Mr Edwin Tong, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth, and Second Minister for Law

Youth Corps Aspirants

Ladies and Gentlemen

I am pleased to join you for this afternoon’s Youth Corps Leaders’ Commencement Ceremony. Congratulations to all the Aspirants who have completed the Youth Corps Leaders Programme. Your achievement speaks volumes of your support and care for groups in need.

Since its establishment, Youth Corps Singapore has been an effective platform in nurturing a culture of care and compassion among our youths, by supporting them to take on volunteering work. The past two years have been challenging for everyone, with COVID-19 causing disruption to community service and volunteering operations. For the community in need, this double whammy causes even more difficulties. I am glad that during this period, our youths pressed on to serve the community. Youth Corps quickly adjusted its programmes with new and innovative approaches, so that our youths could continue volunteering while adhering to safe management measures. Through its efforts, Youth Corps has kept the spirit of volunteerism high, and continues to rally others to serve amidst these uncertain times.  

Since 2014, Youth Corps has grown to more than 30,000 members. In the past year alone, it rallied more than 7,688 volunteers, contributing over 40,000 hours of service and impacted close to 5,500 clients.

I am glad that since its inception, the Youth Corps Leaders Programme has nurtured 1,200 leaders and served as a key national platform to cultivate, empower and support youths to contribute to the community. Through the programme, Youth Corps Aspirants get to deepen their understanding on national issues, and develop community leadership knowledge and skills. With guidance from community partners and mentors, our Youth Corp Aspirants conceptualise and implement service-learning projects to address community needs. Leaders who have graduated from the programme are given further developmental opportunities to continue to hone their leadership skills. These include overseas exchanges, national dialogues and the opportunity to lead various community projects. 

Youth Corps leaders also have opportunities to contribute at a more strategic level. I understand that two leaders have been invited to be part of the Youth Corps Advisory Committee, to contribute their perspectives towards strategic direction for Youth Corps.

Today, we are here to celebrate the commencement of your leadership journey. I would like to highlight a few Aspirants and the community projects they have implemented by working with their peers and community partners.

The first project is Project We+65, which aims to address social isolation among seniors. Led by Muhammad Syahid, Ashley Goh and Deirdre Ng, the team worked with the Agency for Integrated Care (AIC) and Blossom Seeds Limited to engage seniors residing in Canberra through house visits and centre-based activities over nine months. The team developed their own senior engagement programme, taking reference from a toolkit of best practices co-developed by Youth Corps volunteers, and agencies like AIC and SportSG. Activities such as Adapted Volleyball and online Seat Zumba ensured that both active seniors and seniors using wheelchairs could participate together.

Based on their learning and reflections, the team has further contributed to the toolkit to provide an effective and sustainable guide for future volunteers. This toolkit will continue to grow through the inputs of the youth leaders and be made easily accessible by Youth Corps to volunteers who wish to contribute to the community.

The second project is KidsCount, which is a programme that helps lower primary students from families in need overcome their developmental gaps in numeracy. Developed in partnership with Care Corner Singapore, three teams of Aspirants piloted KidsCount in three local communities across Singapore. Together with their respective community partners, the Aspirants led their own team of volunteers to conduct a series of educational and engagement activities to improve the children’s numeracy skills. They also recruited and mentored new volunteers to sustain these projects. When safe management measures were tightened, the Aspirants went online to stay connected with the children. 

Hannah Lee and Sharlin Nasyiroh are two Aspirants involved in the KidsCount programme. They shared that they have gained new perspectives on the lives of the less privileged. The experience also equipped them to be more sensitive to groups in need, as well as to better engage and mentor new volunteers.

These are just two examples of the projects that you have implemented. Imagine the collective impact we can create if more of your peers join you to care for the community.

Additionally, the skills that you have acquired through the programme are important not only in volunteering, but also in your life and career. The interpersonal, stakeholder management and project management skills will be critical in the workplace. I am confident that the intensive year-long Leaders Programme has built your resilience and prepared you to meet any challenges ahead.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank our community partners for their support in guiding our youths. For example, Blossom Seeds Limited provided the Aspirants advice on ways to engage the seniors throughout their project. Care Corner Marsiling, together with Social Service Centre, facilitated house visits for Aspirants to reach out to the parents of targeted young children, to encourage participation. These efforts by our community partners facilitate the learning and development of our youths.

In closing, let me once again congratulate all of you for successfully completing the Youth Corps Leaders Programme. This commencement marks the beginning of your journey. I hope that as Youth Corps Leaders, you will continue to do even more for the community.

I urge all of you to be a rallying force for good, and seize the opportunities amidst the uncertainties of this pandemic. Let us inspire collective action with other youths. Together, we can build a cohesive society, a caring people and a confident nation!

Thank you.