As the election for RO AGM 04/05 came to an end with 11 volunteers voted into office for RO Comm 04/05, it dawned on me that my “reign” as RO Chairperson was over. I was glad to see the willingness and enthusiasm of the new committee as it is not easy to find volunteers these days, let alone get them to take up more responsibilities as committee members. While I fade out gradually into the ranks of a “commoner” by being a “normal” volunteer, perhaps it is a good time to look back and reflect on my past year in RO.

It was out of a sense of “someone has to do it” that I took up the chairperson’s post a year ago. I was only a volunteer of 1 year experience at that time so I thought someone who had been around for a longer time will be more suitable as he/she will understand the trainees’ needs much better. As it turned out, it was not easy to find someone to commit so I duly took up the challenge.

I must say I was lucky. I had a supportive committee which helped me out quite a bit. I had worked with most of them organising the RO Camp in 2002. When everyone does his/her part well, it makes my job so much easier. Thanks guys and gals.

The year 03/04 didn’t start easy. It was SARS period then. I still remember the deliberation over whether to stop classes as even the national outlook on the scary illness was gloomy. There were lots of implications should things go wrong. Tough decisions and measures have to be implemented. In the end, we decided to get on with life and keep the classes going. But of course we had to have strict temperature taking regimes before we commenced class every week. Fortunately enough, the SARS storm was over in about 2 months and things got back to normal. Nonetheless, I guess I learnt quite a fair deal from this lesson. It had taught us to be ready for adversity and not take for granted what we have.

The past year also saw us taking in our 1 st autistic trainee. It was kind of a milestone for us too. We had no prior experience in dealing with autistic clients so we went through an exploratory journey in trying to understand him and accepting him. Questions were raised whether we were capable of handling him or have the resources to do so. We put him on probation for 3 months and finally we accepted him as he assimilated well into RO.

Another highlight was the transfer of 3 EP trainees to us as they had outgrown the EP programme. This was a first us too. Again we had to think through whether it would be suitable to accept them. They are much younger than our trainees and so our programme might not be suitable for them. As it turned out, they fitted in pretty well and have been transferred officially with effect from the new work year. This will set a new direction for the transfer of trainees in MYG in the future.

Other than trainees, we were also more forthcoming in accepting volunteers into our family. PSC approached RO first for a tie up for their scholars to visit us. We then arranged for the whole of MYG to be involved as well. Every now and then, when students approached us to volunteer their time to fulfil their CIP, we welcomed them as well. MYG had linked up with Heartware and RO had been involved as well. Basically, my idea of volunteers is that we should always welcome them. Some sceptics may say that some of them may not be committed or may have other agendas. I feel that we should always try to give them a chance and not judge them prematurely. Some may grow to be really committed. Who knows, right?

Although I have learnt a great deal as chairperson through the management of programmes, trainees and volunteers, there is a little down side though. As chairperson, I could be tied down with administrative stuff sometimes. At times I wished I had no commitments so I can fully interact with the trainees. Well, that is something which I hope to achieve in RO in the coming year.

To sum up, I didn’t regret the decision to take up the post. It was a great learning experience for a relatively new volunteer. So I urge fellow volunteers: if you can afford a little bit of time and commitment, why not consider taking up a post with your own project group or MYG and make a difference?