Singapore Government Press Release

Media Division, Ministry of Information and The Arts

36th Storey, PSA Building, 460 Alexandra Road, Singapore 119963.

Tel: 3757794/5

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Good morning ladies and gentlemen, the principal, teachers and students of Kuo Chuan Presbyterian Secondary School.

The Ministry of Education recently introduced the Community Involvement Programme (CIP). Under this Programme, secondary school students are required to devote a minimum of six hours a year to community work.

Six hours for community work does not seem a lot, if you think about what needs to be done. Take a look around you, and you will notice that there are many activities that can be considered community work. Students can choose to help residents committees organise enriching and worthwhile activities for residents, tell stories to children at local libraries, provide help to elderly or infirm residents, collect used clothing to raise funds for the needy and so on. The list is limitless. You are limited only by your enthusiasm and imagination.

Many people have the wrong idea that doing community work means you have to do something big to make your effort count. This is not so. A simple act such as volunteering your service to help organise grassroots activities in your estate, or befriending an old folk to keep her company from time to time is also considered as community work. Of course, doing community work does require a certain level of personal commitment and discipline. I hope you will persevere .

This CIP is timely and most appropriate when you consider the main pre-occupation of our students, which is, to excel in their studies. Study is absolutely important for students but education is more than just study, study and study. As succinctly stated in the ‘Desired Outcomes of Education’ recently published by the Ministry of Education "education is about nurturing the whole person". When successfully done, an educated person is one who is responsible to himself, his family, his friends, his community and his country. So, an early exposure to community service can help our children become better citizens as they learn to care for the people and the environment around them.

We are here today to witness the official launch of the "Adopt A Park & Precinct" projects. This is a joint community effort by the Bishan-Toa Payoh Town Council, Bishan East Zone ‘1’ RC and Kuo Chuan Presbyterian Secondary School. I am pleased to learn that Kuo Chuan Presbyterian Secondary School has committed six months to take care of a neighbourhood park and a precinct in our Bishan estate.

Over the next six-months, the students will be exposed to a variety of challenging tasks. Those deployed to upkeep the park will be involved in activities such as clearing the park of litter and dried leaves, pruning and planting of shrubs at designated plots and painting the park benches. Their schoolmates at the precinct will sweep and mop the area around the lift lobby, clear small discarded items like newspaper and magazines from the common areas and even undertake to decorate the Town Council notice board.

Adopting a park is indeed a good idea as it helps students appreciate the tremendous effort needed to maintain the greenery of Singapore. Similarly, by helping to clean up some common areas of the adopted precinct, students will learn to appreciate that a clean environment does not happen naturally. It takes a lot of hard work by the cleaners for the residents who live in the estates to be consciously aware of the need to take care of the environment.

CIP brings students outside the classroom and helps them learn about other things in life. It gives them an opportunity to be personally involved in activities where the fruit of their labour can be visible and tangible. At the same time, students get to learn the value of teamwork and organisation skills through projects such as these. This will definitely go a long way in their character building.

I hope all the students will enjoy the activities involved in adopting the neighbourhood park and the precinct and benefit from the experience.

Thank you and have a nice day.

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