoong and Jeffrey Law Lee Beng's letters "A pragmatic view of 'altruism'" (Nov 9) in response to Frances Ong Hock Lin's "'Volunteering' with an agenda" (Nov 8).
The last letter writer says that financial professionals should separate their desire to do community work from their business, so that good intentions are not misinterpreted.
Many volunteer welfare organisations (VWOs) organise a variety of family life education programmes that include talks, workshops and seminars for the public, and a distinct line needs to be drawn between voluntary work and business, Ms Ong says.
Since the founding of the Society of Financial Service Professionals (SFSP) in 1928, it has over the years in Singapore, received requests to conduct financial planning talks or financial counselling for VWOs, family service centre, community development council, prison school, new bankrupts, the disabled and so on.
Our next free public forum organised with Bizlink on Financial Planning for the Disabled, is on Dec 9, 9am to 12pm, at iHUB, in conjunction with the International Day of the Disabled and the Disability Awareness Public Education Campaign.
Members who represent the SFSP in such activities are held to the highest standards of professionalism in reference to our Code of Professional Responsibility, and are advised to refrain from directly or indirectly promoting themselves, their organisations or their products or services.
It has always been free of charge for VWOs, not-for-profit and government agencies; and for commercial organisations, wherever possible, a donation to charity is requested.
Human resource professionals who may share Ms Ong's concerns like to indicate to speakers — free or paid — their preference that they refrain from self-promotional remarks or activities.
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