黄循财：从90到30000名，新加坡的发展离不开这些青年志愿者们

国家青年理事会主席兼首席执行官，我的内阁和国会同事们，青年团领导和志愿者们

女士们、先生们

早上好，很高兴能来到这里参加青年志愿团队十周年纪念活动。

成就

这对青年志愿团队来说是一个非常重要的里程碑。

当然，对我个人而言，它也有着特别的意义。

因为10年前我在文化、社区及青年部（Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth，简称MCCY）时，我们成立了青年志愿团队。

当时我们的目标是为年轻人提供更多机会，在社会上产生积极影响，并帮助塑造我们未来想要的新加坡。

我相信，我们的青年人有着理想主义、活力和激情，能够让新加坡，甚至让世界变得更美好。只要给予机会，你们所有年轻人都会挺身而出。

当初提出成立青年团的想法时，我不确定会得到怎样的回应。我也不确定会有多少人前来响应，或者这种影响力是否能够持续下去。

因此，在很多方面，成立青年团当时是对未知领域的一次信仰飞跃。

我们最初的青年志愿团队是由90名志愿者组成的。

这并不是一个很大的团体。但我们认为，无论人数多少，开始得好才是最重要。确保每个参与者都有良好的经验，随着时间推移，青年人中会有积极的反馈，口碑传播开来，我们可以有机地发展和壮大。

我很高兴看到，在过去的10年里，这确实发生了。

从最初的90名志愿者，至今我们已经拥有超过30,000名青年团志愿者了。

你们参与了广泛的志愿活动，涵盖从心理健康到关怀老人、环保以及帮助特殊需求群体等各个领域。

在国家需要的支援时候，你们挺身而出。例如，在新加坡疫情期间，许多像你们这样的青年团志愿者：

为弱势群体分发食物。

为露宿者翻新庇护所，为我们的医护工作者和移民工人打包关爱包。

甚至还与孤独的长者结为朋友，帮助他们不被遗忘，特别是那些在家中孤立的长者。

在过去的十年里，许多人与我们一起走过了青年志愿团队的发展和建设之路。

当然，我和MCCY的领导团队都非常高兴能看到自我任职以来的所有部长们，今天都在这里。接过我的接力棒分别是傅海燕部长，然后是唐振辉部长。今天我们齐聚一堂来支持你们。我们在国家青年理事会有一个优秀的团队，首席执行官David和团队主管KK。他们都是我招募的，并且已经留任了10年。

在座的许多社区合作伙伴，学校领导和工作人员，以及国家青年理事会的工作人员们。我非常感谢你们。

当然，还要感谢青年团的所有志愿者，包括今天与我们同在的整个十年里的志愿者，包括几位先锋队的成员。

所以，谢谢大家。干得好！再次祝贺青年志愿团队成立十周年！

青年共同推动新加坡前进

明年我们将庆祝SG60，也就是新加坡独立60周年。这是我们国家建设道路上的一个里程碑。

这是庆祝我们成就的时刻，也是尊重过去几代人的机会，正是他们使我们走到了今天这一步。

但同时，这也是一个展望未来、思考我们如何建设未来新加坡的机会。

在我们进行“新加坡携手前进”（Forward Singapore）的过程中，我们听取了许多年轻人的意见。你们向我们分享了对一个更新的新加坡梦想的期望。

一个以价值观、团结和目标为基础的社会。

一个社会，提供各种机会，让你以不同方式追求自己的抱负和梦想。

我们也希望在新加坡，每个人都能成为自己最优秀的版本。

我和我的团队将努力实现这些共同的愿景。但我们不能独自完成这个任务。我们也需要你们的帮助。你们每一个人都将在书写新加坡故事的下一章中发挥作用。

我知道，许多青年志愿团队的志愿者已经在为此努力。比如，我在2014年遇到的Sheila Manokaran。我想今天Sheila也在这里。她是青年志愿团队志愿者先锋队的成员之一，就是我刚才提到的那90位志愿者之一。

她从青年志愿团队毕业后，为儿童癌症基金会组织了一场捐赠活动，为该基金会筹集了55,000新元。而她并未止步于此；她继续为其他活动如紫色行动做志愿者。

她回馈培养她的社区，如今她与自己的母校ITE合作，为ITE学生开发实习机会。她还是青年志愿团队咨询委员会的成员。

除了全职工作，她还是River Valley Irregulars的联合创始人，这是一个为年轻人提供寻找工作、实习机会以及与其他志同道合人士合作的平台。

Sheila，我不知道你是如何找到时间做这一切的。但是，干得好，感谢你的贡献！

像Sheila这样的许多青年志愿团队领导和志愿者们不仅在青年团项目期间做出了巨大贡献，甚至在毕业后继续志愿活动，继续对我们的社会产生积极影响。因此，感谢每一位不辞劳苦，帮助建设更美好新加坡的人。

政府将为年轻人提供更多贡献的机会。这就是为什么我们最近设立了青年委员会，由国家青年理事会协调。这些由青年主导的委员会将讨论你们关心的问题，并提出建议，帮助我们在新加坡做得更好。

到目前为止，我们已经设立了四个委员会，分别关注以下领域：财务安全、职业和终身学习、数字福祉以及环境和可持续发展。

这些委员会已经开始运作。事实上，他们自去年11月以来就一直如此。他们每月会面，深入了解这些问题，集思广益，甚至与政府机构讨论政策选择。

其中一些委员会还在自行组织学习之旅。例如，负责数字福祉的青年委员会最近发起了一次访问谷歌公司，了解该公司在其平台上建立信任和安全性方面所做的工作。

这些青年委员会，共四个，将在下个月的首届青年政策论坛上展示他们的想法。他们将与我分享这些想法，我期待听到他们的发言。

青年委员会只是年轻人贡献的一种方式，我们将为大家提供许多其他机会，让你们继续回馈社会，共同塑造我们的未来。

青年志愿团队的下一个目标

现在，尽管政府正在开发更多青年参与的途径，青年志愿团队本身也应该更新其吸引年轻人的方法。让我简要提出青年团可以考虑的三个领域。

首先，让年轻人更容易迈出志愿服务的第一步。

今天，当青年人报名参加青年志愿团队的常规志愿服务项目时，至少主要项目，他们通常需要每月至少投入约8小时，连续3个月。

这是一个很大的承诺，青年人面对课业、实习和课外活动等多重任务。并不是每个人都能够为志愿服务做出如此长期的时间承诺。

因此，青年志愿团队已经开始一些时间承诺较少的小型项目，让年轻人能够迈出第一步，体验志愿服务的味道。

因此，我鼓励青年志愿团队继续朝这个方向发展，开发更多的小型志愿服务项目，让年轻人可以参与一些规模不那么大的活动，他们可以在准备好后考虑更多的参与。

其次，我鼓励青年志愿团队开发更多青年可以参与志愿服务的领域。

你们已经在8个领域开展了志愿服务项目——心理健康；环境保护；特殊需要；老年人；社区关怀；客工；青少年；以及儿童和家庭。

这些领域涵盖了广泛的范围。不过，我认为仍然有发展的空间。例如，为了更好地支援老年人——这是你们现有的重点领域之一，青年志愿团队在帮助老年人进行健康筛查方面发挥了重要作用。

然而，良好的老龄化不仅仅涉及身体健康。我们知道许多老年人独自生活，如果没有得到有效的参与，他们可能面临心理健康问题或社会孤立的风险。因此，青年志愿团队还可以做更多的工作，比如与这些老年人建立友谊，鼓励他们走出家门，并帮助他们保持有意义的参与。

这只是一个例子。我相信，还会有许多其他的想法来拓展年轻人积极影响的空间。

第三点，我鼓励青年志愿团队举办更多海外探险活动。

青年志愿团队已经派遣志愿者前往东盟国家、中国和印度等地进行探险项目。我认为相当多的青年志愿者领袖已经有机会参与其中，并且在这趟旅程中获得了非常棒的经验。

在疫情之前，我们每年大约会组织探险项目，让约4,000名青年参与。这些项目在疫情期间暂停了。现在疫情结束了，我们也已经恢复了这些项目，但我们还未能像之前那样组织这么多的海外探险。去年，我们只有大约2,000名青年出国，这大约是疫情前的一半水平。

因此，我们需要做得更多，设计更多有吸引力的海外项目，并鼓励更多年轻人参与，以便他们能够从中受益。

例如，青年志愿团队可以为我们的年轻人创造更多机会，让他们与各个国家的青年志愿者合作。这样，他们可以建立紧密的关系，拓展网络，并与同龄人建立友谊。

随着时间的推移，我们也可以在新加坡以外建立一个更强大的志愿者生态系统。

结论

总之，我们都知道我们周围的世界正在发生变化，而且这种变化比以往任何时候都更为迅速。

在过去的30年里，我们享受了一个相对和平的地区和相对和平的世界。

不幸的是，我们现在正处于一个新的竞争与冲突的时代，主要大国之间的对抗加剧，世界局势也在不断分裂。

新加坡将不得不应对这些复杂的地缘政治挑战。

但这并不是我们第一次面对艰难的外部环境。

我们在独立时以及过去60年中多次经历过这样的挑战。

每一次，我们都团结一心，克服了风雨，并变得更加坚强。

我们能够做到这一点的关键在于新加坡人之间强烈的团结和信任感。

青年志愿团队对加强这些共同纽带做出了重要贡献，特别是在我们的年轻人中间。

你们展示了当我们怀着共同愿景和目标团结一致时，能够实现什么样的成就。

你们改变了许多人的生活，提升了社区的福祉。

你们的动力、热情和服务承诺向我们展示了作为一个坚强团结的民族的意义。

在这个十周年纪念日，我们不仅庆祝你们的成就，也展望未来，充满信心和希望。让我们以坚定的决心和勇气迎接时代的挑战，信任我们的同胞。让我们携手合作，带领新加坡迈向更加光明的未来。感谢大家，再次祝贺十周年快乐！

Chairman and CEO of the National Youth Council
My Cabinet and Parliamentary Colleagues
Youth Corps leaders and volunteers
Ladies and Gentlemen

Good morning and it is very good to be here to mark the Youth Corps’ 10th anniversary.

Achievement

This is a very significant milestone for the Youth Corps.

Of course, it also has very special meaning for me.

Because I was at MCCY 10 years ago when we started the Youth Corps.

Our aim back then was to provide young people with more opportunities to make a positive impact on society and to help shape the Singapore we want for the future.

I believed that our youths would have the idealism, the energy, and the passion to make Singapore, and even to make the world a better place. And that all of you young people would step up if given the opportunity to do so.

I was not sure what response we would get when we mooted the idea of Youth Corps. I was not sure how many people would step forward, or whether the impact would be sustained.

So in many ways, setting up the Youth Corps then was a leap of faith into the unknown.

We started with an initial group of 90 volunteers.

It was not a very big group. But we thought it would be better to start well, regardless of the numbers. Start well, and make sure that everyone participating has a good experience, and then over time there will be positive feedback from the programme amongst young people, word of mouth will spread, and we can develop and grow organically.

And I am glad to see that this is indeed what has happened over the last 10 years.

From that initial group of 90 volunteers, we now have more than 30,000 Youth Corps volunteers.

All of you engage in a wide range of volunteering activities from mental health to caring for the elderly, for the environment, and helping those with special needs.

You rise to the challenge during times of need. In Singapore, for example during the pandemic, many Youth Corps volunteers like yourself stepped forward:

Distributing food for vulnerable groups.

Refurbishing shelters for rough sleepers, packing care packs for our healthcare workers and migrant workers.

And even befriending and helping seniors so that they will not be left behind especially those who are isolated at home.

Many of you have journeyed with us this past decade to develop and build up the Youth Corps.

Of course, the leadership team at MCCY and I am very glad to see all the ministers since my time are here today. The baton has passed from me to Minister Grace and then to Minister Edwin Tong. And we are all here today to support you. We have an excellent team at the NYC – David who is the CEO, and KK who is a team Director. They were both recruited by me and they have stayed on for 10 years.

Our many community partners who are here, mentor school leaders and staff, NYC staff. Thank you very much.

Of course, all the volunteers of the Youth Corps, all of you. We have volunteers from across the entire decade with us today, including several from the pioneer batch.

So thank you, everyone. Well done, and happy 10th anniversary once again!

Youths and Bringing Singapore Forward, Together

We will celebrate SG60 next year, Singapore’s 60th year of independence. It is a milestone in our nation-building journey.

It is a time to celebrate our achievements, and to honour the past generations that have enabled us to get to where we are today.

But it is also an opportunity to look ahead and think about what we can do to build the Singapore we want for the future.

We have heard from many young people when we undertook the Forward Singapore exercise. You have shared your hopes with us for a refreshed Singapore Dream.

To have a society that is anchored on values, solidarity, and purpose.

A society where opportunities abound to pursue your aspirations and dreams in different ways.

And a Singapore where we can all be the best possible versions of ourselves.

My team and I will work hard to realise these shared aspirations. But we cannot do this alone. We need your help too. All of you will play a part in writing the next chapter of our Singapore Story.

And I know many Youth Corps volunteers are already doing so. Like Sheila Manokaran, whom I met in 2014. I think Sheila is here today. She is one of those who was among the pioneer batch of Youth Corps volunteers, the 90 I spoke about just now.

She graduated from the programme and organised a donation drive for the Children’s Cancer Foundation and raised $55,000 for the Foundation. And she did not stop there; she continued to volunteer for other events like the Purple Parade.

She gives back to the community that has nurtured her, and today, she works with ITE – her alma mater – to develop internship opportunities for ITE students. And she is also a member of the Youth Corps Advisory Committee.

She does all these, on top of her full-time job as a co-founder of the River Valley Irregulars, which is a platform for young people to look for jobs, internships, and collaborative opportunities with other like-minded people.

I do not know how you find the time Sheila, to do everything. But well done and thank you for your contribution!

There are many, many other Youth Corp leaders and volunteers like Sheila who are making a difference, not just during the time that they volunteer in the Youth Corps programme but even after they have graduated, continuing to volunteer and continue to make a positive impact on our society. So thank you to everyone for going above and beyond and helping to build a better Singapore.

The government will provide more opportunities for young people to contribute. And that is why we recently set up youth panels, which NYC is helping to coordinate. These are panels led by the youths to deliberate on issues that you care about, and you can come up with recommendations to help all of us in Singapore do better.

We have four panels set up so far, looking at: financial security; careers and lifelong learning; digital well-being; and environment and sustainability.

These are already at work. In fact, they have been doing so since November last year. They have been meeting monthly to learn more about the issues, brainstorm ideas, and even discuss policy options with government agencies.

Some of the panels are also organising learning journeys on their own. For example, the youth panel that looks at digital well-being recently initiated a visit to Google to understand what the company has been doing to build trust and safety across its platforms.

And these youth panels, the four of them, will be presenting their ideas at the inaugural Youth Policy Forum next month. They will be sharing it with me and I look forward to hearing from them.

The Youth Panels are just one way for young people to contribute, there are many other opportunities which we will provide for all of you to continue to give back to our society and shape our future together.

Next Bound for the Youth Corps

Now, even as the Government develops more avenues for youth participation, the Youth Corps itself should refresh its approach to engaging young people and let me just quickly suggest three areas for the Youth Corps to consider.

First, make it easier for young people to take the first step towards volunteering.

Today, when youths sign up for a regular volunteering programme with the Youth Corps, at least the main programme, they typically have to commit about 8 hours per month, for 3 months.

That is a big commitment and youths have many things on their plate – they have schoolwork, internships, CCAs. Not everyone can make such a long-term time commitment for volunteering.

And that is why Youth Corps has already started some bite-sized programmes, with lower time commitments, so that young people can step forward and have a taste of volunteering.

So I encourage the Youth Corps to continue with this direction, develop more bite-sized volunteering programmes so that young people can step forward to do something not so large-scale, something small, and they can consider doing more at a later stage when they are ready.

Second, I will encourage the Youth Corps to develop more areas that young people can volunteer in.

You already have volunteering programmes across 8 areas – mental health; environment; special needs; seniors; community care; migrant workers; youth; and children and family.

These cover a lot of ground. But I think there is still scope to do more. For example, to support seniors well, which is one of your existing areas of focus, the Youth Corps volunteers help with health screening for the elderly.

But ageing well goes beyond physical health. We know that there are many seniors staying alone, and they face mental health challenges or the risk of becoming socially isolated if they are not engaged. So Youth Corps volunteers can also do more to befriend these seniors, to encourage them to go out of their homes, and to help them stay meaningfully engaged.

This is just one example. I am sure there will be many other ideas to expand the space for young people to make a positive impact.

Third and finally, I would encourage the Youth Corps to mount more overseas expeditions.

Today, the Youth Corps already provides volunteers to go on expedition projects to ASEAN countries, China, and India. And I think quite a number of Youth Corps leaders have had the opportunity to do so. And you have had very positive experiences when you go overseas.

Before Covid, we would mount about enough expeditions for about 4,000 youths a year. These trips were suspended during the pandemic. And then now that the pandemic is over, we have resumed the trips. But we have not been able to mount as many overseas expeditions as before. Last year, we only had about 2,000 youths going overseas, which is about half the pre-Covid levels.

So we will do more, we should do more to design attractive overseas programmes in the region, and encourage more young people to take this up, so that they can benefit from the overseas experience.

For example, the Youth Corps can create more opportunities for our young people to work with local youth volunteers in their respective countries. Then you can forge close relationships, build networks and friendships with your peers.

And eventually in time to come, we can build a stronger volunteer ecosystem beyond Singapore as well.

Conclusion

To conclude, we all know the world around us is changing, it is changing more rapidly than before.

For the last 30 years, we have enjoyed a region that was relatively peaceful, a world that was relatively peaceful.

Unfortunately, we are now in a new era of competition and conflict, where we see the rise of rivalry between major powers and a splintering of the world.

Singapore will have to navigate these very complicated geopolitical cross-currents.

But this is not the first time we have had to confront difficult external circumstances.

We have done so when we first became independent, and then many times over the last 60 years.

And each time, we have rallied together, we have weathered the storms and emerged stronger.

The key to us being able to do so is our strong sense of solidarity and trust amongst Singaporeans.

The Youth Corps contributes to this strengthening of our shared bonds, especially amongst our youths.

You have shown what is possible when we come together with a shared vision and common purpose.

You have touched lives and uplifted communities.

Your drive, your passion and your commitment to serve show us what it means to be a strong and united people.

So on this 10th anniversary, we not only celebrate your achievements, but we can also look ahead with confidence and hope for the future. Let us meet the challenges of our time with grit and gumption, and with faith in our fellow citizens. Let us work together to take Singapore Forward into a brighter future. Thank you, everyone and happy 10th anniversary once again!