Singapore is not best known for its cuddly nature; it came in 79th out of 140 countries for “helping a stranger” in the CAF World Giving Index 2016 (which was still an improvement from when it came in 134th out of 135 countries for that particular metric in 2013). For two other charitable acts, “volunteering time” and “donating money”, Singapore was ranked 54th and 19th, respectively, in the 2016 index. Its overall ranking, 28th, was an improvement from 64th place in 2013, and 34th place in 2015.
People who leave the comfort of home to help ease pain and privation elsewhere tend to wade into the deep ends of all three acts of altruism – helping strangers, doing it on their own time, and parting with money in order to do it.
This need for meaning might be percolating in the concrete jungle. There are no comprehensive numbers that capture such a yearning, but the Singapore International Foundation says that the number of specialist international volunteers with the organisation grew from 90 in 2012 to 145 last year.
These are some Singaporeans who have found themselves in altruistic roles, in strange places.
- Mr Bernard Lim and his wife, former teachers, moved to Danang in July 2012 to work for a private school, teaching students and training others to teach.
- Sarah Tan is in Malawi, East Africa, working as a technical adviser. The 25-year-old moved there about one-and-a-half years ago, after doing similar work in the Philippines.
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