Volunteering and charity works
"We know only too well that what we are doing is nothing more than a drop in the ocean. But if the drop were not there, the ocean would be missing something.”. This famous quote from Mother Teresa sums up everything! I have always wanted to be that drop in the ocean and inspire people around me to be that drop too. One can only do that much, but if we gather more people together, a significant difference can be made, especially on volunteering and charity works.
I’ve been fortunate and grateful to grow up with a roof over my head, food served on the table and education from young till I graduate with a degree. However, not everyone has the same opportunities as I do. We often think only about what we can learn and earn, but what’s more important would be what we can give to others with what we have right now. It’s not only the rich and famous that can contribute to society, but all of us also have a role to play too, regardless of status. This is a belief that I hold strongly to. The world will be a better place if we can all help the community. There are a lot of people out there who need help and support.
During the COVID pandemic, together with Sunway University and Pejabat ADUN Subang Jaya, we organized the Sunway Goes MAD event. In this event, we raised funds to donate goods and basic necessities to the underprivileged communities in Sunway & Subang and raised funds for the Sunway students in need. A lot of people lost their jobs and struggled to feed their families during this pandemic, so being able to help them would be crucial and it means a lot to them too. I’ve also been involved in the university’s Mentoring program and as and when there are charity events in Sunway campus, I’ll always try to help too such as the annual year-end Shoebox event.
Besides campus involvement, at my workplace, I’ve also been involved with community work. I’ve travelled as far as to the mountains of Dalat in Vietnam to teach the kids in the village and I’m also part of the Deloitte’s World-class program to support education, digital skills development and training opportunities to young students so that they can succeed in the modern economy. So, I guess, the volunteering spirit and habit of mine since university days stay with me till today!
One of the most memorable giving experiences I have would be the volunteering works I had with a group of Myanmar refugee kids 10 years ago. My team and I taught the kids tuition classes every Friday morning. When we first went in, the kids couldn’t speak much English but after close to 3 years of classes, we can all see improvement, they can converse in basic English with us and among themselves. My team and I have actually been connected with them through social media up till today. We get to see what they are doing right now in their lives and where they are. These are refugee kids back then that were not given much attention by the community, we went in to help them with SSV, and now knowing that they grow up to be fine young adults, it gave us a sense of accomplishment and reminds us that what we’ve done didn’t gone down the drain. It actually makes a difference, and we are part of the kids’ remarkable journey! So, for myself and my team, this experience made an impact not just on the kids’ lives but our lives too.
The highest achievement in Sunway campus in terms of recognition would be accepting the Sunway Excellence Curricular Achievers (ECA) award in 2012. I was thankful for the recognition that was given by the University. As for the highest satisfaction, I would always be grateful for all the opportunities that the University has given me. This is a university that shaped and molded us into a complete person, ready to step to the big world. Through Sunway Student Volunteer (SSV), I was able to connect with people in and outside campus, leading a big group of students, organizing events and working with people from various backgrounds; all these helped me so much when I first started my career. All the skills and experiences are priceless. I’ve always felt that I have a huge advantage over other fresh grads at my workplace because of all the work that I’ve been involved in during my university days.
