In the musical Matilda, there’s a musical number titled, “Naughty”. The chorus of the song goes:
Just because you find that life’s not fair, it doesn’t mean that you just have to grin and bear it.
If you always take it on the chin and wear it, you might as well be saying you think that’s its ok. And that’s not right!
And if its not right, you have to put it right.
Women = Cake and Tea Parties?
I was part of the planning committee for International Women’s Day celebrations at work where I suggested going beyond just having cake and a tea party to commemorate the day. One of the members in the committee suggested that we do a fund-raiser for a women’s charity and it was really well received.
The team identified a charity and set out to get the relevant approvals from both internal and external stakeholders. Unfortunately, we got black-flagged at the last lap. After doing all the leg work, we were told by the powers that be that they were not comfortable having us do a fundraiser on campus, but we could go ahead with having cake and a tea party.
This was disappointing to say the least. We had literally done everything and only needed someone in a position of authority to sign a letter of intent with the charity.
And so, I got a bit naughty.
Sometimes You Have to Be a Little Naughty
I came up with an idea to start a fundraising campaign on Giving.sg as private individuals. This didn’t require a license and was a lot easier to manage because all funds go directly to the charity. We planned to make a video to share among our colleagues and peers, but once again, we hit a road block!
Despite all the FAQs listed on the website, there were committee members who were worried that we would get into trouble with the law. They chose to abstain from the video but not before telling me not to include any mention of where we work and any identifying marks like logos.
And so, I got a bit naughty… again.
I had to get a bit creative with the script and camera angles but we went ahead with the video and launched the campaign anyway.
Since then, we have managed to hit our target of $500! The donation link is still open till the end of March 2019 though:
https://www.giving.sg/campaigns/iwd2019_scwo
Progress?
I previously noticed that the university has been receiving awards for what mostly seemed to be sponsoring tables at lavish charity dinners and the efforts of student volunteers. So in November 2018, I hid $10 notes around the Singapore campus of James Cook University in a bid to encourage acts of charity by the members of staff.
The social experiment with the $10 notes yielded some heartwarming results, with colleagues buying chocolates to give out to the cleaning crew and security guards during Christmas.
Then the first glimmer of hope appeared just yesterday when I spotted this on the university’s Facebook page. It seems that the very team that prevented me from even mentioning the workplace in my fund raising video is now promoting volunteerism!
Progress? Perhaps.
Just remember that even if you’re little, you can do a lot. You might be told you have to do what you’re told but sometimes you have to be a little bit naughty!
