The GAHA Orientation is the main project GAHA embarks on each year, to welcome our new batch of Gold Award recipients. I was given the opportunity to head this project with Gary, one of the GAHA Executive Committee members and working together with a team of friends from GAHA. This year, 99 Gold Award recipients participated in the event held at Temasek Polytechnic on Saturday, 26 September.
Mr James Soh, Executive Director of NYAA Council delivered the opening address, followed by Mr Terence Chia, Chairman of GAHA who introduced about GAHA and shared with our new GAHA members the various projects that GAHA has been involved in.
The main focus of this year’s orientation programme is mainly on engaging our new members, to allow them to understand more about GAHA, emphasizing on our organisation’s motto ‘Service beyond Gold’ and in addition, providing them with opportunities to work with GAHA for future projects in the areas of Environment, Youth and Elderly and International Youth Programmes.
Ice breaker games were planned for the new batch of GAHA members to interact with each other. At the end of the day, what we hope for is that the new batch of GAHA members will remember the friendship that they had built and continue to keep in contact with one another, exploring the possibilities of future collaboration in community projects.
Interacting with a few new GAHA members, it reminded me of the time when I first received my Gold Award and joined GAHA. It was exciting and fulfilling to work on the various projects like the Boys’ Home Mentoring Programme and PACT (Promise to Act against Climate Change Threat) with other GAHA members. Regardless of age and other differences, we have a common goal that is to continue to contribute back to society and implement these projects to benefit the whole community. We work together to achieve this goal and in the process, we get to learn from each other and broaden our horizons. These invaluable skills like leadership skills, communication skills and teamwork which I pick up allow me to work effectively with others and give me ample preparation for work in future. These are definitely not taught in textbooks but only through experiential learning.
“The orientation was short, but it was a fun, enjoyable and beneficial one. The people I’ve met are all motivated and passionate individuals. I have also gained a better understanding of what GAHA is and what GAHA does.” - Yap Jia Wei, GAHA 2009
Some thoughts shared by the organising team:
“Working together with like-minded people in organising this project is a whole new experience for me. From being a participant in the GAHA orientation 2 years ago to organising this project this year, it is a refreshing experience as I see the whole orientation from a different perspective. It is definitely satisfying to see youth actively contributing to our community and emerging as youth leaders. I hope we can keep in touch and see one another again in future GAHA events.”
- Soh Seow Fong, GAHA 2007
“This year, the orientation is organised and we managed to have group consolidation at the end of the programme. I hope that there will be continuity, for our new batch of GAHA members to organise an event together and recruiting them into our current ongoing projects.
- Mark Cheng, GAHA 2007
Last but not least, I’d like to congratulate our new batch of Gold Award recipients on attaining the National Youth Achievement Gold Award. We welcome you to our GAHA family and look forward to working with all of you in future GAHA projects!
“SEP was very fruitful for me, and I look forward to the upcoming SEPs to improve myself.”
NYAA GAHA successfully organised a Skills Enhancement Programme (SEP) workshop on 17 January 2009. This is the pioneer peer sharing and enrichment programme specially organised for all GAHA members. Zaibun Siraj, a member of the NYAA Council and NYAA Chief Trainer, was invited to deliver the first training workshop. The programme was knowledge intensive yet fun especially when all participants were actively involved in the discussions and role-play sessions.
This SEP seeks to enhance GAHA members’ skills in organising events and to advocate effective people-interaction skills. Participants learn to present a confident image by walking, acting, moving, sitting and dressing appropriately. They also learnt how to adopt a relaxed posture while speaking and to display positive body language at all times, amongst many other useful skills. GAHA members who attended the programme would indeed be more confident in discharging their duties efficiently and confidently in the future, in both local and international events.
All members were encouraged to share their opinions freely throughout the workshop. Discussions were actively carried out, while the speaker also highlighted some common issues, which tended to be neglected by people. For instance, the fact that a proper facial and eye contact is essential to engage into an effective conversation. Through active interactions between the speaker and the audiences, the essence of lecture was delivered effectively to all participants. Apart from the discussions, the workshop also allowed participants to demonstrate their understanding on the lecture, through a series of role-playing activities. In order to reinforce the main issues covered, a list of bring home messages, in the form of a pledge, was given (see picture of participants reciting the ‘pledge’).
Overall, the workshop was brief, yet concise to meet the objective of enhancing skills and the knowledge of GAHA members. With the success of such a pioneer training session, we look forward to future SEP workshops for the benefit of all GAHA members.
Once in a while, when feeling nostalgic, I reflect on my life and wonder how different it would be if I hadn’t participated in the NYAA. I would not have participated in an ASEAN Youth Forum, and certainly would not have trekked through the Jordanian desert. Never could I imagine that I would shake hands with our President, or with British Royalty. However, it’s less these events themselves, but more the impact they’ve had on me, that is worth telling others about.
The NYAA allowed me, early in my life, exposure to other cultures, opportunity to interact with people from different backgrounds. “Seek to understand before seeking to be understood” is considered a smart way of developing good relationships (business and person); this is an important lesson I learned early by participating in and hosting NYAA exchange programs. Mr. James Soh and Ms. Aileen Yap of the NYAA Council were kind to me when I made naïve errors, and taught me very personal lessons that everyone deserved a second, third, and fourth chance. Here in the Silicon Valley, I am privileged to be surrounded by smart and ambitious people, but am not impressed by that alone. When colleagues or friends talk about how smart and capable someone is, I always ask if that person is a good person. Are they kind to their friends and family? Are they considerate to strangers? Do they care about others, or just about themselves? People with intellect and drive impress me, but not nearly as much as people who use their intellect and drive to better the lives of others – there so many examples of such goodness in the NYAA and GAHA. Award Participants and Holders who seek to positively impact people around them are inspirations for me.
In my current job, I apply the scientific training I’ve received over 6.5 years in grad school, but even more than that, I apply the people skills that I started to develop 17 years ago when I joined the NYAA. On a daily basis, I interact with Vice-Presidents, Staff Scientists with PhDs, business managers, lawyers. I also manage several technicians, and in the short time that I’ve been at the company have evolved into the role of mentor for young engineers, and technicians. My friends and colleagues and bosses tell me that I am independent, confident, responsible, capable, adaptable, persistent, resilient and reliable. Would those qualities be so central to my character if not for the NYAA? I’d rather not find out, because, and please forgive my self-indulgence, I’m quite happy with the way things turned out.
From the bottom of my heart, I can say that participating in the NYAA program is one of the best things I’ve done. With all sincerity, I hope that you have, or will develop, similarly positive feelings about the impact of the NYAA in your life.
Participant, Facilitator and now Publicity Chairperson. National Youth Forum (NYF) has been my biennial volunteering “tour-of-duty” since 2004. In the tradition of NYAA GAHA Chairman Terence’s “Mind Your Ps”, I would now share with you my eventful and challenging 1-year journey in the organising of NYF 2008 in the form of 3Ps:
Programme: NYF began in 2004 when the National Youth Council decided to address Prime Minister Lee Hsien Long’s call to enhance the level of youth civic participation in Singapore. In NYF, youths from a variety of backgrounds now have a formal platform to study formulation; debate national issues and spearhead initiatives to benefit the community at large.
NYAA GAHA’s relationship with NYF started even earlier. NYAA Executive Director Mr James Soh and Terence Chia assisted the NYC staff and the organising committee, providing advice in the conceptualization of the inaugural NYF. GAHA’s bond with NYF continued as Cliff Koh (our NYF 08 poster boy!) and Shawn Loh were selected as NYF 06 participants. NYF 06 was a tremendous success as the participants were inspired by NYF 06’s vision to “Take the Lead and “Be the Change”. For instance, Cliff’s group spearheaded the “Go Global” Business Case competition, a competition and seminar on youth entrepreneurship while Shawn’s group imitated “Audible Hearts”, a web portal offering online peer support by youths for youths.
Publicity: The challenge for NYF 08 is therefore tremendous, since we aim to improve on the successes of NYF 06 and expand the platform to more youths in Singapore.
In order to do so, publicity assumes an important role in ensuring that our NYF message is heard. Having gained a broader perspective and a deeper insight into Singapore’s polity in NYF 04, I felt the need to spread the unique message of the “NYF experience”.
I recalled the “4 P”s that I learnt from my lecturer in marketing – product, pricing, promotion and placement – and tried to apply them to NYF 08.
Fortunately, we have a wonderful “product” in NYF, as it had continued to inspire our youths to create new realities in our community and society. Our aim therefore is to relate to the “client’s needs and wants”. After consulting friends and conducting our own surveys, we managed to not just set out a shopping list of familiar youth themes, but the key dilemmas facing the young people of Singapore. We look at issues that youths have an interest and stake in. In NYF 08, we argued and debated over issues such as sexuality, education, sports, new media and global warming.
Although NYF had a minimal fee incurred, it was not this “price” we were concerned with. We were more concerned with the youths’ “opportunity costs” since NYF is a long and intensive programme. With the help of the programme Chairperson, we managed to reduce the duration of the whole programme into three months.
For “promotion”, we created “buzz” with our design of teaser posters and Youtube videos. Using the “Be Engaged” theme, a ring was featured in our teaser posters in the Straits Times and MyPaper. In our youtube video, we showed an NYF alumnus proposing to his girlfriend with a ring, ending off with “Be Engaged”.
“Placement” refers to how the product gets to the customer. This was probably the most challenging task. To create awareness, the organizing committee conducted roadshows at various schools and institutions. We also organized an NYF Publicity Launch and Gameshow at Bugis Junction to attract potential participants. On the web, we advertised NYF on MSN Messenger.
In the end, it worked! We had an overwhelming response in NYF 08 applications. This provided us with a happy selection headache as it took us 1.5 months every weekday evening, surviving on junk food, to interview all our applicants.
People: In the end, it all boils down to the people. Organised by the NYF alumni, the NYF is in itself the product of youths’ ideals and their keenness to play an active role in nation-building.
Whilst it is a popular view that Singaporean youths are politically apathetic or disinterested, I found many likeminded friends who did care about the way things were going in Singapore and we spent much time during the forum discussing about policies and politics.
And the NYF experience continues to grow because of the friendships made during the NYF. A call is all it takes for enthusiastic alumni and friends of alumni to help out. Cliff, for instance, took time off from his busy school day to dress up and pose for a photo shoot in our NYF 08 poster. I also appreciate how Natalie readily agreed to be one of our guest speakers on a lazy Saturday afternoon.
Thank you to all who have made NYF08 a success!
For more information about project collaborations, please visit the NYF website at www.nyf.sg.
First of all, a warm welcome to Vintage 2008 of the GAHA Family! We hope all of you had a wonderful time at the Orientation on 27 Sep 08 and the Ceremony on 3 Oct 08. Also a big thank you once again to the members who volunteered their time to help out at the Orientation and Ceremony.
There is no shortage of activities, which await those of you who are ready to Serve Beyond Gold. Some examples are listed below, together with the contact information of the GAHA Exco you can write to if you would like to find out more or to help out.
So if you’re interested, feel free to drop any of us an email to find out more. In your emails, it would be useful also if you stated your background and any specific areas you feel you would be able to contribute in (e.g. if you are a physiotherapist and would like to do sessions for the elderly; if you have access to dragonboating facilities and you think it would be good for a social activity, etc.)
Please cc info[ at ] nyaagaha.org (if not already in the main email) in any emails to us so that we can better keep track of your correspondences.
As some of the activities may be a few months or more than a year away, please bear with us if we do not respond immediately with the details. Nevertheless, you can expect a friendly email acknowledging receipt from us.
