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Saying thanks to ‘priceless’ volunteers
One advised Juvenile
Court for nearly 40
years; another fostered
43 children in 32 years
BY ANG YIYING
TWO women who spent their lives look-
ing out for vulnerable children were hon-
oured yesterday with the inaugural out-
standing lifetime volunteers award by the
Ministry of Community Development,
Youth and Sports.
As a member of the Juvenile Court’s ad-
visory panel, Mrs Ann Wee, 83, helps de-
cide the fate of children and youth
brought before the court, while Madam
Indranee Nadisen, 69, is a “super foster
mum” to 43 children.
Paying homage to the community’s
“priceless” volunteers at a ceremony yes-
terday, Minister for Community Develop-
ment, Youth and Sports Vivian Balakrish-
nan said: “You are our ears, our eyes, our
hands, our feet on the ground.”
He thanked the inaugural winners,
who have “unwaveringly and uncondition-
ally contributed” for more than 30 years.
Mrs Ann Wee, an associate professori-
al fellow at the National University of Sin-
gapore’s department of social work, who
came from Britain in 1950, has been on
the advisory panel to the Juvenile Court
since 1970.
Mrs Wee, who has four granddaugh-
ters, said with a chuckle: “I never noticed
the time passing!”
Her job is to review the cases of youths
who are delinquent, deemed beyond pa-
rental control or need care and protec-
tion, and discuss the recommended or-
ders before the court hearing.
Discussions are usually held with the
magistrate, another adviser, officers han-
dling the case and the court psychologist.
On how cases have changed over the
BLOGGED ABOUT
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18 2009 B1
Mrs Ann Wee (right), 83, and Madam Indranee Nadisen (second from right), 69, are Outstanding Lifetime Volunteer Award winners. Mr Henry Yeo
(left), 58, and Madam Thiravingadam Sembugavalie, 70, are Outstanding Volunteer Award winners. ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM
Other winners
MCYS OUTSTANDING VOLUNTEER AWARD
쐽 Mr Henry Yeo, 58: The retired
accountant has been a volunteer at the
Singapore Boys’ Home since 2000 under
the Befriender Scheme, helping the teens
there “get back on the right path”.
Since 2004, he has been a member of
the Board of Visitors for Children and
Young Persons Homes, which conducts
surprise checks on 22 residences to make
sure those living there are taken care of.
He also set up a post office box in 2007
for residents to directly send feedback to
the board.
Through interacting with residents of
these homes, he said he has learnt “how
to listen so that people will talk and to
talk so that people will listen”.
쐽 Madam Thiravingadam Sembugavalie,
70: Madam Valie is a mother of eight
children and, over 35 years, has also
fostered 40 others.
She came into fostering by accident
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when she accompanied a friend to
register with the then Social Welfare
Department and was asked to volunteer
because of her extensive parenting
experience.
She said she loves children, and that
life would otherwise be boring without
them.
The woman, of Chinese descent,
knows what it is like to be cared for by
others. When only a baby, she was
adopted and brought up by an Indian
family.
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years, she said: “In the old days, we used
to laugh and say, ‘if we buy every kid a
second-hand bicycle, we could close the
Juvenile Court’. Bicycle theft was the
most common theft...Now, it’s cellphone
theft and shoplifting.”
Mrs Wee, who became a Singapore citi-
zen in 1958 and has been active for dec-
ades in social work, will step down from
the advisory panel next month.“Whatev-
er I put in, I got more out of it...I gained
so much from it. I don’t think they need
to say thank you. I should say, ‘thank you
for giving me opportunities’,” she said.
The other inaugural winner, Madam In-
dranee, is a well-known role model of al-
truism. The mother of six has cared for
43 children in 32 years of being a foster
mum. Madam Indranee, a Chinese
brought up by an Indian family, said she
was inspired by her own adoptive moth-
er, who also fostered other children.
Her own love for children kept her go-
ing, she said, adding that all the babies
she cared for never gave her problems
and were all “very good children”.
She adopted one as her daughter, now
aged 32, while another foster child, Ms Eu-
nice Tung, 24, still lives with her.
Ms Tung, an administrator, chose to
live with Madam Indranee’s family after
she was officially discharged from the fos-
tering scheme at the age of 18, instead of
going back to her biological parents.
Madam Indranee had to stop taking in
children last year because of shoulder and
knee problems. She will undergo surgery
on a knee tomorrow but plans to help out
at children’s homes when she is better.
A ministry spokesman said that the
new award is meant to recognise those
aged 65 and above who have contributed
consistently for 30 years or more and be-
fore they retire from volunteerism. It is
not an annual award.
Another 72 awards and 12 tokens of ap-
preciation for National Day award win-
ners were given out at the event at the Na-
tional Museum of Singapore yesterday.
ayiying@sph.com.sg