Speech by RADM (NS) Lui Tuck Yew, Minister of State, Ministry of Education, at the CitiBank-YMCA Youth for Causes 2007 Awards Celebration on Saturday, 24 November2007, 10.30am, at Supreme Court Auditorium

SPEECH BY RADM (NS) LUI TUCK YEW, MINISTER OF STATE, MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, AT THE CITIBANK-YMCA YOUTH FOR CAUSES 2007 AWARDS CELEBRATION ON SATURDAY, 24 NOVEMBER 2007, 10.30AM, AT SUPREME COURT AUDITORIUM

Mr Jonathan Larsen
Head of South East Asia, Global Consumer Group
Country Business Manager & CEO
Citibank Singapore Ltd

1 It gives me great pleasure to be here with you this morning at the Citibank-YMCA Youth for Causes Awards Celebration. It is heartening to see so many of you here, and to know that there are youths like you who are committed to spend time and effort for a worthy cause.

2 For those who think the youth of today tend to live only for themselves, they only have to be here to see how wrong they are. I am aware that you have all worked tirelessly and made untold sacrifices in order to help those who are less fortunate than yourselves. I am pleased to learn that the total sum raised this year by all the teams is $650,000. That is no small sum; it represents one aspect of the tangible fruits of your labour and I would like to applaud all the teams who contributed creative ideas and projects for this year’s Citibank-YMCA Youth for Causes. This amount will go to the beneficiaries of 52 voluntary welfare organisations (VWOs). Of equal importance and somewhat harder to quantify is the many lives that will benefit from your labour. And when we look beyond the amount raised, the public awareness which your projects have generated goes a long way in helping the VWOs create a lasting impression with the public. Congratulations on a job well done.

LEARNING LIFE SKILLS

3 Beyond helping the VWOs and making a difference to their beneficiaries, participation in this programme must have brought home many meaningful experiences and lessons. The business skills that you have acquired whilst doing your project will prepare you for the economy when you enter the workforce. Through working as a team, you would have learnt the art of effective communication and the essence and importance of good teamwork. These are useful life skills. But I hope that this programme would also have enabled you to identify more closely with the plight of less fortunate and to know that a caring heart, a sympathetic ear, a strong shoulder and helping hands are just as important as the money you raised. These are equally important life skills.

4 I had the chance to witness some of those qualities, as I had the privilege of being at an event earlier this year organised by one of the teams. I understand that the team handled everything from finance, media relations and sale of items, as well as organising events and canvassing for support. It is no easy feat doing all that, but I believe they succeeded because they saw the need and worked as a team to meet their goals. They and all of you exemplify how our young can rise to the occasion when the situation calls for it, and this augurs well for the future of our nation.

5 Even as you take a well deserved breather, I would like to take this opportunity to remind all of you that it does not mean the end of your involvement with the community. My hope is that you will continue to be actively involved and will inspire others to do their bit for society.

6 The Citibank-YMCA Youth for Causes programme started five years ago. Over the last five years, besides empowering young people to create businesses that serve a social cause of their choice, the programme also provides an element of education and training. This year, the Citibank-YMCA Youth for Causes programme has launched the YMCA-NUS Business School Volunteer Service Management Programme. Those of you who have gone through this programme in June are the inaugural batch of students for this one-of-a-kind programme, which is believed to represent the first such collaboration between a VWO and a local university. Through this, you should be equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge to implement service projects successfully and make a difference in society.

7 I am pleased to learn that there will be a new addition to the Citibank-YMCA Youth for Causes programme next year – the Citibank-YMCA Youth for Causes Sustainability Grant. I am told the grant aims to take the Youth for Causes projects to a new level by encouraging the ideas to be further commercialised and be economically sustainable. I understand the projects will take the form of longer-term social enterprises through the provision of a larger seed capital. Besides benefiting the social service sectors, these social enterprises would benefit and champion environmental causes. I believe the secretariat for the Citibank-YMCA Youth for Causes will release more details to the public in the coming months.

CONCLUSION

8 At this juncture, I would like to commend YMCA and Citibank for continuing in their partnership through the Youth for Causes programme. Such collaborative and complimentary efforts between the public and private sectors, as well as the community in general, have not just served as a catalyst for our young people’s social activism, but have also impacted the stakeholders involved, as seen in the video that was shown earlier.

9 Last but not least, I would like to convey my heartfelt congratulations to the teams that will be specially commended for your outstanding efforts. I have avoided the term ‘winning’ team because I believe that in such an endeavour, the teams and all the participants are winners. And so, to all the teams, mentors, supporting schools and VWOs, thank you very much for your valuable contributions. I urge you to continue to make a difference to the community you live in so that, ultimately, Singapore will become a better home for all.