Speech by President Halimah Yacob at Appreciation Event for Istana Volunteers

A very good morning to all our Istana volunteers. I am pleased to host today’s Appreciation Event for all of you who have journeyed with us over the past few years. Our volunteers play an important role in educating visitors on the history and heritage of the Istana as well as its rich diversity of flora and fauna. Thank you for your strong support and dedication over the years.

This is the first time that we are hosting this volunteer appreciation event since the COVID-19 pandemic started. We last held an appreciation event in 2018. A similar one was planned in 2020 but had to be cancelled due to the pandemic. Thus, I am glad to finally meet you today.  

We have a diverse group of volunteers here today, ranging from those from the Istana Heritage Gallery (IHG), National Heritage Board, Youth Corps Singapore, to the National Parks Board. Our oldest volunteer is 85 years old and our youngest is 10 years old.

Over the past two years, we had to scale back our activities, including the #OurIstana tours. I am sure many of you missed the face-to-face interactions with our visitors, especially during our Istana Open Houses (IOHs) where you took pride in showing the visitors around the various nature trails and the rooms at the Istana main building. The COVID-19 pandemic has also changed the way events are conducted. I am grateful that our volunteers gamely took on this new challenge. When we hosted our first virtual Deepavali IOH in November 2020, Ms Tan Hui Kheng, who has been giving tours since they were launched in 2013, conducted her first virtual tour! While she was not used to talking to the camera initially, Ms Tan became more comfortable gradually and learnt another delivery mode of bringing the tour to participants. Unfortunately, Ms Tan is unable to join us today due to work commitments. I would like to commend the volunteers for their adaptability, versatility, and passion, especially in the face of challenges brought about by the pandemic.

While we have leveraged technology in our outreach efforts, I am glad that we are able to slowly resume physical activities on a small scale which allows our volunteers to have more face-to-face interactions with visitors. Just last week, our volunteers conducted a tour of the Istana for a small group of beneficiaries. Many found the tour enriching and informative. Our knowledgeable volunteers were more than happy to share the rich history and heritage of the Istana with the beneficiaries and answer all their questions.   

To all our volunteers, I hope that you have found joy in your volunteering activities. Many of you have shared that you found volunteerism an enriching experience. Apart from learning new skills such as facing the camera, you have the opportunity to interact with people from diverse backgrounds, which in turn allows you to gain new perspectives.  I am heartened to learn that some of you have gone beyond volunteering at only one organisation and have joined other volunteer organisations as well.   

In closing, let me once again thank all of you for making a difference to our visitors.  I appreciate your invaluable dedication and commitment to volunteering at the Istana. 

Thank you.