Working with the Associate General Secretary (Marketing & Corporate Strategy), you will play an active role in developing, planning, implementing, monitoring & reviewing programmes to inspire society into small acts of kindness through:

• Motivating & inspiring the public to start small acts of kindness in their everyday lives
• Targeting audience groups & communicating key messages to influence positive behavioural & attitudinal changes towards graciousness & kindness
• Increasing & improving the movement’s presence & engagement in social media
• Working with internal stakeholders, external agencies & corporate partners to maximize ownership of & engagement in the kindness movement

The Assistant General Secretary will support the Associate General Secretary in planning, and provide on-ground oversight of SKM’s marketing activities & events.

KNOWLEDGE AND SKILL REQUIREMENTS:

• High interest in making a meaningful contribution to society
• Event Oriented & Out-Spoken
• Diploma with at least 3 years relevant working experience OR Degree in Business Administration / Marketing / Communications with at least 2 year relevant working experience
• Energetic, able to work independently & multi-task in a fast-paced environment
• Proficient in MS Office (Word, Excel, Powerpoint)
• Excellent communication skills, including the ability to craft measured responses with minimal supervision
• Personable & convincing in relationships with colleagues & external partners
• Teamwork skills to implement cross-functional projects
• Singaporeans & PRs preferred

Interested applications please submit your resume / recent photo to email to Kezmond_Chee@mica.gov.sg.

Only shortlisted candidates will be notified.

Closing date: 9 June 2012

The next time someone lashes out at you, try those words. It may not be a conventional retort but it just might reap positive results.

When a student treats a teacher with contempt, chastising with kindness rather than reprimanding or suspension is the preferred method at Lincoln High School in Walla Walla, WA.

Principal Jim Sporleder was left open-mouthed when this new approach to school discipline was an instant success. Expulsions and suspensions that are the result of misbehaviour saw a drastic drop once kind discipline was implemented.

Lincoln High School is a “dumping ground” for those who can’t make it into regular public schools or have been kicked out. These students, usually victims of Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) are “walking post-traumatic stress time bombs”.

It is no surprise why such students explode in rage or throw vulgarities at a teacher when a meltdown occurs.  Blowing up becomes a stress reflex response for some and tongue-lashing won’t curb the misbehaviour.

The staff at Lincoln High School chooses to reach out to students and investigate the trigger instead of conditioning the behaviour with punishment.

The students begin to open up and share the reasons behind the angst and what’s even more surprising is the apology that follows without having to be urged.

This goes to show discipline is just another way to exemplify kindness!

Click here to read the original article of this summary.

By Charissa Selvasekaran

The journey of Robert Whitfield is quite unlike the travels of many. It is a one man attempt to foster respect through the understanding of various cultures around the world.

Inspired by the teachings of his late parents and in honour of Dr. Gary Cook, President of Dallas Baptist University, Robert embarked on The Kindness Journey in January 2012.

Robert believes understanding is the catalyst to accepting people as they are despite their cultural differences.  He has travelled to countries such as Burma, South Africa and Taiwan.

Upon meeting various kind people on his travels, Robert finds out how each individual shows kindness.

“I show KINDNESS by helping them and making them smile.” – Mega, Jakarta

“For me KINDNESS is when I can share something that I love and give it to others.” – Fajar, Singapore

During his visit to Singapore, Robert visited Michelle Tay, Associate General Secretary of Singapore Kindness Movement and Secretariat of the World Kindness Movement, as The Kindness Journey was also an attempt to locate organisations that encourage acts of kindness within their communities.

It is through this Kindness Journey that Robert desires to encourage cultural-bridge building and influence others to engage in acts of kindness outside their comfort zones by sharing his experiences on a Facebook page. Join Robert on The Kindness Journey!

By Charissa Selvasekaran

The World Kindness Movement plans to gather like-minded kindred spirits together to share their views and thoughts on kindness and their country’s activities.

Click here to find out how you can participate in the WKM General Assembly.

Guest-of-Honour, Mr Chan Chun Sing who is the Acting Minister for the Ministry of Community, Youth and Sports (MCYS) graced the occasion which was attended by some 6,000 members from the Sikh community. There were performances, exhibition, health-screening, games and even a live concert in the open field next to the association.

Working with the Sikh Welfare Council, Singapore Kindness Movement’s (SKM) leaflets  (Can You Spot The 10 Acts of Kindness) and souvenir collar pins were distributed to many who came by the health-check counter. As kindness cuts across all culture, races and religion, it was a fitting involvement for SKM.

Check out these personalised gift ideas for the mummies who kissed our “boo-boo’s” and rocked us to “la la land” with soothing lullabies.

• Collage of Memories
Express your feelings and emotions of appreciation for mothers through a collage that signifies those special moments. It could be a photograph of the two of you on your first day of school or the day your mum took you out for an ice-cream treat. Include drawings or short stories if photographs are not available. Be sure to write underneath each photograph why you are thankful and consider including a customized poem to make it extra meaningful.

• Gift Baskets
Shower mothers with a gift basket instead of just one gift for the selfless love they have deluged upon us. Your mum will sure appreciate the thoughtfulness! Fill up the gift basket with home-made treats that your mum will love. Be a little creative and go all out when decorating those treats such as heart-shaped cookies or design cupcakes that spell “I love you”. Other items you can include are spa luxuries and flowers. Remember, an easy way to go about personalising a gift basket is picking items that will suit your mum’s style.

• Switch & Swap
Make mother’s day a little more special by switching roles with your mother. Even after a long and tiring day, mothers still find the time to wrap their arms around us and lend a listening ear. Their intuitive nature to know when we are feeling down makes us feel loved and safe. Spend the entire day doing all the duties your mum would usually do. This goes for cooking, cleaning, running errands and what-not. After all, isn’t it mum’s turn to feel pampered?

By Charissa Selvasekaran

It seems like it was only yesterday we were making New Year’s resolutions and yet we are almost approaching the halfway mark in the year. For those of us who are having trouble sticking to those resolutions, fret not, the year is not over and you still can achieve those goals with these simple ways.

1. SMART Goals
Write down what you want to achieve and be sure to list why. The goals listed should be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely. Stick this piece of paper somewhere you will be able to look at it every day, around your home or office. Remember to visualise the feeling you will experience once those goals are attained. This way you will be more inclined to work towards those goals.

2. Destroy Excuses
Each time an excuse arises that deters you from attaining your goals, ask yourself “How bad do you want it?” It is this underlying level of desire that separates the Dreamers from the Doers. To prevent excuses from suppressing your goals, try sharing your goals with friends or family. You will begin to develop a sense of accountability that motivates you to stick to those goals.

3. Be Inspired
Learn to focus on your goals by creating a Vision Board which is a collage of things you want or to do in your life. Consider including quotes or sayings that relates to you as a source of encouragement. A Vision Board fuels the passion within and you will soon begin to work towards manifesting those goals into your life.

By Charissa Selvasekaran

Project Hello Stranger is a voluntary movement by a group of Singaporean youths who yearn to see a happier Singapore. They aim to rebuild interpersonal relationships in our society by infecting Singaporeans with the spirit of giving and love. They believe that a simple act of kindness can spread great joy and warmth to the people around.

Project Hello Stranger took to the streets on 18th March 2012 in their first public appearance to bring warmth and closeness into the hearts of Singaporeans.

The movement will involve guerrilla strategies and engage Singaporeans mainly through social media as they organise different activities to get Singaporeans to show their softer and friendlier side. Visit their Facebook page to find out what they’ll do next!

A group of students from the University of Buffalo decided to test this by handing out helium balloons inked with messages of Kindness.

Project Uplift was held on Monday, 26 March 2012, at Raffles Place Park. The students definitely chased away the Monday blues when they surprised passersby with 600 bright yellow and white balloons. To encourage bashful adults to pick up a balloon and spread kindness, the students even did a “battle of the sexes” scoreboard. Each time a passerby picked up a balloon and wrote a kind note for a random stranger, a point is added to the scoreboard. Curious to know which gender won the battle? You can visit the team’s Facebook page to find out!

Indeed, there is always time to make someone’s day. All you need to do is slow down and give a small encouragement to someone.

Project Uplift was supported by National Parks, SIM-UB Professor Stephanie Pollack and funded by SKM’s Seed Kindness Fund.

That week, SKM was thrilled to welcome a total of 550 children and 36 teachers to be a part of our team to reinforce the importance of kindness in our precious little ones. It is important that we instil in our young children the necessity of being a kind individual so that we can guide them away from the trap of paramount, which may be prevalent in our kindergarten children.

A gallery tour, along with a story-telling session was conducted. The children were also encouraged to design a ‘Thank You’ card for their parents or loved ones in an art and craft session. The children were zealous and eager to learn about Singa and the kindness cubbies  and through the animation series, they were able to identify issues and correct them!

The week may have drawn to an end, but the spirit to spread kindness continues on. Let’s work together to make someone’s day and most importantly, be that ‘hero’ and ‘heroine’ in the eyes of our little ones to model!

By Mabel Lau

I am a foreigner (from Indonesia) who has worked here for the past 1.5 years. During this time, I have experienced two great kindnesses from Singaporeans. Here are the stories:

1. Lost in MRT

I have two kids – one daughter (9) and a son (6). Last year, on one Sunday afternoon after church service in Bras Basah area, my family went home by MRT at the Bras Basah (BB) station. My children are usually very active and always do not follow my wife and I close enough. On the way back to our place in Sengkang, we needed to board the train from BB to Dhoby Ghaut and continue on the NE Line to Sengkang.

When the train arrived, all of us were in a hurry to board. But after a few moments, we realised that we boarded the wrong train (it should have been the opposite side). So in a hurry, all of us rushed to alight from the train before the door closed. But then a horrible thing happened – not all of us managed to alight, and my little boy was still in the train!

Horrified, I quickly ran to the MRT Control Station on the top level to seek help from the MRT officer on duty. Meanwhile, my wife waited for the next train to pursue behind. We asked our daughter to stay on the platform and told her not to go anywhere.

Fortunately for us, my wife managed to find our boy in the next station, accompanied by a group of young people, who my wife believed are students. Our boy looked shocked and a bit scared as he was not used to strangers, but these young people waited patiently with him till he met his mother.

Thanks for this Singaporeans…

2. Missing Wallet

This happened just recently (this morning in fact).

I was in a hurry to go to the Australian embassy to apply for Visa and stopped by at Park Mall (near Dhoby Ghaut MRT) to have breakfast. Later, I planned to hop onto a taxi from there. I went to the toilet first before having breakfast. I didn’t realise that somehow my card wallet (I have two wallet, one for cash and the other for cards – credit cards, name card, ID, ATM etc) had slipped from my pocket. I wanted to reach the embassy quickly to avoid the long queue.

Only after I arrived at the embassy, and when the officer asked for my IC, did I realise that my card wallet was missing. First I thought I had left it in the taxi, but then I thought it might have been left at Park Mall instead. Without further delay, I quickly rushed to Park Mall and kept praying that I will find it.

I quickly rushed to the security counter as soon as I arrived at Park Mall. And thank GOD… it was really there! The cleaning staff apparently found it and gave it to the security guards. As I was in a hurry, I gratefully thanked the security officer there but forgot to thank the cleaning staff. Therefore, I decided to share my story in this website and show my utmost and sincerest ‘thank you’ to the cleaning staff and all other staff in Park Mall.

This is true Singapore Kindness. And it not only happened once, but twice…

Thank you Singapore, you are indeed VERY KIND.

Submitted by Benediktus Sie

Got a Kindness story to share?
Email stories@kindness.sg to have them published on our website.