By Judith Tan
Tourists on their first visit to Singapore are being approached by friendly senior citizens at the airport, offering directions and telling them where to claim their baggage.
Dressed in black polo tees and red vests, these seniors are part of the Changi Senior Ambassador programme run jointly by RSVP Singapore - a body for senior volunteers - and the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore.
RSVP president Philbert Chin, 81, said being involved this way engages the seniors both mentally and physically, a goal at the heart of RSVP's activities for its members.
This philosophy has won RSVP Singapore this year's Outstanding VWO Award in Innovation, given out by the National Council of Social Service (NCSS). VWO stands for voluntary welfare organisation.
Meanwhile, the Outstanding VWO Award in Collaboration was shared by the Alzheimer's Disease Association and the Lions Befrienders Service Association. The two bodies were honoured for working tirelessly with other organisations to raise awareness of their respective causes.
Each of the two categories comes with a prize of $20,000, with the latter two associations splitting their prize equally. The winners also received plaques from Minister of State for Community Development, Youth and Sports Yu-Foo Yee Shoon at the NCSS Members Conference 2010 at the NTUC Centre yesterday.
Dr Chin told reporters that, aside from being friendly faces and helping hands to lost tourists at the airport, RSVP members run Learning Journey, an outdoor interactive programme for school children and senior groups.
Acting as tour guides, RSVP volunteers take their charges to places such as the Marina Barrage, the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve and the Old Ford Factory to show them what makes Singapore tick.
'It is like a sort of national service we seniors do and enjoy doing,' Dr Chin said. He described RSVP as a 'bottom-up driven' organisation which gives its members a say in the kind of programmes it runs.
Besides the awards presentation, the NCSS Members Conference 2010 brought together 500 members to address key issues in the social service sector.
Speakers yesterday were Professor Andrew Scharlach, a specialist in elder care, and Mr Ho Kwon Ping, the executive chairman of Banyan Tree Holdings, a developer and manager of premium hotels, spas and resorts.
At the event, a website which VWOs can use to promote their products and services was launched. Items sold include batik coasters and cushion covers by the Metta Welfare Association, and door hangers and magnets by the Centre for Adults at the Association for Persons with Special Needs.
An NCSS spokesman said a single website would provide a centralised platform for its members to showcase their products: 'Previously, these products and services were hosted on the VWOs' own sites, making it quite difficult for the public to go from one to the other.'
Source: The Stratis Times, 13th October 2010
URL: http://www.straitstimes.com/Singapore/Story/STIStory_589922.html
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