Are these blue-, white- and pink-collar workers the "reinforcements" these organizations desperately need? Or are they here-today-gone-tomorrow dilettantes?
One evening at about eight o'clock, after most people's busy workdays have drawn to a close and they are peacefully settling down to watch the TV dramas about family love and crisis that prevail in this time slot, Hsieh Chiao-an, a volunteer at a psychological counseling center, is listening to true life stories about how a woman is physically abused by her philandering husband. When the woman, who has suffered from such abuse for many years, speaks about her pain and desperation, she begins to sob uncontrollably.
For two years Hsieh, a 32-year-old freelance writer and translator, has worked at this center once a week as a volunteer. Before she started working she underwent training, so although she has no personal experience of marriage, her studies and experience have taught her that at this time it is best to keep silent and listen carefully, letting the woman give vent to her long-borne pain and melancholy.
At the center there are quite a few volunteers of roughly her age and background, and among them a group of a dozen or more have organized a book club. They meet once a week to discuss books about psychological topics, and share experiences from their work and lives.
In this respect, the center is not exceptional. There has been a marked rise of volunteers about 30 years of age in social service groups, whose ranks had long been dominated by middle-aged housewives or the elderly.
Tsai Ming-ju, a social worker at the Taipei Life Line Association, says that working people aged 25 to 45 account for about two-thirds of their roughly 200 volunteers. "They come from the military, government, teaching or industry, and most of them have at least a junior-college education," she notes.
There has been a similar trend in other cities. The Hsinchu Family Education Center has the most volunteers of any organization in Hsinchu. It was established six years ago, and the staff originally thought that those answering its calls for training as volunteers would be housewives and retired folk. They didn't expect the number of working people who volunteered would grow year by year. Two years ago, among the some 200 people who applied to attend their fourth training course, roughly half were people aged 25 to 40 who were either working or in school.
Just out for a buck?
For the generation born after 1960, in the wake of rapid economic development, the birth rate was much lower than before. The living environment has been much richer and more stable for them in their youth than it was for children born after the war, so they are portrayed as a selfish "new breed." With all the speculation and money games of one sort or another that have been played out in recent years here, the younger generation hasn't been able to avoid becoming money-oriented and materialistic.
"It's hard to believe that they would so take to something as distinctly unpragmatic as social work," says one university professor who works as an instructor in training courses for social-work volunteers, expressing surprise at seeing so many young faces.
Their participation is surprising more than merely for contradicting stereotypical notions about the new breed. From simply the standpoint of building a career, "Aren't the thirties the time when people go out and establish themselves?" asks a manager, who waited to begin volunteer work until he was 45. "Why aren't they giving their all to advancing their careers, rather than taking time off to do volunteer work."
It's not that he thinks that volunteer work isn't important; it's just that the conception-especially for men-was always that "you establish yourself in your thirties." In that stage of life one would normally be making a family and building a career. If you wanted to participate in social-service activities, you would join organizations like the Junior Chamber, the Lion's Club, or the Rotary Club that would broaden your contacts and help you in your work.
"Working people are still in the minority among volunteers, but there is a clear shift in their direction," says Bernard Li, dean of academic affairs at Fujen Catholic University, who has taught volunteers at many such organizations. He points out that especially for organizations whose volunteers require greater energy or specialized knowledge, such as cultural and artistic institutions, or for those needing counselors or group leaders, the level of participation of the young has shown a marked increase.
The statistics show that there has been a great rise in participation in social services over the past few years in Taiwan, especially among the highly educated. The "Survey of the Leisure Activities of the Citizens of Taiwan" by the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics reveals that only about 5% of Taiwanese aged 15 and older did some sort of volunteer work in 1988. By 1991 the figure had risen to 7.6%. And among those whose educations went at least as far as junior college, it stood at 20%.
Swimming against the current
Bernard Li believes that this represents a social trend: "Social development, economic advancement, and higher levels of education all push forward the conception of social service and the willingness to perform it." Education and social values put stress on giving something back, and since the members of this generation are living amid affluence and don't need to toil all day just to make ends meet, they have more strength left over to give something back to society.
Marrying later has contributed to the trend. According the Ministry of the Interior, the average age people marry has risen to 28 for women and over 30 for men. Compared to the previous generation, they have many more years to achieve stability in their careers before shouldering the burdens of family. And during this period, without children or elderly parents to support, they have the freedom to turn to volunteer work.
Thirty years ago some musicians and radio people in Taiwan formed the "Music Exchange Association." At the time their average age was under 30. Born in 1961, Yin Cheng-yang, who is regarded as one of the few truly idealistic singers in Taiwan, served as chairman.
In speaking about the process of throwing himself into public service activities, he says that about 1988, when the Taiwan stock and real-estate markets were in a manic boom, the entire society seemed to be revolving around money, and he saw many of his colleagues and friends caught up in stock and real-estate speculation. Feeling anxious and at a loss, he was actively searching for somewhere to put his energies in order to change these phenomena.
He recorded a song for the "Placing an Order for Paradise" charity activity sponsored by the Tzu Chi Foundation, and he and several good friends organized a book club that met often in the hope of raising consciousness about how to clean up society. Later he joined a support group course for musicians and radio people taught by a Canadian teacher who was invited by the famous radio figure Tao Hsiao-ching. After the course ended, participants who shared a desire to do something for society formed the "Musicians Exchange Society."
These singers, recording producers and radio people, with help from the Taiwan After Care Association, would regularly go to the youth jail in Tucheng to share their life experiences, reflections about the process of growing up and musical works with the inmates there. And every week, they would produce a special radio show for the center. From time to time they would also hold fun competitions for the center, including such entertainment activities as concerts during the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Balance and diversity
Achieving greater balance and diversity in their lives is another reason the new breed has been throwing themselves into volunteer social work. It seems as if quite a few people, disillusioned when the bubble economy burst, have changed the focus of their lives, seeking a balance between the material and the spiritual.
Ting Yun-chih, who studied mechanical and electrical engineering and is now 32, originally worked in manufacturing and was once even selected as a "model worker" by his company. In 1989 he caught the fever for stock speculation and changed jobs to work as a broker of stocks and futures. For a while, everything seemed to be going his way, and he enjoyed much greater earnings. But when the stock market crashed, the high times ended. To continue earning a high salary he went to work as a maitre d' in a hostess bar, giving him a view of society's dark and depraved side.
But he had many deep-seated frustrations, and after giving it much thought, he decided to return to manufacturing, starting again as a base-level technician. Because his life was settled and he had ample time to spare, three years ago he joined the Hsinchu Family Education Center as a volunteer. Still single, he has joined several of their activities and sometimes feels like a token working man among a sea of housewives. Though he joined as just a volunteer, he quips that he has become a lifetime employee.
In comparison with the last generation's motto of "beyond work, more work," the new breed is paying more attention to developing interpersonal connections off the job. Joining social-service groups and public-interest activities is one method for strengthening ties between the individual and society. Recently many such groups have been offering training courses to their volunteers, allowing this generation to see social service as a channel for the personal growth they put so much stress on.
Peng Chia-cheng, who works for Winbond Electronics, once served as a volunteer for the Hsinchu City Life Line, and two years ago joined the Hsinchu Family Education Center. He admits that he was attracted by the courses about psychology and the humanities, such as those in communication techniques, dealing with emotions and group dynamics. These were areas in which his colleagues, who had mostly studied science, engineering or business, were lacking. A department head at his company, he could directly make use of these skills and this knowledge on the job.
Stand-up volunteers
These needs and motivations are characteristic of the new breed.
Yeh Ming-ju, who is a worker at the Taipei Life Line, believes that the ideals the new breed hold about service, added to various lessons they have gained through work and life, have caused them to show greater concern and sensitivity to social problems. And coming with the aim of studying and growing speeds their progress. This is very useful for an organization like Life Line, which tries to cope with a variety of social and psychological problems and crisis management.
"Gung-ho about work and gung-ho about self-improvement" is how Ye Ming-ju describes the new breed.
Tseng Shu-chih, who is in charge of the Hsinchu Family Education Center, argues that in comparison to other age groups, the volunteer workers of this generation-because they have completed their educations and have great confidence-make an even bolder showing in these social-service groups.
"From designing activities to serving as group leaders to getting up on stage to sing or deliver stand-up routines, nothing daunts them," Tseng Shu-chih says.
Chao Mei-ju, an instructor in special education at National Hsinchu Teacher's College who often leads youth activities, says that her clearest impression about the young volunteers is that they don't hide their own demands, and even actively strive to grab hold of opportunities.
As an example, she cites an activity planned and hosted recently by the Hsinchu Family Education Center. Because it was an activity promoting friendship between unmarried men and women, for the sake of bringing them closer together and egging them on, more than ten unmarried volunteers with similar backgrounds from the center led the small-group activities and discussions. The result was that these volunteers very naturally and actively showed their willingness to make friends, and achieved model results, quickly dispelling the embarrassment that often plagues such events, breaking the ice and moving things along quite festively.
"Volunteering is a way to hone your skills in leading a group, and can also achieve the goal of meeting friends of the opposite sex. Killing two birds with one stone is the way one might calculatingly think about it," jokes Chao Mei-yu.
Here today, gone tomorrow?
But these characteristics are not without their drawbacks. Cheng Wen-ying, who works for the Buddhist Hospice Care Foundation, says that if volunteers are too idealistic they may harbor unrealistic expectations about volunteer work, and they may feel greatly frustrated by the gap between the ideal and the reality.
At the foundation volunteers work with terminal cancer patients. "Many young volunteers start training with lofty ideas about service, but quit soon afterwards when they can't take seeing patients' wounds or deterioration," she says. "In comparison to housewives and retired people, the young volunteers are short on life experience, and unversed in the ways of the world. It's hard for them to empathize with patients and their families and act as comforters."
They also tend to be more ambitious and independent minded, which can lead to troubles for the institution. "They calculate everything. They figure if they've put out, then they have the right to get the same amount back. Take, for instance, the training or personal development courses that they care so much about. They clutch eagerly at chances for them, and sometimes you feel that they turn things upside down and put their personal growth ahead of service," says a staff member at one organization, noting that volunteers can save a lot by taking these training classes tuition-free as part of their volunteer training. For similar courses elsewhere, they would have to pay all sorts of fees.
Volunteer organizations report that a high rate of turnover among volunteers is one of their greatest headaches. Apart from the problem of not meeting their expectations and requirements, there are a variety of other reasons these young volunteers, who are in the midst of establishing themselves and often experiencing career changes, leave. These include changing jobs, going abroad for further study and immigrating.
As far as women are concerned, marriage is another reason many of them call an end to their days as volunteers. "There are still plenty of traditional women, who, when having problems dividing their time and energy, will choose the family," says Tseng Shu-chih. Hence, she most fears receiving a wedding invitation from one of her volunteers.
Challenging traditional notions
Yang Hsiu-chih, the director of National Chinghua University's Student Counseling Center, holds that these problems may reflect that youth don't know themselves and the organizations well enough, and don't know how to go about balancing conflicting demands and adjusting their expectations: "Perhaps with more self-exploration classes, they will be clearer about what they want, and won't need to grope about so much."
"The organizations also need to get to know the volunteers better and be clear about what they want from them." Yang notes that these young volunteers will generally calculate a rate of repayment for any investment, and only believe that they will have repaid their debt by giving something back to society, and so their leaving is usually based on weighing practical considerations. Hence, "the organizations ought to make choices about their own work goals, and cultivate appropriate volunteers for the jobs demanded. Only then will investments in volunteers not be wasted."
The new breed is posing a challenge to traditional notions about volunteering. Bernard Li, dean of academic affairs at Fujen Catholic University, holds that most people regard volunteer work as moonlighting and believe that anyone who is willing to make a sacrifice of time and effort on behalf of society should be qualified to serve as a volunteer. But today, "when social-service work is growing more and more specialized, organizations need to train and evaluate volunteers and manage them using modern administrative techniques. In the future, this will represent the mainstream of social-service work." In this respect, Li says, the characteristics of the new breed are quite fitting with the trend.
The new breed have shown by their actions that they don't just want to hang out at KTVs and pubs, and that giving something back to society is something that can be
done at any stage of life. There is no need to wait until middle age, when one is established in a career and one's family situation is settled.
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In recent years many young working people have thrown themselves into volunteer work,
becoming the "new breed" of volunteers at social-service groups.
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Volunteering has become a social trend not only because it lets people give something back to society, but also because its training helps one to achieve self-growth.
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(picture by Lee Su-ling)
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Stimulating social interaction is one of the main things the new breed gets out of volunteering.
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(picture by Lee Su-ling)
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Volunteers who work in crisis management or who deal with all manner of psychological problems must constantly seek to study and grow.
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(picture by Lee Su-ling)
Stimulating social interaction is one of the main things the new breed gets out of volunteering.
（picture by Lee Su-ling）.
Volunteers who work in crisis management or who deal with all manner of psychological problems must constantly seek to study and grow.
（picture by Lee Su-ling）.
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@List.jpg?w=522&h=410&mode=crop&format=webp&quality=80)
