MINDEF to accept volunteers in performing arts roles

This includes working on events hosting foreign dignitaries, like the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting, Wan said, adding that SDE is looking at other kinds of roles that volunteers can contribute in.  

Senior Lieutenant-Colonel Psalm Lew, director of the Engagement and Volunteer Office at Nexus, said the launch of SG Defence has made people more aware of the different ways they can contribute to defence, beyond military roles. 

Nexus, which oversees Total Defence and National Education, is coordinating the SG Defence network.

Lew said he is heartened by the level of interest, which has so far been split between civilian and military volunteer roles.

One civilian volunteer who started this year is Cindy Chng, 37, a National Education ambassador. 

In her day job, Chng is associate director and head of strategic partnerships at pharmaceutical company MSD Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei. As a volunteer, she goes to schools to give talks on Total Defence.

She said she initially counted herself out of volunteering for MINDEF, as she did not feel she was suited for the military. But volunteering in this capacity has been rewarding, she said. 

She said: “When we think about Total Defence, it may feel like a very abstract or very big concept. But I think through my role as an NE ambassador, I get to make it personal.”

Lew and Colonel Low Youwen, who leads the SAFVC, said the SG Defence Network is looking to expand both military and civilian roles to allow more people to contribute in more ways.

Lew said applications so far have come from people ranging from teenagers to retirees, and spanning occupations from homemakers to business leaders. 

Speaking at an event held in appreciation of MINDEF volunteers on July 25 at the National Stadium, Defence Minister Chan Chun Sing said MINDEF will increasingly need volunteers from even more sectors of society. 

He gave the example of the need for specialised expertise from sectors like law and the media to combat emerging threats.

Thanking volunteers, he said the common view of defence in the past was that it is mainly done by the core of the uniformed military.

“Supporting them are people like yourselves who are also part of my concentric circles of the defence establishment.”