Volunteer now to make a difference

I REMEMBER vividly a friend passing a comment that I had probably made a bad decision in joining the Rotary Movement some 18 years ago. It was shortly after I had started my entrepreneurship journey. His comment was well intended. I might not have had the energy or time to be an active Rotarian. At that time, all Rotary clubs had to meet weekly, as mandated by Rotary International in the US.

Fast forward to today, and I am still a Rotarian, albeit one that is not as active as I should be. There are many other channels for me to give back to society, and thanks to my network of contacts amassed over the past years, as well as the availability of social media, I am able to do so much more now.

Volunteerism in Singapore is quite different today compared to two decades ago. Joining an organised movement such as Rotary was one of the preferred avenues. What also was appealing was that it was an international body with about a million volunteers, which meant it could do good anywhere in the world by collaborating with local Rotary clubs in other countries. At that time, there were already 18 Rotary clubs in Singapore.