SCGS - N.E. Nuggets

Sharing of Learning Points by Esther See-Toh of (3PE) Of 1st Dialogue Session Held on Wed, 4 Mar 2009

Good Morning Mrs Low, Vice Principals, Teachers and students,

My name is Esther and on behalf of the members of the Lyrics Leadership Programme, I will be sharing our experience on our first dialogue session with a Grassroots leader, which took place last week over a two hour session.

The aim of the dialogue session was to obtain the information needed for future references for our thesis. As such, we came up with a few formal questions that dealt with issues concerning the practices of Grassroots leaders and petition writers, the role of different organizations like the Community Development Council, and the main social problems that the community of AMK faces.

During the session, we were extremely fortunate to have the opportunity to talk to Mr Goh Yeow Tin, the chairman of the Teck Ghee Citizens Consultative Committee. He was a pleasant man, and being very experienced in his line of work, he shared his knowledge openly and warmly with us. He was so informative to the extent that I had trouble writing every valuable detail down. His friendliness and kindness was very much appreciated, as he came down to our level to make sure that we all felt comfortable and understood him. In this way, he exemplified the quality of a leader by putting aside status and making others feel valued for their presence.

Mr Goh was very subtle but assertive when he spoke to us, and what inspired me most was his resolve to give back to the community. When we asked him what kept him going as a volunteer, he replied that being a good person was what he wanted to be in life, and the meaning of success for him was not about being rich and enjoying life, but more about effectively helping others and making a difference. He explained that being a volunteer had its pros and cons, and it was all about striking a balance between work and play. Yet, helping others gave him a source of self satisfaction, and a sense of self actualization, and as he said, once knowing that you have helped others, the feeling was indescribable.

Asking what was the most memorable case he had experienced, he told us about helping a family of farmers a long time ago by writing a letter of appeal for them. One of the members of the family went to his house one night to offer him a live goose as a thank you present! He told us that although the goose was of no use to him ,the fact that he was appreciated for his help made him feel good about himself and that his hard work was worth it.

I also appreciated how Mr Goh made the concept of volunteerism very practical and easy to understand. He told us that it was important for us to have a good education & career. However, he also said that we must not spend all our time just to benefit ourselves & advance our careers or increase our wealth. He advised us to first study hard , and then when we have grown up & started working, to spend at least one day a week to do volunteer work. The number of days can increase as we grow older and become financially stable, when day to day bread and butter issues are no longer important to us.

I believe as a citizen of Singapore and part of the community, we have the responsibility of being involved in community affairs, and not just look after ourselves. The satisfaction of helping others is “indescribable’ as Mr Goh says, and cannot be measured in monetary terms.

Therefore, I respect Mr Goh for possessing the value of sincerity, and his passion in helping others. Although he has to deal with difficult people everyday, and juggle volunteer work with his personal commitments, he still persists on with his volunteerism. I believe he sets a good example for everyone to follow, as a leader who does his job for the benefit of others, and not for personal materialistic gains. In other words, he is a true blue servant leader.

I hope everyone can apply what I have shared with you to your own personal lives, and become future leaders of tomorrow, helping and leading others and making SCGS proud.

Thank You.

9 Mar 2009