Work: Me

It is actually not easy to go about and seek donations from the public. Especially with the recent issue of the NKF and Youth Challenge, almost every Singaporean is now a cynic. It no longer matters that I have an authentic licence. People do not trust it anyway. To them, it is just a piece of paper, easily counterfeited. It has degraded into a situation whereby people would actually avoid me because I am holding a licence in my hand, even if I had no prior intention of telling them about the fund-raising campaign. The situation is so rampant that I have actually been forced to question if the recent charity scandals have actually provided the perfect reason to reject fund-raisers. It clearly does not make sense if so many people, claiming to have been very charitable in the past, can suddenly revert to complete hatred for all charitable organisations. The NKF issue has been cleared, with the responsible people having received punishment, and yet, it is still with utter ignorance that people still use the example of the NKF to reject all attempts to raise funds. NKF clearly did not cheat the feelings of the people. It merely provided them with the perfect excuse.

The other reason I often hear is that the government has a lot of money, so they should be the ones helping the charity. That clearly defeats the whole purpose of charity itself. With charity, it is really about people helping their peers who are less fortunate. It does not make sense if the government actually cares for all the poor people. We would be breeding another welfare state. There would be no purpose in working since anyone who is poor can gain governmental support. This governmental support, however, would actually have to come from taxes, which would increase as more people claim charity. Transferring a large portion of the burden onto the public also helps to raise awareness that there are actually less fortunate people around. It increases social awareness, thereby actually creating a more community-minded public.

And it is not like I am asking for hundreds of dollars. I am just asking for ten. And if it is still too much, I, for one, understand. Just be honest with me.