This reflective report is based on the parallel session titled “The Future of the ‘Many Helping Hands Approach’ to Sustainable Social Impact,” which was held at the IPS Conference on Civil Society 2013, 11 November, Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel.

Speakers

Ms Ang Bee Lian

Director of Social Welfare

Ministry of Social and Family Development
Ms Corinna Lim

Executive Director

Association of Women for Action and Research

 

Chairperson:

Ms Yew Lun Tian

Political Correspondent

Lianhe Zaobao

Singapore Press Holdings Ltd
This session focused on gathering views about the future of Singapore’s ‘many helping hands’ approach to delivering social services.  A summary as well as reflections on the session follow.

 

Speakers’ Presentations

Tension in the social service sector to be expected

Ms Ang Bee Lian said that tension is inherent in the relationship among non-government organisations (NGOs), voluntary welfare organisations (VWOs) and other civil society organisations (CSOs) as they are constantly competing for manpower as well as funds from government institutions and private organisations. Using the analogy of the hand to describe the social service sector, Ms Ang said that the social organisations are like fingers which touch the ground, the government like the palm of the hand which provides overall coordination and manages movements, and the funding, like the muscles. However, Ms Ang lamented, that the system does not always work as smoothly as depicted in the analogy.

Intermediaries to improve service delivery 

Often, there are overlaps or constraints at the different levels due to the lack of appropriate intermediaries to orchestrate the programmes of different organisations. There are growing demands on the sector and there is a shortage of professionals on the ground. As a result of this, the service received by beneficiaries can be short of what is required.

Ms Ang explained that her preference is for simple programs that are easily accessible by those who need help.  In this respect, the design issue is an important one. She stressed that it is important that programs are carefully tailored to fit the specific needs of those seeking help. Ultimately, social workers should be able to walk beneficiaries and their families right through the journey to restoration and stability.

Ms Ang also highlighted the need for business corporations to be involved in the community and their sponsorship for programmes as well. However, it would be difficult for the corporations to interface effectively with other social organisations because of the lack of capable intermediaries to matching and manage the partnership.

Many helping hands = Caring community?

Ms Corinna Lim, who was the other presenter, presented statistics which highlighted that while the rates of philanthropy and volunteerism have gone up in Singapore over time, it still ranks lowly against other countries. She conjectured that the low participation in civic spheres can be attributed to constraints such as laws requiring groups to register as societies or charities which might be too troublesome. She also highlighted the presence of the Internal Security Act and the lack of funding as further impediments to ground-up initiatives.

‘Hands +’

Ms Lim shared the history of AWARE, highlighting its most recent, large scale endeavour, the ‘End All Violence against Women’ campaign in 2012. The purpose of the campaign was to educate the public of the need to intervene in a situation of violence against women where earlier surveys showed that people would usually not. AWARE did not just intend to educate the public. Calling their approach ‘Hands +’, it set out to nurture 1000 ‘individual change makers’ who would in turn commit to raising the awareness of five other people so that they too could adopt a stance of zero tolerance to violence against women. This was, according to Ms Lim, one of the ways in which a community of concerned citizens can be formed to address a public and social need, as an extension of the ‘many helping hands’ approach.

Question and Answer Session

A participant asked if ground-up work has become too institutionalised today, hence creating unnecessary barriers to more self-help initiatives. It was supposedly easier in the past when the help groups were community-based. Ms Ang replied that although she does agree that it seemed better in the past, this was for a different reason. She explained that ground-up movements of the past took advantage of the 50-50 system, where the state provided 50% of the funding and the social organisation raising the rest of the amount. This way, the organisations would have greater autonomy. VWOs, NGOs and other CSOs, should always look to collaborate because if they depended on the state for funding, it would feel as if it was merely performing a contract job.

A member of the audience lamented that the public has the impression that VWOs are volunteer-run when in fact they have paid staff. When it comes to funding and donations, the donors and funders often want the money to be spent directly on the beneficiaries. The problem with such a view is that it leaves little support for the management side of the house and the professionals who should be compensated properly.  This made it difficult to attract and retain manpower.

Ms Ang said that there is indeed that other layer that sets policy and can be a constraints on how staff are compensated – the board members. She also added that people do feel for the VWOs and respect the work that the individuals do. She added that there are some social organisations that do pay their staff commensurate with their skills and work. There is a real need therefore to tap into the corporate market to support the organisations in their way too.

A participant said that while she remains sceptical of corporations funding ground-up initiatives, there are exceptions, and it is critical to ensure a good matching between them and the social organisations.  Ms Lim said that while corporations would not usually mind engaging with something ‘safe’ like animal rights or environmental preservation, they shy away from sensitive topics like women’s rights. This needs to change.

Reflections

The two speakers seemed to have different perspectives on the ‘many helping hands approach’ to social services. Ms Lim called for greater involvement from the government whereas Ms Ang said that social organisations should look beyond the government for help. The latter perspective is in line with the broader global movement to promote Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and is more widely adopted by multinational corporations. More often than not, CSR divisions in companies act as the intermediaries that Ms Ang had observed seemed to be missing in the context of Singapore. It is quite possible that CSR for companies based in Singapore are at their infancy stages in this movement, and require a push to be more involved.  Currently, there are institutions such as the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre, as well as Ms Ang’s former organisation, National Council of Social Services, that play that intermediary role. Unless this part of the system is strengthened, it is likely that VWOs, NGOs and CSOs will continue to clamour for more government help.

Action Points

• Identify and review legal and bureaucratic encumbrances to facilitate even more ground- up
• Raise awareness of the need for grant-making to be directed to operational funding of social organisations, emphasising the importance of attracting and retaining talent.
• Strengthen current or build more intermediary organisations that bridge private corporations with VWOs, NGOs and CSOs to tap the former for support.
• Examine more generally, how to increase the level of altruism and volunteerism in Singapore for a sustainable ‘many helping hands’ approach.

Mohammad Khamsya Khidzer is a Research Assistant with the Institute of Policy Studies.

Please do check out the other reports on the Civil Society Conference, including:

• Contemplations on Civil Society circa 2013 by Gillian 
• What should the Future Legislative Landscape Relating to Civil Society in Singapore Look Like?  by Valerie 
• What More Can Be Done to Foster Youth Activism in Singapore? By Tay Ek 
• What Roles Could Ethnic-Based Civil Society Play in the Future? By Sim Jui 
• How can Civic Education Nurture a Thriving, Deliberative Democracy in Singapore? By Debbie Soon