by Melissa Pang
PARTICIPATING in voluntary work helps the youth develop into better people and can impact the community in big ways.
These points, and more, were raised on Saturday at a dialogue session on volunteerism and community jointly organised by High School-YMCA (Hi-Y), a student chapter of YMCA Singapore, and Punggol Community Centre Youth Executive Committee.
The 40-minute discussion saw five panellists, including Minister for Foreign Affairs George Yeo and YMCA president Stephen Loh - share their personal experiences working in the community, and exchange views on the importance of volunteerism.
It was attended by about 150 pre-tertiary students.
Asked about some of the positive moments in his interaction with the community as a politician, Mr Yeo said: 'I think for most of us in politics, and some of us may find it addictive, it is because in a somewhat strange way, we enjoy doing this: interacting with people, seeing things happen, watching lives improve, and feeling that, yes, it's all worthwhile.'
'But I would say on the whole, the dominant motivation is, or should be, to want to do good so that lives are improved.'