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Self-help groups transcending
race
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WHEN Mrs Susan Tang, 44, responded to
the Singapore Indian Development Association's (Sinda's) call for
volunteers to help out in its reading programme, she did not consider
race as an issue until her friends asked why she did not offer her
services to a Chinese self-help group instead.
She is among the 200 non-Indian volunteers the Indian self-help group
has recruited since 1998.
Sinda won praise from Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong on Sunday for going
outside its community to tap a wider pool of helpers.
He said that ethnic-based self-help groups should also involve other
races while serving their own communities, to meet the national objective
of integrating the different ethnic communities.
In response, Malay self-help group Mendaki and the Association of
Muslim Professionals (AMP) and the Chinese Development Assistance
Council (CDAC) said they supported Mr Goh's call for a multi-racial
approach.
The Malay groups pointed out that they have a high percentage of volunteers
drawn from non-Malay communities.
Like Sinda, one in 10 of Mendaki's volunteers are non-Malays. Among
them, 45 per cent are Chinese. Non-Malays make up 13.7 per cent of
AMP's pool of volunteers, while 9 per cent of CDAC volunteers are
non-Chinese.
Mr S. Vivakanandan, Sinda's executive director, said that while many
perceive self-help groups as comprising mainly volunteers from their
own ethnic community, the onus is on the group to make its needs known.
When he appealed for volunteers for Sinda's reading programme, more
than 20 per cent of those who responded were non-Indians.
On why she volunteered at Sinda, Mrs Tang, a mother of three children,
said : 'I've a soft spot for children and they're all the same, no
matter what race.
Dr Ooi Giok Ling, a research fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies
who volunteers on Mendaki's social research committee, said she did
not feel any racial barrier when conducting surveys for the group.
'It's reassuring that there are no racial divides and we are comfortable
dealing with each other as Singaporeans.'
The self-help groups said that they themselves collaborate closely
with one another and hold many joint activities.
For instance, Eurasian students can attend tuition classes conducted
by CDAC, Mendaki and Sinda.
Last September, the self-help groups set up a Joint Social Service
Centre at Toa Payoh with the Central Community Development Council.
In his speech on Sunday, Mr Goh said that the ethnic-based self-help
groups are a success because many are more comfortable seeking help
from members of their own community.
AMP chairman Alami Musa added: 'Experience has proven that the self-help
group has the ability to capture the hearts and minds of the less
fortunate and disadvantaged.'
RACE is no barrier when it comes to volunteering, say ethnic self-help
groups. Casting the net wide, they have managed to recruit a number
of volunteers outside of their community. Here is the percentage each
has of volunteers who come from outside its ethnic base:
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