• About Us
    • Fact Checking Policy
    • Ownership & funding information
    • Volunteer
  • Subscribe
  • Letter submission
    • Submissions Policy
  • Contact Us
The Online Citizen Asia
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Commentaries
    • Letters
    • Comments
  • Current Affairs
    • Singapore
    • Malaysia
    • Indonesia
    • China
    • ASEAN
    • Asia
    • International
  • Finance
    • Economics
    • Labour
    • Property
    • Business
  • Community
    • Arts & Culture
    • Consumer Watch
    • NGO
    • Lifestyle
    • Travel
  • Politics
    • Civil Society
    • Parliament
    • Transport
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Housing
  • Law & Order
    • Legislation
    • Court Cases
No Result
View All Result
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Commentaries
    • Letters
    • Comments
  • Current Affairs
    • Singapore
    • Malaysia
    • Indonesia
    • China
    • ASEAN
    • Asia
    • International
  • Finance
    • Economics
    • Labour
    • Property
    • Business
  • Community
    • Arts & Culture
    • Consumer Watch
    • NGO
    • Lifestyle
    • Travel
  • Politics
    • Civil Society
    • Parliament
    • Transport
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Housing
  • Law & Order
    • Legislation
    • Court Cases
No Result
View All Result
The Online Citizen Asia
No Result
View All Result

Amateurs – and loving it

by onlinecitizen
20/12/2010
in Community, Current Affairs
Reading Time: 5 mins read
0

By Joshua Chiang


am·a·teur (m-tûr, -tr, -chr, -chr, -tyr)

  1. A person who engages in an art, science, study, or athletic activity as a pastime rather than as a profession.
  2. Sports. An athlete who has never accepted money, or who accepts money under restrictions specified by a regulatory body, for participating in a competition.

Today the word ‘amateur’ is so synonymous with inexperience and sub-par performance that we often forget that the root of the word is amor – love. In other words, an amateur is driven by one thing – love (or passion).

When Andrew Loh was Chief Editor, one of the things he often said was that TOC is run by a bunch of amateurs. It was a statement he made with pride.

We are amateurs.

It might not seem like that sometimes to people who read our articles and the stories we break. But like how the idea for the Face to Face forum came about, most of the things we’ve done so far are often the result of a moment of inspiration followed by many hours of panicking and wishing we hadn’t been so easily carried away by our ideas to begin with.

Some of our bigger stories this year happened because we stumbled onto them. A case in point would be the series of articles on homeless people. It all started when Andrew was staying near Sembawang Park and got to know the campers on the beach. I joined him on one of his visits and was so angered by what I saw that I decided to write something about it. (See “People of the Tents“) If anyone had asked me then, I’d confess that I had no plans beyond that single article. But then one thing led to another. Before we knew it, we were writing story after story on not just the campers, but also about the HDB policies that led to homelessness.

That was pretty much how the Moratorium on Death Penalty campaign came about. I cannot speak for the rest, but my involvement began for a very simple reason – I could not sleep at night knowing that there was something I could do for Yong Vui Kong. Sure, my contribution might not change any thing, but I felt I had to try.

When The Online Citizen, together with The Singapore Anti-Death Penalty Campaign organized a petition-signing at Speaker’s Corner in August to ask for clemency for Vui Kong, about 150 turned up – a very encouraging sign considering that a similar event the year before saw just 40 people.

Today, I attended another ‘amateur’ event – Second Chances in the Park. It was organized by two of our volunteers Kirsten Han and Damien Chng, who also founded the ‘We Believe in Second Chances’ Campaign. Now these two are young. Kirsten is 22 and Damien, just 19. Neither of them had organized something quite like this before. But the event went amazingly well. It was fun and it was meaningful and everyone had a great time. Some passers-by were so impressed, they even stopped to sign a banner meant as a present for Vui Kong’s 23rd birthday.

People often express surprise when they find out that The Online Citizen is not made up of a bunch of career professionals but a team of volunteers from different walks of life.

Considering the fact that there are hardly any financial rewards to be reaped from doing what we do, not to mention knowingly putting ourselves under the uncomfortable glare of the Government spotlight (we believe that if we want to be taken seriously, we cannot remain anonymous), I really think one of the main reasons why we do what we do is because we give a damn.

Which makes us a bunch of amateurs.

I’ve been a reader of The Online Citizen longer than I’ve been part of the team. I’ve come across many comments expressing frustration and a desire for change. But underlying these comments is a sense of powerlessness. The reasons range from how the incumbent will block any progress, to the perceived weakness of the opposition parties. We keep looking for Singapore’s version of Barrack Obama. We keep waiting for elections to come so we can cast our votes.

And in the meantime we keep waiting for a professional to show up and lead the way. But let’s not forget that ordinary people, us ‘non-professionals’, can do something too.

Be an amateur. Get involved – now. And don’t worry too much about the results.

Because in the words of four men who were supposedly bigger than a religious figure, all you need is love. Amor.

For just US$7.50 a month, sign up as a subscriber on The Online Citizen Asia (and enjoy ads-free experience on our site) to support our mission to transform TOC into an alternative mainstream press.

Related Posts

过去五年  四成上班族曾遭性骚扰!仅30%受害者举报
AFP

China’s Alibaba joins global chatbot race

09/02/2023
India police visit Twitter offices after govt tweet flagged
AFP

Twitter service stumbles as paying users get more room

09/02/2023
AFP

Google chatbot blunders as AI battle with Microsoft heats up

09/02/2023
Malaysia Parliament to decide on further action regarding issue of Pedra Branca
Malaysia

Malaysia Parliament to decide on further action regarding issue of Pedra Branca

09/02/2023
Corrupt practices at Keppel — Is there more than meets the eye?
Commentaries

Corrupt practices at Keppel — Is there more than meets the eye?

09/02/2023
Are PAP MPs out of touch with reality?
Opinion

Are PAP MPs out of touch with reality?

09/02/2023
Subscribe
Connect withD
Login
I allow to create an account
When you login first time using a Social Login button, we collect your account public profile information shared by Social Login provider, based on your privacy settings. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. Once your account is created, you'll be logged-in to this account.
DisagreeAgree
Notify of
Connect withD
I allow to create an account
When you login first time using a Social Login button, we collect your account public profile information shared by Social Login provider, based on your privacy settings. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. Once your account is created, you'll be logged-in to this account.
DisagreeAgree
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Latest posts

过去五年  四成上班族曾遭性骚扰!仅30%受害者举报

China’s Alibaba joins global chatbot race

09/02/2023
India police visit Twitter offices after govt tweet flagged

Twitter service stumbles as paying users get more room

09/02/2023

Google chatbot blunders as AI battle with Microsoft heats up

09/02/2023
Malaysia Parliament to decide on further action regarding issue of Pedra Branca

Malaysia Parliament to decide on further action regarding issue of Pedra Branca

09/02/2023
Corrupt practices at Keppel — Is there more than meets the eye?

Corrupt practices at Keppel — Is there more than meets the eye?

09/02/2023
Are PAP MPs out of touch with reality?

Are PAP MPs out of touch with reality?

09/02/2023
Lee Hsien Yang: Impossible to fathom decision by CPIB not to prosecute the six former Keppel executives despite extensive public evidence

Lee Hsien Yang: Impossible to fathom decision by CPIB not to prosecute the six former Keppel executives despite extensive public evidence

09/02/2023

India’s Modi hits back at opposition after Adani furore

08/02/2023

Trending posts

Cognizant India transfers staff to work in Singapore as recently as this year

Local IT grads can’t find jobs while engineers constantly transferred from India to work in SG under CECA

by Correspondent
05/02/2023
117

...

No response from Josephine Teo on whether Mediacorp has been instructed to stop coverage of SMT circulation scandal

No response from Josephine Teo over alleged blackout of coverage by Mediacorp over SMT circulation scandal

by Terry Xu
06/02/2023
13

...

Adani’s brother runs SG company and registers as director with local ID

Adani’s brother runs SG company and registers as director with local ID

by Correspondent
03/02/2023
26

...

Japanese-Canadian junior high school girl breaks national record with 3km in 9:02 mins

“I want my normal life back,” Sherry Drury withdraws from National Junior High School Tournament due to overheated public attention

by Yee Loon
06/02/2023
4

...

Desmond Lee says 70% of BTO flats affordable for median household with income of S$8,400 but what about the 10th to 40th percentile?

Desmond Lee says 70% of BTO flats affordable for median household with income of S$8,400 but what about the 10th to 40th percentile?

by Leong Szehian
07/02/2023
13

...

19-year-old delivery rider in China covers 5km in 22 minutes to deliver antivenom to woman who had bitten by snake

19-year-old delivery rider in China covers 5km in 22 minutes to deliver antivenom to woman who had bitten by snake

by Yee Loon
06/02/2023
5

...

December 2010
M T W T F S S
 12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
2728293031  
« Nov   Jan »

The Online Citizen is a regional online publication based in Taiwan and formerly Singapore’s longest-running independent online media platform.

Navigation

  • Editorial
  • Commentaries
  • Opinion
  • Politics
  • Community

Support

  • Contact Us
  • Letter submission
  • Membership subscription

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • Fact Checking Policy
  • Privacy Policy

© 2022 - 2023 The Online Citizen Asia

No Result
View All Result
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Commentaries
    • Comments
  • Current Affairs
    • Malaysia
    • Indonesia
    • China
    • ASEAN
    • Asia
    • International
  • Finance
    • Economics
    • Labour
    • Property
    • Business
  • Community
    • Civil Society
    • Arts & Culture
    • Consumer Watch
    • NGO
  • Politics
    • Parliament
    • Transport
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Housing
  • Law & Order
    • Legislation
    • Court Cases
  • Lifestyle
    • Travel
  • Subscribers login

© 2022 - 2023 The Online Citizen Asia

wpDiscuz