NEA officials and experienced Tzu Chi recycling volunteers met up to exchange ideas and knowledge on environmental conservation, and discussed the possibility for future cooperation in the area of environmental education. Photo by Bernard Ng
In January, Tzu Chi organized a series of island-wide street fundraising activities in aid of flood victims in Malaysia. During the fundraising event along Orchard Road, Brandon Low, an official from the National Environment Agency, was among the many who contributed to the cause. He also saw an incident which left a deep impression on him – a Tzu Chi fundraising volunteer had picked up a leaf that had just fallen and thrown it into a trash bin. The simple but thoughtful gesture impressed him greatly; he had witnessed how Tzu Chi volunteers truly “walked the talk”.
With the aim of maintaining a clean and green Singapore, the NEA has spearheaded many environmental initiatives and programmes through its partnership with the 3P (People, Public and Private) sectors. Brandon Low is currently the Deputy Director of the Community & Outreach Department (3P Network Division) at the NEA. On 24 January, he visited Tzu Chi Singapore’s Jing Si Hall for the first time with seven of his colleagues. The NEA team and ten experienced recycling volunteers from Tzu Chi exchanged ideas and knowledge on environmental conservation in a 3-hour meeting, and discussed the possibility for future cooperation in the area of environmental education.
Working Together Towards a Common Goal
As an NGO, Tzu Chi has previously engaged in several collaborative efforts with the NEA. However, this was the first occasion NEA officials initiated a meeting with Tzu Chi. The person who brought the two organizations together was Tzu Chi volunteer Chua Chen Kok, who is also the Deputy Director of NEA’s Customer & Quality Service Department.
“I feel that since we (Tzu Chi and NEA) share the common goal of environmental protection, we need to cooperate together so that we can do better to achieve our goal,” said Chua, who hoped that the joint efforts of both parties can better promote eco-friendly practices in the community.
“Environmental conservation is not just a practice, but also a form of education,” said Tzu Chi recycling volunteer leader Suzan Tan. “When we are choosing a venue to set up a recycling point, we must take into consideration whether there is a concentration of people in the area, so we can promote eco-protection to more people in the public.” During the meeting, Suzan also gave a presentation on the collaboration between Tzu Chi and Pingtung City in Taiwan, which resulted in a reduction in waste from 30% to less than 1%. The encouraging real life example touched and inspired the NEA team.
The NEA officials on their own accord mentioned that they could contact the Residential Committees (RCs) in neighbourhoods without Tzu Chi recycling points and talk with them about the possibility of setting up such points in their vicinities. Then Tzu Chi would be able to work with these RCs to promote recycling to residents and recruit them to join the ranks of recycling volunteers. Apart from that, the officials also expressed their hope for both organizations to standardize their approach to the sorting of recyclables and work together to strengthen volunteers’ knowledge of environmental protection.
Volunteers with a Mission
“How does Tzu Chi mobilize its volunteers?” “How does Tzu Chi instil such a strong knowledge of eco-protection in its volunteers?” After hearing Suzan Tan’s presentation, the NEA officials raised many questions in order to find out more about Tzu Chi’s recycling efforts.
The 3P Network Division of the NEA have encountered many challenges in their work with the RCs to promote eco-awareness and recycling in the community. The officials learned that Tzu Chi Singapore mobilizes over a thousand volunteers monthly to do recycling at 33 recycling points island-wide, and were thus curious to learn how such large-scale mobilizations are carried out.
“Our founder Venerable Cheng Yen encouraged us to guide people with love and the Tzu Chi precepts, and that we must guide new volunteers just like how a mother hen takes care of her chicks,” said Susi, a deputy CEO of Tzu Chi Singapore. She further explained the Four-in-One organizational structure of Tzu Chi volunteers and volunteer training programme to the officials during lunch break.
Suzan Tan also shared her understanding of the difference between “ordinary volunteers” and “volunteers with a mission”: “People who voluntarily offer themselves for a service are called ‘volunteers’. But in Tzu Chi, we are called ‘volunteers with a mission’, because our hearts are committed to Tzu Chi’s work.” Susi further added, “We do not regard the recyclables we collect as trash, but rather as resources.”
After hearing the explanations, Brandon Low felt he had learned much, especially gaining a new understanding of what it means to be a “volunteer”.
Mutual Learning and Cooperation
Brandon Low had just returned from a trip to Taipei to learn about recycling work in the city, and he also got connected with Tzu Chi volunteers there. “What I have learned during this visit is the same as what I had learned in Taipei. Tzu Chi volunteers in Singapore and Taipei all have the spirit of gratitude and are also environmentally aware,” remarked Low. He believes that the volunteers’ love for the Earth and aspiration to work for the good of all are what that connect them closely together.
Upon learning of Tzu Chi Singapore’s upcoming CNY charity fair, Low took the opportunity to request for permission to allow NEA members to visit the fair to learn how Tzu Chi implements eco-friendly practices at the event and to record them on video. Then the NEA could try and adopt them in public events organized by the government.
Senior Tzu Chi recycling volunteer Xu Zhen Yao commented that both the NEA and Tzu Chi agreed on the idea that every resident should work to protect the environment, and the NEA hoped to learn from Tzu Chi’s experience in order to establish an effective system to educate and train volunteers. He said, “The government is actually open to communication, but we were not aware of that in the past; so, we did not initiate to approach them. We have really not done enough, but I believe we will be able to do more from now on.”
The first meeting between Tzu Chi Singapore and the NEA was a fruitful one. It is hoped that their synergy will bring environmental education and recycling work in Singapore to a higher level.
NEA officials took photos of a picture depicting Tzu Chi’s unique 4-in-1 volunteer organizational structure. Photo by Bernard Ng
Brandon Low (centre), a deputy director at the NEA, got connected with Tzu Chi through his colleague Chua Chen Kok (left), a Tzu Chi volunteer. Photo by Bernard Ng
Senior recycling volunteer Xu Zhen Yao (right) gave a demonstration on the Tzu Chi way of holding and using eco-friendly eating utensils. Photo by Bernard Ng
Before departing, the NEA team visited the Jing Si bookstore and posed for a group photo with Tzu Chi volunteers. Photo by Bernard Ng
Share 
