Tuesday, May 19, 2009 - 2:07 AM
Is it your duty to donate to charity?
If you ask most people this question, they would probably give you a baffled look and disagree. Why on earth would it be their duty? Is it the law that decreed that they must donate? And even so, why would they want to donate?My stand on the matter? It is not our duty.
First of all, there is no such thing as "duty". When a teacher says something along the lines of 'Do your duty to the community. Do CIP!', they are encouraging you to do it but you can choose not to. "Duty" is merely just another stricter word used to encourage students to participate in events that some may not wish to take part in.
In my opinion, the usage of this word is quite redundant. It is just a wastage of ink on those flyers and posters talking about charity. Seriously, what is the use of that word? I don't think anybody will get inspired to volunteer themselves readily just by seeing it. If it really is true, then almost everybody will be fishing out large sums of cash to drop into the tin cans of those poor, tortured teenagers spending their weekends at MRT stations literally begging for money. But the point is, "duty" just really doesn't hit the people hard.
So, when you ask "Is it your duty to donate to charity?", the answer is no. Charity work, of course, is good for the soul, giving people the so-called 'feeling of accomplshment' when they see the good they have done in the end of te day. Donating to Charity is far simpler as the individual just needs to slot in a coin ot take part in donation drives. But what kind of people really donate or take part in charity work? It is not those who were forced into doing so through the intimidating yet effectless use of the word "duty", but the people who selflessly volunteer themselves for the good cause. Or in our case, they may just want to get CIP hours.
I am not saying that donation drives are useless and charity organizations are wasting their time, but this is the reality. No one owes them a living. It is nobodies' "duty" to donate.
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At May 19, 2009 at 9:46 PM,
joshua said…I beg to differ. If everyone says that it is not their duty to CIP, then how would a country be like? Everyone is so cold-hearted that even doing community work needs to be forced. Wouldn't that make the nation divided? As you can see from animal farm, the animals worked together and did what they could do, resulting in a good harvest. If the animals did not bother to do anything and feel that 'it is not thier duty', it would not be even successful for a short time. As seen later, Napoleon did everything for himself and did not think of the other animals' welfare. Linking back to us, isn't it our duty to help those less fortunate? If you were one of them, would you want to be helped? I agree that it is not compulsory, but wouldn't you feel compelled to do so for your fellow Singaporeans? We must work as a nation, not individually.
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At May 27, 2009 at 5:53 AM,
diamond dude said…Pardon me, but I do not recall ever stating that I disagree to the "Do to others what you want others to do to you" quote. I am merely stating that it is not our "duty" to help. Like my blogpost, I will reiterate that the word "duty" is only an excuse. It is always up to us what we wish to do and nothing is ever compulsory.
Secondly, I feel that your " but wouldn't you feel compelled to do so for your fellow Singaporeans?" point is a little off topic. The topic for discussion is "Is it your duty to donate to charity? ", and not "Do you feel compelled to help our fellow Singaporeans?". As for my views on the latter, I will keep them disclosed as I do not wish to state my opinion on the less fortunate in Singapore.
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