Flag Day

Sometimes I wonder whether people donate because they really wanted to or just “purchase” a sticker to avoid getting “harassed” again.

I don’t usually donate on flag days. I just smile and politely indicate “no”. It is my money and I won’t donate just to get others off my back. I have no problem indicating to many of them along the way that I don’t intend to donate especially if it is to some organisation which I have not heard of or I do not support. Even if I donate, I don’t take the sticker and definitely will not paste it on my shirt. I might paste it on a plastic bag if I was carrying one.

Sometimes I also wonder whether those people who are out collecting volunteered or were “assigned” to do so. Most of them just stand there looking very bored. If you walk near enough to them, they might trust the tin can towards you; otherwise they are not going to approach you. Many student volunteers just walk around. Were they expecting people to go towards them and donate? Perhaps to be fair to them I think they might be “afraid” to approach people. I guess nobody briefed them on how to collect effectively.

It was NUS Flag Day yesterday and I was approached outside Novena Square at around 9.00 am by one of the undergrads who smiled sincerely. I smiled back and indicated no. I went inside the shop and ordered my breakfast and while eating observed that the two undergrads approached passersby immediately upon seeing them. And they did that each time with the same enthusiasm.

When I came out of the shop, the other undergrad approached me and asked whether I might have some spare change to donate. Seeing how hard they had worked, I chose a dollar-coin and dropped it into the tin can, knowing that the money would go towards 20 charities. I took the sticker and pasted it on the plastic bag which I was carrying. I proceeded to buy some stuff and when I passed that way again, another undergrad approached me. I showed her the sticker and she smiled and said, “Thank you. Have a nice day.” I thought that was nice.

I think from now onwards, if I do donate at flag days, I will try to display the sticker more prominently (no, still not going to paste on my shirt) not so much that I would not be asked to donate again but to save someone from wasting his/her effort and time to ask me.

I think I might approach a volunteer collector on my own accord and surprise him/her with a donation without been asked. Perhaps this might make his/her day and if he/she had volunteered and worked hard, it would probably make his/her effort worthwhile too. This doesn’t cost much to do. It could just be 10 cents.