There is much good to be done these days, and we need to be a FACTER for good. FACTER is an acronym I coined to describe a way to do good together. Before I elaborate on FACTER, allow me to say something regarding the nature of needs and the types of good one can do.
Of the Poor and Afflicted
Needs have not become more acute all of a sudden. Many of them have been around. Take the list below (with links to ground up initiatives):
- The poor amongst us, some of whom hold jobs which enslave them to a modern cycle of slavery (here’s a fund dedicated to the poor hit by COVID-19.)
- The rough sleepers (some of whom for for various reasons ‘choose’ to sleep) on the streets. (Here’s an example of what one group is doing for them.)
- The plight of the elderly, some of whom have relatives but no relationships with them. (See some initiatives here and here.)
- The plight of migrant workers who built Singapore but don’t get to partake of the gratitude we ought to feel and extend towards them (see this list for support groups.)
- The occasional evidence of the almost xenophobic attitude we hold towards our foreign workers and permanent residents, whom we need but don’t seem to want around.
- The challenges of educating our own kids, of whom we oftentimes demand the highest standards of certification while remaining clueless, or even uninvested regarding their true education.
- The blithe wastage of food. (See for example here.)
- The irresponsible use of plastics (see for example here.)
- The stresses of having to live simply (e.g. without the 30% sweetness comfort of the mighty bubble tea) (I previously wrote about living with simplicity here.)
- The hectic pace of urban life and its impact on our mental health (Interesting fact: During this COVID-19 circuit breaker period, door-to-door laundry services is an essential service but face-to-face mental health consultation is not allowed except for selected circumstances.)
- The over-reliance on governmental intervention (see this link though for a list of ground-up initiatives.)
- The general lack of appreciation amongst many urbanites, e.g. for those engaged in all forms of labor. (See here, here and here for what some people are doing about it.)
One can go on. But the list above is significant in that the COVID-19 situation has thrown these pre-existing needs and fault lines into greater relief. Thankfully, during COVID-19, many people have stepped up to stand in the gap.
The Nature of Needs
These needs are not easy to address. Those already helping out in any of these areas can easily attest to the multi-layered, inter-connected nature of the issues. Many of these issues are what academics call “wicked problems“.
In other words, the needs are not going away any time soon. Yet doing nothing is worse. On the other hand, doing something changes the nature of the issue, which means that one cannot keep doing the same “something”, or apply a one-size-fit-all approach.
For example, not all rough sleepers need or want a home. Some rough sleepers have “run out of relationships” (Abraham Yeo, Founder of Homeless Hearts in an interview for the Straits Times here), for which there are underlying emotional, or even psychological causes to be addressed. Some of them are unable to hold down a job, and require significant shifts in one’s sense of self (identity and self-worth) before investing in oneself for viable, marketable skills. To quote an old army saying, “You think so easy ah? If easy, I’d have done it already.”
The Types of Good
The persistent nature of needs mean that there are many opportunities to do good. But it is not enough to want to do good. Neither is it adequate to “just do it”. In fact, I am beginning to identify several types of good that are worth noting:
Convenient Good
This occurs when one does good only when one feels like doing good. It is occasional, even whimsical. The good done may at times be perceived to benefit oneself more than the one in need.
For example, in a Straits Times article on food donation, some donors give away expired food, or food inappropriate to those in need. Others give out of their own excess rather than with a view to matching the dietary needs of the recipients. One paragraph from the article stood out for me:
The case of thoughtless giving came into sharp focus and sparked a robust debate in August, when the home of an elderly man, who was suffering from dementia, was found cluttered with hundreds of expired packets of instant noodles and more than 50 bottles of soya sauce from donors.
The Straits Times, 16th Dec, 2019 “Getting food donations right: Preventing wastage not a piece of cake.”
Child-Like Good
The label is self-explanatory. A man has just lost his job. He is forlorn. A child notices his despair and offers him a candy. It is not what he needs objectively, but the generous gesture warms his heart.
One would rather do child-like good than convenient good. Child-like good is a foundation to doing good. From there, one learns to do even better good. For example, the care packages for migrant workers in dormitories are continually being adjusted for things most needed (e.g. from reducing the over supply of hand sanitizers to extending the scope of assistance to legal aid and money for mobile charges).
Confined Good
This happens when one does good to a certain subgroup of needy ones to the exclusion of others. The good done is confined by geography or by some arbitrary articulation of the scope of need. For example, in the recent wave of good will towards our migrant workers, some purpose-built dormitories (PBDs) were over-resourced with care packages, while other factory-converted dormitories (FCDs) remain underserved. With coordination and information sharing, the imbalance was quickly rectified on the ground.
Constrained Good
This is the good that happens in many endeavors today, where the total need of a target group is only partially met. For example, in a recent onboarding by Yio Chu Kang Chapel to 17 churches wanting to help with the rough sleeper situation, the facilitator articulated clearly the aspiration for providing holistic care. Rough sleepers need more than a roof over their heads. They also need social work follow-up, friendship, assistance with finding jobs, and reconciliation with their families. It was enlightening to hear the universe of needs and how they inter-connect with each other.
In spite of the clear articulation of needs, not all of these needs can be met due to various factors. It may be an issue of readiness. It may also be that the shelters face practical constraints, such as the length of stay by the rough sleepers, or a lack of available specialists. The end result is that the good generated is constrained in some manner.
Consistent Good
The culmination of the process of doing good is to do consistent good. It is a messy process. It is not easy to learn. But it can be fun. And it must be sustainable for the long haul.
Loving and caring is a commitment. One must be comfortable to take risks and go on detours in order to serve. To paraphrase something else I heard at the same on boarding event by Yio Chu Kang Chapel, “What is love if it is without risks?” To this I will add, “What are we living for if it is not for a greater good?”
Consistent good leads to effective good that endures, is holistic and inflicts a positive impact against the wicked nature of needs. Without consistent good, wicked wins. It is as simple as that.
A FACTER for Good
Which brings me to suggest a framework for doing good. To deploy effective, enduring and holistic good, we need several types of agents. I shall list them in the order of the acronym FACTER.
FUNDERS
The first letter stands for funders. These are people whose gift is in giving generously, without the need to find fault. They don’t use their money to purchase a voice to criticize or control, but to offer as a resource for good. Many anonymous donors fall into this category.
Some funders are gifted in many other ways. They not only give money but also of their time. But they make clear between the giving of money and the gifting of their other talents. They take pains to distance themselves from the giving when they are serving in their other capacity. They know that giving is requires faith while serving requires talent, and are clear about which of these they are asked to offer. These types of funders deserve especial mention.
Giving requires faith while serving requires talent
ACTIVATORS
Activators are those in the frontlines. They have committed themselves to a cause. To borrow a rally cry from Henson Lim, Founder of Archippus Awakening, they are awakened and assigned to a divine assignment.
Activators have great hands-on knowledge, but may not be great teachers, or have the time to impart. They may even find advocacy a necessary evil that detracts them from the real fight at hand. Yet without activators leading the fight from the trenches, our lines against the onslaught of wickedness would have collapsed long ago.
COLLABORATORS
Collaborators are those who hold a part of the key to the solution space. Some activators don’t collaborate well. But collaboration is critical, because “two are better than one, and a cord of three strands are not easily broken.” (Ecclesiastes 4:9,12).
This situation is compounded by the fact that collaborators are often activators themselves in other areas. With limited funding and attention, to collaborate in seemingly unrelated areas can come across as a distraction.
Even when one recognizes the need to collaborate, one may still not do so unless an external, facilitated push is applied. Who has the credibility, craft, conviction and courage to provide such a push?
TRIBE
The term ‘tribe’ refers to the target group we are ‘helping’. To me, this the most interesting piece of the equation. I put ‘helping’ in quotation marks because I have heard Melissa Kwee talk about the imbalance of giving in her work for Singapore to become a City of Good.
“In giving, we must remember that giving must uplift both giver and receiver. Every giver is uplifted because they realize what they have that can be of service to others. Every receiver whose needs are met is also uplifted by receiving the support they need. When givers give without an understanding of real needs or in relationships which create dependency or crutches, neither side is truly uplifted. Giving makes givers feel good but we must always remember it must also do good on the receiving end.”
Recent private communication with Melissa Kwee, CEO, City of Good
Giving denotes a giver and a receiver, just like helping connotes a ‘helper’ and ‘the helped’. This in turn projects a power imbalance. (For more on this, please also see Kenneth Thong‘s article which appeared in the Singapore Birthday Book.)
The target group we are trying ‘to help’ is not powerless. In fact, they often have the best insight into what they need. More than that, when we involve them as part of the the solution, they eventually become the change champions for their own tribes that we as outsiders can never hope to be. No matter how much one loves the tribe, we are not of the tribe. There are things which no one else but the tribe can do for their own. And we the aliens can only do so much – the journey towards flourishing must be their own.
EVERYONE (and the ECCLESIA)
The more we involve ourselves in any good work, the better it is. It should not matter whether the work one does is visible or not. Once all parts of the work is identified, every task is an important contribution.
A good work is the greatest virus. It infects widely, deeply, and persistently. Any good work must lead to a viral explosion of good in everyone. It demands some form of involvement by everyone. One should never completely outsource good work.
What of the Ecclesia?
I included the term “ecclesia” in this section. The term “ekklēsia” used to refer to the political assembly of citizens in ancient Greece. It refers to an active citizenry who advocates, in this instance, for the needs of the indigent. It demands that the elected government works for the people, and where gaps persist, to take up the work first.
Here in Singapore, we have a government who, especially during this COVID-19 season, has been working without ceasing. They are under-appreciated and over-worked. They, like us, also have to deal with the daily COVID inconveniences when they head home after work. I have never been more proud to be called a Singaporean! Yet, in spite of their best efforts, we should not expect the government to do everything. This is where the ecclesia must step in, as many already have.
RESEARCHER
The nature of research
Some people equate research with PhDs in lab coats. This is what the memes portray, but it is plain wrong. Sound research is never found in ivory towers. Research involves inserting timeless truths into everyday life. It is very applied. Research also involves extracting timeless principles from the messiness of daily living. It is very reflective while being active.
Research is a necessary discipline of the busy, action-oriented person. It distinguishes between someone who is busy for nothing versus someone who is busying himself with something useful. The busier one is, the more research-oriented one ought to be.
Research links FACTER together
Activators are not always into research. Some of them misunderstand what the term implies. The best activators are often researchers themselves, even if they don’t call themselves by that label. Some activators do just enough research to get by, because they are already swamped trying to keep things going. As a result, insights that could have been discovered or applied remain untapped.
The ground up initiative scene is often fragmented. We are either too busy to collaborate, or too locked into their own realities to realize the gains that come from cross-fertilization of ideas. This is where research comes in to distill and share best practices.
Without research, the faith of funders will be sorely tested, as they cannot be assured of impact. With research-backed insights, activators can create better strategies for action. These insights can also contribute to a comprehensive plan for mobilizing the ecclesia and the tribe to the right places for action.
FACTER as a Framework
So far, I have introduced FACTER as a framework for thinking. I firmly believe that these six agents must be present for us to do consistent good.
For example, when we tackle the migrant problem issues, we need funders. We need activators who know the ground. We must involve other collaborators and bring them into play. More importantly, we must involve the tribe (i.e. the migrant workers) in the discussions and see how to enable them to help their own communities. We must involve enough of the right people, so that burnout does not occur, and because helping is inherently good for those involved. Lastly, we need sound research to address the right issues, and to extract lessons we can learn for application to other issues.
Having said this, the FACTER framework is not the only way for one to do good. It all depends on how one defines ‘doing good’. But I do believe that these six agents give us a better shot at doing consistent good sustainably.
FACTER as a Community
At the heart of it, when we address needs and try to do good, we are simply trying to be human. To be human is to be in community.
This COVID-19 season has tried to rob us of many aspects of what it means to be human. No longer do congregate, hold hands, share a hug or have a cup of coffee together. We are discouraged from heading outdoors. We cannot exercise together, and we have to apply for permission to be classified as an essential service provider before we can extend help that requires any sort of normal human contact.
In such a time, it is even more important for us to be in community. FACTER is first and foremost a way of being community. In this community, we can be a FACTER for good. It is time for us to do so. If not now, when? Let’s not wait till COVID-20 before we redeem ourselves of all the fault lines revealed in COVID-19.
