Hi readers, I just came back from a tiring day of CIP with a few other friends of mine. So far, I had attended two full-day CIP sessions, each spanning 9 hours. To describe it briefly, it was something like Flag Day, in which volunteers had a tin with them and walked up to people and asked them for donations.
To be honest, in Secondary 1 I never really thought of CIP being an important part of school life. In my first year, most of my CIP were from compulsory CIP activities, the only exception being an Open House helper. At that time, I was practically going through the motions, and my only goal was just to meet the minimum requirement of 10 hours. Also, I didn't quite see the point of doing additional CIP as I felt that there wasn't much point in doing so. In retrospect, my thinking is really foolish and selfish, and I can't believe I was so different a year ago!
Anyway, my negative attitude carried on with me onto Secondary 2, and even then I didn't see the point in being a volunteer. However, the recent CIP sessions changed my mindset completely. As is for most people, walking up to random strangers on the street and asking for donations is quite awkward and most people would inevitably be a little too embarrassed the first few times. What's worse is that there was a high chance of rejection, which further adds on to the embarrassment.
For me, I was extremely shy to walk up to people to ask for donations at first, so I felt like a fish out of water, as I was seemingly just standing there rooted to the spot without any action whatsoever. After the while, it became better and I gradually became more confident. It was still pretty demoralising when people evidently tried to evade me or stare frostily at me when I ask them for donations. However, as the day went by, I got used to being rejected so I guess it didn't really matter. However, what I felt was the real challenge was standing out in the sun asking for donations for a straight 3 hours plus, and then another 3 hours after a 1 hr lunch break. It was extremely taxing, and factoring in the bulky weight of my tin, I felt pretty exhausted after a mere hour or so.
Evidently from what I had described above, doing this is definitely not a simple task, and is extremely taxing on the volunteers. This experience had made me appreciate the volunteers even more. They are doing all these tiring tasks for free, and I can really understand how difficult and tiring it can be to do volunteer work. Yet there are still many people who willingly help out! I'm really ashamed of how selfish I was last time, really. After this CIP session, I really learned to appreciate all the work that others do for us, and more importantly, I am aware of the positive effects of volunteering. In the future, I was surely volunteer for CIP again, not for the sake of doing it, but more importantly, for the sake of helping others.
Cheers,
Roystan
Dear Roystan,
ReplyDeleteI want to share with you some of my thoughts about CIP. I, unlike you, still cannot really see much point in doing it.
To me, volunteering for the sake of helping others is pointless. What is important is helping others for a reason. I do not think we ought to have a habit of helping others. It blinds the reflective faculties. The habit that we ought to inculcate is that of helping others for a more definite reason. Take a beggar for example. Helping him is easy. We can give him money. The hard part is giving him meaningful help or at least a meaningful reason to help. If we saw that that beggar is providing a liability to society by not contributing to the state and eating off the public, what we ought to really do is put him in a retraining class and turn him out as a respectable member of society. It is not out of the goodwill of our hearts, but it is out of concern for the nation. Goodwill is good of course, but it is not the most important. However, most people cannot see it this way. Quite a lot of people would rather soothe their troubled conscience by giving that beggar a bit of spare change and then leave with a light heart. But will a bit of spare change make a difference? Yes, if it is used properly. The problem is that the aforesaid beggar is no longer in a position to use it properly. That is why I feel that CIP is pointless because the only thing it can do is perhaps inculcate a habit of helping out of pity and not out of moral philosophy or deep thinking. Pity itself is detrimental. Pity really means "I am glad I am not in your position, so I feel indebted to you for reminding me that you are worse off than me." It encourages class prejudice. In fact, it is out of pity that our society is divided into segments and cannot be formed whole. As such, pity ought to be eradicated, and replaced by sympathy. Sympathy is not "I am glad I am not in your position, so I feel indebted to you for reminding me that you are worse off than me." It is "I am sorry that I am better off than you because you and I are both fellow living beings and deserve an equal chance." It is very different from pity. If I may be impertinent enough to ask you and all the readers of your blog, do you help others out of pity or sympathy?
Regards,
Jian Shern
Hi Jian Shern,
ReplyDeleteThanks for pointing this out. I never really thought of it this way. I admit, most of the time when I donate money to beggars, it is actually more of out of pity rather than sympathy. "Quite a lot of people would rather soothe their troubled conscience by giving that beggar a bit of spare change and then leave with a light heart." Indeed, this is especially true in society today, where many people, including me, believe that merely donating equates to doing a good deed.
I feel that the problem at hand here is that people are unable to see the bigger picture. It is the same with parents and children. If the parent constantly dotes on the child, the child would receive short-term benefits, but the moral issues would arise in the future, and create more problems in the long run. Likewise, most people are actually satisfied enough to donate a few cents to the beggar, believing that they have done a good deed. This is a valid point.
However, you must understand that not everyone has the means to help the beggar "meaningfully." Most of us do not have the time or means to actually go out to help the beggar in the long run. Therefore, I feel that it is rather imposing for everyone to actually pause and think of how to actually help the beggar in the long run; instead, most people would just opt to help him and provide momentary help. This is an act of goodwill, and if we are to see the glass as half-full, perhaps we can perceive this act of goodwill as something beneficial, as at least the person who donated has somewhat of a heart to try to help the beggar, albeit momentarily.
I do not appreciate the use of harsh terms like how you described CIP as being "pointless". Not everyone can go straight into the stage of helping others based on moral philosophy or deep thinking. Therefore, I feel that CIP is actually a good opportunity to expose the participants to other less fortunate people. In turn, this might hopefully encourage them to help others who are less fortunate. Every journey starts with a single step; and inevitably most people would start off helping others based on pity alone. However, as time goes by, as one provides more and more help, perhaps sympathy can be inculcated in him or her? Again, this is a matter of perspective, and I am merely using an optimistic perspective to view the matter.
Thank you for your insightful comment, Jian Shern. It took me a long while to formulate an appropriate response, and I apologise if I have offended you in any way.
Cheers,
Roystan
Hi Jian Shern and Roystan,
ReplyDeleteMhm, I am not sure if I should thank you (Jian Shern) for your comment. It is definitely insightful though, and I questioned myself why I actually find CIP activities meaningful, and actually the only reason I can think of is knowing that I have done good, knowing that I have helped, knowing that I have made a difference. But this isn't a good reason, a good justification for myself, maybe for you, as to why I am enjoying these CIP activities. I have much ado to learn about myself :c
Well, actually to me I take part in CIP activities because I know that at the end of the day, I am making a difference, and that is all that matters to me. It didn't really strike me all these years, to think about how far my actions can reach to, because that is usually beyond our reach as students. And as Roystan has pointed out, it is rather imposing for people.
I would also like to comment on your use of the beggar as an example, which I feel is not a rather appropriate example for CIP activities. You must understand that CIP activities goes beyond just helping on the superficial level in the case of giving money to the beggar.
I recently took part in this fund-raising activity, and if we look at it as an CIP activity for example, the funds raised are used and managed properly by the organisations to ensure the sustainability of their services. Is fund-raising as a CIP activity therefore pointless? Also, there is a limit as to how far we can help, as we cannot be in charge of the fund raised and how they are going to be spent, but remember that it is nonetheless and ultimately, still help. These funds will go a long way in improving the lives of those benefiting from the fund raised.
Your post is indeed refreshing, giving a more pessimistic view rather than the conventional optimistic view, which I think is important for us all to make a balanced decision on this matter. I am sorry though >< that I can't readily accept your views because it isn't something that I am rather used to: thinking negatively. But it is a good POV that I think I should learn to adopt. Thanks Jian Shern (:
Dear Roystan,
ReplyDeleteYes, indeed, Community Involvement Programme (CIP) has been something very new when I first stepped into Hwa Chong.
In primary school, it just added some nice numbers in my report book and I did not very much bother with it. Our primary school never had any CIP activities to start with, be it going to the old folk's home or orphanage. Our school was just academic-oriented straight to the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) which was treated as the most sacred and highest level of school. That was all we were driven to - good grades.
However, Hwa Chong has indeed bestowed unto me many golden opportunities to help people, both the school and the larger community beyond the school's boundaries.
For example, Project POP which is a project by our seniors required us to go around collecting donations for the deaf. For each note or coin dropped into the can, it felt extremely satisfying. The feeling that I had helped those who are less fortunate within my own means was refreshing and a great feeling!
I had indeed learnt to approach people to collect donations, something I would definitely not have done before this. I have also been given the opportunity to usher people around our school - another one of those activities that need me to open my mouth [something which is less than rare] and ask if they needed some help. All these are the brilliant experiences I have gone through during CIP.
CIP has gone beyond collecting hours for a good conduct grade, but to a higher level of helping the larger community and not being that bunch of "selfish pampered brats" as we have been called.
Perhaps, for those who do not see the meaning in CIP, they might want to participate more actively in such activities, see the smiles on the less fortunate and then allow their hearts to be melted and their minds to understand the true meaning of "community involvement". No offence to anyone, as I am not pinpointing a specific individual.
Regards,
Nathan :)