The Straits Times reported on Jan. 3 that Singapore's sovereign wealth fund Government Investment Corporation (GIC) has an initiative that will give cash grants between $3,000 to $5,000 to students who complete 25 hours of leadership and community work. They can spend the cash grant any way they wish.

The students, from universities, polytechnics, and the Institute of Technical Education (ITE), come from households with a per capita income of below $2,000. They are required to go through a one-day training course before serving 25 hours of community service.

This initiative - GIC Sparks & Smiles - will set aside $2 million to attract 200 students over four years to volunteer.

Straits Times interviewed Ng Teng Yi, a 22-year-old Nanyang Technological University student, who is a beneficiary of this initiative. Ng who volunteers by mentoring teens from low-income families will be receiving $5,000 after 25 hours of volunteering.

Coming from a single-parent household, Ng said he is a "very good role model for these youth" because he shows that "it is possible to break out of your circumstances."

Some netizens disagree with cash-for-volunteering approach

Perhaps it was the use of the word 'volunteer' for the ST headline:

Similarly, Channel NewsAsia (CNA) used the word 'volunteer' in their Facebook post:

Several netizens have taken an issue with GIC apparently paying students to do volunteer work.

The top comment on ST's Facebook post is as follows:

Several other netizens agreed with Ms. Leena, who says that she volunteers with Lions Befrienders:

More netizens disagreed:

Ng joined in the comment thread and shared that many students already did volunteer work before being selected for the initiative, and that the money received is "a form of financial aid which obligates the local student to contribute back to the community":

However, a quick check with GIC's website and universities facilitating the grant - Singapore Management University, Nanyang Technological University and Singapore Institute of Technology - all make no mention of volunteering.

They all say more or less the same thing - Students are expected to "participate in a leadership and community programme.  Recipients will mentor disadvantaged children and youths as part of this programme."

That does not sound like volunteerism.

GIC helps out students from low-income families by providing a grant, the students, in turn, mentor other children from low-income families. A win-win, right?

Not really, because Singaporeans don't want to have nice things, this Facebook exchange sums up how people will never be happy with anything good that happens:

Someone in GIC must be regretting why s/he even came out with this initiative in the first place.

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