My organization gives employees a reimbursible S$500 for anything we so choose. It could be a phone, air-tickets, dental visits, whatever.
Today, they introduced another option for claims under this reimbursement scheme. We could also claim for donations made to registered charities.
I received that news with mixed feelings.
It's great that our HR thinks through its policies and gets inventive about avenues of charity work for employees beyond the usual fundraising activities of flea markets, funfairs and auctions. This new policy would certainly spur many to
think about donations to charity and concretely make them.
A small part within me finds it very sad that humans have to be motivated this way before they'd think about donating (money and time) to charity. Over lunch the other day, I realize that even within my own office, many simply focus on their families and that's about it. Not that being family oriented is a bad thing. It's a positive thing. We need a good balance. Our life shouldn't revolve around work. I'm just a little, how should I put it, wistful, that many don't seem to want to focus beyond their own little sphere. Charity, community work and environmental awareness don't feature largely unless they have time. People go deathly quiet when it comes to these topics.
Often, conversations revolve around
'my husband, my daughter, my son, my children, my mother-in-law', playschool, tests, school teachers, grades, HDB flats, bank loans, gossip, etc. Or it would be shopping, vacations and more shopping. Rarely is it about a hobby even. Very trying sometimes. I'm guilty of it. Are all these safe topics to stick to among colleagues and acquaintances? I guess so. I wonder sometimes why I even bother making polite conversation. Yes, at the end of the day, family matters. In fact, it will be all that matters. If these are the sort of concerns of the average Singaporean, then I fear for the soul of the country. Nothing else does, not even the state of the environment that we leave for the next generation.
It's very demoralizing to learn that organization-led learning journeys to the office of our national newspaper and television studios garner overwhelming response from the colleagues compared to a home visit to the elderly or children. Well, visiting children get a slightly better attendance rate than the elderly for sure.
My heart went very cold when I heard a callous comment of
"Why would I want to use the S$500 to donate to charity when I can claim for airtickets or a new phone?!"Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. The last time I claimed for this S$500, it was for 2 pairs of shoes- stilettos. Similarly for this year, I shall put in the claim for shoes or sunglasses.
Money goes around anyway. In one way or another, it's going to be spent. So technically, it really doesn't matter where this S$500 donation to charity comes from as long as it comes from some individual.
Right?
