“I started volunteering with ISCOS’ Fairy Godparent Programme (FGP) because I wanted to do something worthwhile. I’m currently a first-year law student, and for a while, it felt like I was wasting my life doing nothing but my readings.
I also joined the FGP because the past volunteer work that I’ve done was always with the elderly. I thought mentoring young people whose parents are ex-offenders would be an interesting change and would offer a very meaningful experience.
Similarities? I think there are more differences between working with youths and working with the elderly. The elderly typically talk a lot so you’re more of a listener, but you learn a great deal about society because they’ve lived longer and have lots of life lessons to share.
With youths, the roles are reversed. I’m now a mentor to a shy 13-year-old girl, so I’m the one who has to initiate conversation and constantly find topics to talk about. Our first meeting was a bit awkward because we met over a meal, and it’s hard to break the ice while eating.
After few rounds of games and fun activities, I realised that we’re both quite similar and I could relate to her in so many ways. We both like watching horror movies, so we plan to do that during the school holidays.
Right now, my focus is to meet up with her as much as possible. I’ll be coaching her with her school work as well, and hopefully we will have a much stronger bond through the activities we plan to do together.
Volunteering doesn’t take too much of my time. It’s the passion to help others that keeps me going. I first volunteered when I was in secondary school, when The Red Cross brought us to a home for the disabled. As someone who comes from a relatively privileged background, I realised that I should always try to give back to society.
Yes, I would definitely recommend volunteering with ISCOS. If you’re concerned about labels or stigma when working with children of ex-offenders, get to know the person first before passing any judgement. If I could play a part to help stop intergenerational offending, I would try my best to do so.” – Michelle, 20
Michelle Cheong is a volunteer at ISCOS.
Humans of ISCOS is a collaboration between The Everyday People and ISCOS, a co-operative that helps ex-offenders in Singapore. Read more here.
Like Us On Facebook
Follow Us On Instagram
![“Growing up in Singapore, we’ve been taught from a very young age that we are a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural society. Yet, the portrayal of this diversity in our media wasn’t reflecting well. It often fell short, reducing minority races to mere caricatures.
Determined to change this narrative, I made it my mission as an actor to bring authentic representation to my work. And there are many ways to do that. For me, I chose to be mindful of the roles I play and portray.
I meticulously selected roles, even telling my agents to send me for castings which were not intended for my race. I strongly believe that race is a social construct that can be overridden by the actual acting work. True talent transcends racial boundaries.
My persistence paid off when my agency rolled the dice on me, submitting my name for auditions beyond traditional ethnic roles. I knew I was making strides because I was getting callbacks to the later rounds.
Soon enough, the ‘gamble’ paid off. The breakthrough came when I was called in to audition for the St Patrick's Day campaign by Guinness. I successfully booked it, and went on to be the only Indian in the regional commercial that aired across Southeast Asia.
That job gave me the confirmation that I should continue striving for equal representation. Shortly after, another opportunity came when Air New Zealand (@airnz) did a casting for a couple to star in their new commercial. It was to promote travel between Singapore and New Zealand.
Getting that job was monumental for me, because not only did we get to portray an interracial Singaporean couple, we did it for an international audience. It was the first commercial between the two countries when borders reopened post-COVID.
Bringing the same energy when I moved to New York City (NYC), I kept auditioning for roles that weren’t specifically for people of my ethnicity. However, that doesn’t mean I wasn’t auditioning for roles that were for South Asians too.
[Story continues in comments section]](https://i0.wp.com/everydaypeople.sg/ep/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed/img/placeholder.png?w=620&ssl=1)
Watch Us On YouTube
Subscribe To Channel
Leave a Reply