3J Jared Teo(33)

3J Chia Hao Yang (4)

3J Noel Chia (27)

3J IBRAHIM BIN HASAN (10)

3J IBRAHIM BIN HASAN (10)

3J Mohd Syamil (24)

3J Nicholas Ng (26)

3J Sherwin Teo (34)

3J Jerrrell Lee (13)

3J Keshvin (15)

How has the service-learning experience changed my thinking, attitudes, and actions towards others, myself and the community?

This service learning experience has changed my thinking,attitudes and actions towards others,myself and the community. previously i was not so involved and not so interested in the plight of those who were lesser fortunate than me.Now , however i feel that ,being better off than others , we must give back to the community by helping others and being involved in community projects such as this. It is or job to help those in need of help in our society to ease their burden.

What stands out as the best or worst thing that happened to you in your service learning experience? What did you learn from these experiences?

The best thing that happened during the service learning experience was the visit to the old folks home itself. It was a culmination of all our previous efforts in fundraising and collection of funds to give to the home. When we visited the home to handover the money and to interact with the elderly, i felt that our efforts had not gone to waste and all our efforts were for a good cause, to allow the home to continue serving the elderly. I learnt that it was a very hard job to run a home and that an effort,no matter how small,can go a long way in giving back to society.

Do you see yourself staying involved in the community during your college and adult years? Why or why not?

 

I do see myself being involved in the community during my college and adult years though it will be harder to do so. With life going on in a faster and more stressful pace it will be harder to find time to give back to the community. Nonetheless i would use whatever spare time i would have to give back to the community as it  s our job to help those who are needy in the community as there could be the chance they are not being taken care of well enough.

3J Gary Goh (7)

3J Arifin (01)

How has the service-learning experience changed my thinking, attitudes, and actions towards others, myself and the community?

The society today have become more oblivious to the people in need. However,being able to study in Victoria school,it enables me to reformed my thinking in a way that even though we live in a rich country,there are still people out there who are in need. Our class have embark on a project to raise funds for a charity organisation. We planned to raised funds by washing cars during the Victoria Challenge(an initiative by Victoria School to complete a challenge in 24 hours) and set a target of $1000,which is quite a hefty sum of money to collect in 24 hours,just by washing cars. At first, I was reluctant of this idea as it is very tiring and was not confident that our class is able to reach the target. However,seeing that its for the people in need,our class put in a lot of effort into this project.

A lot of effort in advertising ensures that cars will come in. As cars enter and leave all the time, we had almost no rest and have to continue washing. Although i was tired, I carried on washing as I want to enlighten the burden of the needy.

What stands out as the best or worst thing that happened to you in your service learning experience? What did you learn from these experiences?

Cars continue streaming in at the wee hours of the night, so we have no choice but to sacrifice our sleep to achieve our target. The word 'sacrifice' is often misunderstood. A lot of people have a mindset that if we sacrifice ourselves(time and energy),we would not benefit from it. But the dictionary definition states that giving up something for something of greater importance. For us,the dictionary definition is the case. We sacrifice ourselves lightening the burden of the needy,which is a a rare feeling due to the sense of achievement in meeting our $1000 target.

Do you see yourself staying involved in the community during your college and adult years? Why or why not?

I may be very busy in my college and adult years. But if I do have the time, I would like to contribute back to the community. In this modern era, the community is a great teacher in teaching us moral values that we would not be able to learn in classes. We have to reach out to the community so the values will be instilled in us.

3J Bernard Chua (03)

When I was younger, as a spoilt city boy with a very modern way of life, I was indifferent to all other people in need out there and did not bother to help them since it did not concern me in anyway. The concept in my head was, like majority of the youths and teenagers in Singapore have is - 'why should I care?'. 

However, after this visit to the old folk's home, they have reached out to my heart and it has definitely changed my concept of life. There is always this warm feeling in my heart whenever I see people in need like the disabled elderly or the poor people receiving help from people who are more well-to-do than them. These people in need have come a long way to the stage they are currently, and if we should definitely give them a hand since we are still young. We should never forget that when we grow up, life circumstances are always unforeseen and we could end up the same way as them too.

I was one of the lucky ones who had the chance to have a conversation with a few of the elderly folks living in the Home. Often reprimanded by my grandparents for not speaking good and fluent Hokkien and Cantonese, I did not let this get in the way of interacting and I spoke to them using the little dialect that I could speak. As our conversation grew more interesting, I found out more of the daily life of the elderly women who lived there, and their days when they were young and were with their family. This made me realise what a hard life they led.

One should never take anything for granted. A person may be rich now, but when they grow up, unexpected things could happen, and they could possibly lose their fortune, and end up as one of those people who are in need of help. Though we can not prevent those kind of things from happening, we should ease other people from their misery. We lead a luxurious life, unlike those poor people who live in squalor, therefore we should help them, to make their plight better off. Even the smallest things, like having a conversation with them or treating them to a meal can make a very huge difference in their lives. Bigger things should be done too, such as donating daily necessities like rice and helping them to find a job. No matter what we do to them, as long as its good, it will make their lives better.

When I grow up, I will make it a point for me to give back to the community each week, such as visiting an old folk's home or an orphanage. Going there and donating things to them, making their lives better means a lot to me. Thus reiterates the point of 'service learning', learning how to contribute and give back to the community through a service that we can provide - voluntarily.