Reflections
“Through approximately half a year of being in this service, it has been easy to recognise and understand challenges that we have faced in planning activities and managing our time, especially. We have been able to develop quite a few new skills through the challenges we have faced, in my opinion. For example, communication between us, especially for the chairs of the service, was improved after we found that we were a bit underprepared for certain sessions and could have used some better planning and prior information before going to the center. In another instance, there was an improvement in our skills of creativity and the confidence of actually putting up ideas to the rest of the group, as well as taking the incentive to create new plans for activities and to be open to criticism from the rest of the group members. We found this was a skill that arose as we grappled with the threat of having too little variety in our sessions, thus losing the interest of the elderly at the centre.”
“I decided to do this service as I wanted to become more involved in my local community of Bedok by getting to know some of the residents who live in the area. I was also really keen on participating in a local service as I really wanted to take an active, direct role in making a change. I wanted to develop better connections to the older generation of Singapore, as I felt that I do not get to interact with these members of society as much as I should.”
“After taking part in the Bedok Peacehaven Service during grades 9 and 10, I decided that I wanted to continue contributing towards helping the elderly individuals at the center as I felt as though I had already built a strong connection with many of the individuals there. Seeing as many of the other local services options did not cater to my interests, I knew that continuing with the service for a second year would be a good idea. Not to mention, one of the motivating factors involved the idea that I could then take on leadership roles within the service, for instance being a logistics organizer, communications coordinator, or chair.”
“For Chinese New Year in service, we conducted in activity with our clients which involved them making paper lantern cutouts. The paper lantern cutouts were colour-less, and though the plan was to have them colour the lanterns, we would have had them leave the lanterns white in case of a shortage of colour pencils or time. However, during a free block on the day of service, my Chinese friend exclaimed in shock after I showed him a white lantern cutout I’d done. He told me that while red lanterns signify the New Year and prosperity, white lanterns are used at funerals and embody death. I received a similar reaction from a staff member at our service, who repeatedly warned me not to give the elderly white lanterns. We then made sure that no lantern was left uncoloured, since that would have had disastrous moral consequences. This episode highlighted how even the tiniest of things have ethical repercussions, and that we must carefully consider our actions, especially when it comes to dealing with cultures and situations we are unfamiliar with.”