When Ang Peizhen returned from a 15-day Youth Expedition Project trip to Yunnan, China last December, she could not help feeling ambivalent about her experience.

Even though Ang had conducted English classes for the local primary school students there, the first-year chemistry major still has doubts about the effectiveness of those lessons.

“I feel it’s very touch-and-go, too short-term for permanent help towards the children,” she said.

Ang added, “We disrupt their class time because they disrupt classes for our lessons. They don’t really gain much knowledge.”

Ang was not the only student to raise doubts about the value of such short-term humanitarian trips.

Second-year business student Sim Siew Chien, who went on a service project to Cambodia last year, felt that such missions tend to benefit the volunteers more than the locals, which goes against the spirit of community work. 

“I think it’s more of a service to ourselves. We don’t really help them much.”

Every year, as many as 1,600 Singaporean youths go overseas on Youth Expedition Projects, which are partially-subsidised by the National Youth Council.

Many youths also go on overseas humanitarian trips with schools, charities, as well as religious and non-governmental organisations.

YEP trips usually last two to three weeks in the targeted overseas community, excluding time spent on travel and recreation.

In addition, participants are expected to commit to service projects in Singapore before they leave for the overseas trip. They would have to continue with their stint when they return.

Within NUS itself, student and faculty clubs have started to jump on the bandwagon in organising such overseas service trips, regardless of whether they are organised under the YEP scheme.

For instance, the University Scholars’ Club, NUS Rotaract Club and the NUSSU Volunteer Action Committee all organise annual expeditions.

The effectiveness of these trips has also been called into question by NUS pharmacology professor Edmund Lee, who has been involved in humanitarian projects in Cambodia for the past 10 years.

Using the term “missions tourism” to describe the proliferation of local youths going on short-term community service projects to neighbouring countries, Lee said, “A lot of these groups that go out tend to look at it from the point of view of their own personal exposure.”

“It’s basically tourism, to see Nepal and you get to help as well. The primary focus is not really about providing benefits, and helping where the needs are.”

Like Ang, Lee also felt that many of these short-term missions are too “hit-and-run” to bring sustained improvements to the standard of living of local communities.

“Because of the lack of follow-through, lots of these benefits tend not to be very substantive,” Lee said.

“It feels good that you have done something like this, but the country goes back to what it was after you leave.”

Still, there were others who were more optimistic.

Second-year psychology student Fiona Loi felt that while the contributions of student groups cannot be compared to “full-time workers and ‘NGO’s,” the work done on these service projects may still go a long way.

“For instance, if you’re doing an infrastructure project, a short-term project will do, as long as the structure stands after you leave,” said Loi, who went on a YEP trip to Vietnam last May.

Loi also took issue with the term “missions tourism” to refer to overseas youth projects.

“When you join YEP, the first thought isn’t tourism. You think about how you can help, and tourism is the last thing on your mind.”

Similarly, third-year business student Immanuel Tang believes in the intrinsic value of such service trips overseas.

He speaks from personal experience. After a project last year to China, Tang said that he was “humbled as a human being” and learnt to “treasure (his) blessings more.”

Lee agreed, as it is the learning attitude of the youths going on these trips that is most vital. And if they manage to change lives and open minds to the possibility of long-term humanitarian work, they can still be considered successful.

“If seeing (the conditions in other countries) causes you to undertake humanitarian missions, then it’s already very good. It’s worth the money spent,” Lee said.

“But if you just go to put a line in your CV and enjoy yourself, then it’s just money wasted.”