New dedicated corps aims to train, grow volunteer group
On Oct 11, a doctor friend invited me for a drink at a restaurant in Klebang Besar, Melaka, to chat about the conflict in the Middle East.
Our conversation pivoted to setting up a medical voluntary team comprising young people to carry out humanitarian missions in such zones.
The middle-aged couple, who were social activists, shared that they had received lukewarm response when encouraging youngsters to embrace the spirit of volunteerism, especially to serve during humanitarian crises.
Relevant non-governmental organisations, they said, must spark enthusiasm among young Malaysians and also outline a volunteer management framework.
“We need youths who do not only work for the sake of money but are also passionate about being a volunteer.
“There is a need to raise the power of volunteerism to a whole new level,” one of them said.
A few minutes later, Melaka Civil Defence Force’s (APM) Associate Corporate Officers chairman Kol (PA) Mike Thein joined our conversation.
Thein acknowledged that young adults were tough to woo as volunteers because they were more keen on building a career or venturing into business.
He said a holistic approach was needed that would incorporate professional training and reward volunteers with certificates, monthly awards and advancement programmes.
Thein said efforts to grow the pool of volunteers were also in line with the vision of APM chief commissioner Datuk Aminurrahim Mohamed, who aimed to recruit the public as volunteers.
An idea was hatched when Thein suggested getting the expertise of National Cancer Society of Malaysia (NCSM) managing director Dr M. Murallitharan to sketch out a dedicated volunteer corps specialising in social and healthcare aspects.
In a snap, a proposal was made to form a new squad under the umbrella of APM’s corporate unit with a nod from Dr Murallitharan and the chief commissioner’s blessing.
Arrangements were made to have a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between NCSM and APM’s corporate unit.
Dr Murallitharan outlined a holistic volunteer management plan for the collaboration that encompassed recruiting youths, providing proper training and retaining volunteers.
The recent MOU signing saw the presence of major TV stations and media outlets.
Guest-of-honour Melaka APM director Lt Kol (PA) Kamarulsyah Muslim described the collaboration as a new era in volunteerism involving caregivers of cancer patients.
He was confident that the effort was likely to woo high quality volunteers.
Dr Murallitharan, who was also present, acknowledged that being part of APM was a morale booster for volunteers.
He also felt that caregivers would be proud to be part of a prominent uniform body that had the potential to witness better patient outcomes as well as have more volunteers in healthcare response.
Thein sees the MoU as a platform to create an impact on the effectiveness of social and community efforts by wooing young adults, especially with the training expertise provided by NCSM.
Hopefully, this inaugural collaboration will be a benchmark to raise volunteerism rates among youths apart from developing a new strategy in promoting more collaborations with other organisations to embark on various volunteer efforts like protecting the environment.
The joint effort to enrich volunteer experience is also expected to develop a caregiver management framework and make volunteer roles attractive to youths.
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