Singapore Red Cross Youth

Singapore Red Cross Youth
Abbreviation	RCY
Formation	1952; 72 years ago
Type	Uniformed group
Headquarters	Red Cross House
Location	15 Penang Lane Singapore 238486;
Director	Sahari bin Ani
Affiliations	Singapore Red Cross Society
Website	https://www.redcross.sg/red-cross-youth/about-red-cross-youth.html

The Singapore Red Cross Youth (RCY) is a uniformed group for primary and secondary school students. It has a membership of about 1500 links (primary school students) and about 2500 cadets (secondary school students) as of January 2015^[update]. There are currently 41 link units, 43 cadet units and 10 chapter units. A non-uniformed wing – RCY Chapters & Youth Members are inclusive of the RCY.

History

The Red Cross Youth was formed in 1952, with Raffles Girls' School (Secondary) having its first cadet unit. The Red Cross runs school-based youth programmes and is a Co-Curricular Activity (CCA) recognised by the Ministry of Education as an avenue for Character and Citizenship Education in Singapore schools. The Red Cross Youth has two programmes – one for the Primary School children (Link Programme) and another for Secondary School youths (Cadet Programme). The organisation of youth activities under this approach has produced good results with both the Link units and Cadet Units, enthusiastically pursuing a series of activities ranging from social/recreational to community programmes.

Red Cross Youth Chapters (RCYC or RCY Chapters), previously known as the Red Cross Humanitarian Network (RCHN) was incorporated into Red Cross Youth from 1 July 2011.^[1]

Structure

The Singapore Red Cross Youth comes under the command of Singapore Red Cross Society with the following appointments:

Appointment	Incumbent
Patron	President of the Republic of Singapore
Chairman	Mr. Tan Kai Hoe

The Singapore Red Cross Youth Steering Committee is also organised in a National Headquarters level with the following appointments:

Appointment	Incumbent
Senior Director	Mr. Sahari Ani
Head of Department	Ms. Durga Naidu
Deputy Director (Governance, Risk & Compliance) Covering Youth Members @ Districts	Mr. Prathivmohan Chandramohan
Deputy Director (Uniformed Group)	Ms. Tai Wai Peng
Deputy Director (Chapters & Red Cross Junior)	Dr. Mohammad Zaidi Ariffin
Deputy Director (Resource Development & Operations)	Mr. Dennis Mark
Senior Assistant Director (Governance, Risk & Compliance)	Mr. Ambrose Lee
Coordinating Assistant Director (Uniformed Group, Operations)	Mr. Daryl Ee
Coordinating Assistant Director (Links)	Ms. Chow Yin
Coordinating Assistant Director (Cadets)	Ms. Bertha Kwok
Coordinating Assistant Director (Youth Members @ Districts)	Ms. Daphne Goh
Coordinating Assistant Director (Chapters)	Mr. Amos Kow
Coordinating Assistant Director (Red Cross Junior)	Ms. Durga Naidu
Acting Coordinating Assistant Director (Uniformed Group, Operations)	Mr. Ong Sin Wee

Incentive Badges Scheme

The objective of the Incentive Badge Scheme is to encourage Link and Cadet members to take an interest in subjects outside their normal academic curriculum and to widen their interests by carrying out these activities during training. Such activities may also be organised by their respective Zones. Certain activities are also organised by Red Cross Headquarters.

The different badges are as follows:

Cadet Members

Achievements

President's Youth Award
Director's Award

Proficiency badges

First Aid (Bronze, Silver, Gold)
Youth Ambassadors' Blood Programme (Bronze, Silver, Gold)
Red Cross Knowledge (Bronze, Silver, Gold)
Red Cross Service Learning (Bronze, Silver, Gold)
Disaster Management (Bronze, Silver, Gold)
Youth Leadership (Bronze, Silver, Gold)
Service Learning (Bronze, Silver, Gold)

National Education badges

Total Defence (Bronze, Silver, Gold)
National Day Parade
Singapore Youth Festival
National Camp
National Heritage
SANA Anti-Drug and Inhalant Abuse

Fundamental badges

Foot-Drill

Enrichment badges

International Friendship
Link-Cadet

Link Members

Core Subjects

Basic First Aid (Foundation, Formative)
Basic Red Cross Knowledge (Foundation, Formative)
Youth Ambassadors' Blood Programme (Foundation, Formative)
Red Cross Service (Foundation, Formative)

UG Fundamental Subjects

Basic Outdoor Activities (Foundation, Formative)
Basic Foot-Drill (Foundation, Formative)

Achievements

Director's Award

Non-Core Subjects

Environment Education (Foundation, Formative)
Health Education (Foundation, Formative)
International Friendship
Performing Arts (Foundation, Formative)
Sports Education (Foundation, Formative)

Annual Events

Red Cross Youth hosts a variety of major events, performances, competitions and programmes. The events are as follows:

Type	Programme/Event
Competitions	First Aid Championship, Fostering Leadership And Resilient Endeavours (FLARE), Disaster Risk Reduction Championship (DRRC), Ambassadors of Blood donation Competition (ABC), Trailblazers Championship (TC)
Training	Modular Workshops, Warrant Officer's Programme, Unit Specialist Programme, Volunteer Instructors' Programme, Unit Officers' Programme, Volunteer Officers' Programme
Celebration/Recognition	Awards & Recognition Day, World Red Cross Day Celebrations
Others	Red Cross Youth Challenge, Linkamania Camp, Youth Officers' Sharing Session, Overseas Humanitarian Programme, International Youth Exchange Programme

Uniform

Male Cadet

Female Cadet

Rank structure

Appointment Ranks
Insignia
Title	Director^{[note 1]}	Deputy Director^{[note 2]}

Appointment Ranks & Staff Officers (Secretariat)
Insignia
Title	Head Staff Officer^{[note 3]}	Senior Staff Officer	Staff Officer	Auxiliary Staff Officer	Senior Assistant Director^{[note 4]}	Coordinating Assistant Director^{[note 5]}	Assistant Director^{[note 6]}

Divisional Officers^{[note 7]}
Insignia
Title	Senior Divisional Officer	Divisional Officer	Assistant Divisional Officer

Youth Officers & Zone Volunteer Officers
Insignia
Title	Head Of Zone^{[note 8]}	Assistant Head Of Zone^{[note 9]}	Senior Youth Officer^{[note 10]}	Youth Officer^{[note 11]}

Volunteer Instructors & Volunteer Officers
Insignia
Title	Senior Volunteer Officer^{[note 12]}	Volunteer Officer	Assistant Volunteer Officer^{[note 13]}	Principal Cadet Officer	Senior Cadet Officer	Cadet Officer	Assistant Cadet Officer^{[note 14]}

Cadet Members
Insignia
Title	Senior Warrant Officer^{[note 15]}	Warrant Officer^{[note 16]}	Staff Sergeant (SSG)	Sergeant (SGT)	Corporal (CPL)	Lance Corporal (LCP)

Link Members

Link Gold Star
Link Silver Star
Link Bronze Star

Volunteer Instructors (VI)

Volunteer Instructors (VIs) are usually graduated cadets of various RCY units who wish to continue rendering service to the organisation, at the school and/or headquarter level. Volunteer Instructors are required to undergo the Volunteer Instructors' Programme (VIP) organised by Red Cross Youth Headquarters. Trainees will undergo training to equip them with knowledge and skills to be an instructor in Red Cross Youth. All Instructors are required to obtain the Standard First Aid Certificate. When trainees successfully pass out from VIP, they will be appointed the rank of Assistant Cadet Officer.

Duties of a VI includes:

Assisting the Youth Officer (YO) in preparing the unit's training work plan.
Assisting in conducting training and organising of activities within the core curriculum of the RCY.
Assisting in the organisation of activities for the respective district.
Providing proper guidance and counselling to cadets and links, as well as to take charge of their welfare.
Attending meetings at unit committees as a co-opted member to provide advice and expertise.

Awards and recognition

Lanyards

Lanyard are awarded to cadets with outstanding performance in terms of leadership and/or skills in the following programmes/events. Lanyards are usually worn on the left shoulder as shown above. However, if a cadet attains more than one lanyard, he/she can only wear one.

Programme	Duration	% of cohort
Unit Specialists' Programme	Nov–Dec	10
Warrant Officers' Programme	May–June	10
Red Cross Youth Challenge	Dec	10

Long Service Awards

Long Service Medals & Ribbons are awarded to Red Cross Youth Volunteers as an appreciation for their active contributions in Singapore Red Cross Youth.

Red Cross Diamond Star (25 Years Medal)
Red Cross Platinum Star (20 Years Medal)
Red Cross Gold Star (15 Years Medal)
Red Cross Silver Star (10 Years Medal)
Red Cross Bronze Star (5 Years Medal)

Long Service Ribbons (15 years)

Medals are worn on the left side of the uniform, in accordance with the order of precedence. Full-sized medals are worn with the Red Cross Full Uniform. The medals are worn centrally on the left side of the uniform showing the obverse face. The base of the medals should be just above the pocket button. If more than one medal is worn, they are shown full-faced and suspended side by side in precedence order with the highest award placed first from the right (nearer to the heart) of the wearer. If more than 4 medals are worn, the highest award is shown full-faced while the others are overlapped.

Long Service Ribbons (20 years)

Ribbons are worn without the orders, decorations and medals. They are worn immediately above the left chest pocket flap. The latest rewarded ribbon is worn on the wearer's right (nearer to the heart) and in the top row when more than one row is worn. Ribbons are worn to a maximum of three in a row. Ribbons in excess of this number are to be worn centrally above the completed row.

The UnI Channel

To allow the cadets to stay connect with Red Cross Youth and interact with other cadets. In 2009, Red Cross Youth publicity team launched a Facebook group and blog, both named The UnI Channel. The blog provides regular updates on Red Cross-related issues such as works of ICRC and IFRC to provide cadets with additional information pertaining to the work of the Red Cross. Besides factual information about the Red Cross, the blog would also discuss problems regarding unit management, teamwork and youth-related issues. Moderators would also put up photos of recent RCY events that have occurred (like the ones mentioned above). The blog has achieved high readership since its launch in 2009, as of August 2015^[update], it has over 623,000 views.

The UnI Channel also include a UnI YouTube Channel and a Facebook account which contains photographs of various events that happen within the Red Cross Youth Spectrum. More recently, they launched Twitter and Instagram accounts to update readers on the Red Cross Red Crescent scene, both locally and internationally. The UnI Channel was further improved and currently in use - rcyouth.com. This serves as a platform for all stakeholders to view and download RCY training materials and relevant information for reference.

School Units

Schools are categorised into 4 zones. Below are the zones and their respective schools.

List of RCY Chapters in Singapore

Notes

^ These are Appointment Ranks appointed by The Singapore Red Cross Society Council.
^ These are Appointment Ranks appointed by The Singapore Red Cross Society Council.
^ These are Appointment Ranks appointed by The Singapore Red Cross Society Council.
^ These are Appointment Ranks appointed by the Red Cross Youth Steering Committee.
^ These are Appointment Ranks appointed by the Red Cross Youth Steering Committee.
^ These are Appointment Ranks appointed by the Red Cross Youth Steering Committee.
^ These are often Senior Officers who are no longer holding appointments in office or conferred an Honorary Officer role, e.g. former ADs, Coordinating ADs, Senior ADs, DDs and/or Director.
^ Granted to Teacher-Officers In Command, or Volunteer Officers who have exhibited competent leadership. This is the highest possible rank an Officer can be promoted to.
^ Granted to Teacher-Officers In Command, or Volunteer Officers who have exhibited competent leadership.
^ Granted to Teacher-Officers In Command, or Volunteer Officers who have exhibited competent leadership.
^ Granted to Teacher-Officers who have completed the Unit Officers' Programme (UOP).
^ Granted to Teacher-Officers In Command, or Volunteer Officers who have exhibited competent leadership. This is the highest possible rank an Officer can be promoted to.
^ Granted to Volunteer Instructors, aged 21 and above in the year of promotion, who have completed the Volunteer Officers' Programme (VOP).
^ Granted to Volunteer Instructors who have passed the Volunteer Instructors' Programme (VIP).
^ This is the highest possible rank a RCY Cadet can be promoted to.
^ Rank no longer issued.

References

^ "Singapore Red Cross Society". redcross.sg. Retrieved 7 June 2019.

[2] These are Appointment Ranks appointed by The Singapore Red Cross Society Council.

[3] These are Appointment Ranks appointed by The Singapore Red Cross Society Council.

[4] These are Appointment Ranks appointed by The Singapore Red Cross Society Council.

[5] These are Appointment Ranks appointed by the Red Cross Youth Steering Committee.

[6] These are Appointment Ranks appointed by the Red Cross Youth Steering Committee.

[7] These are Appointment Ranks appointed by the Red Cross Youth Steering Committee.

[8] These are often Senior Officers who are no longer holding appointments in office or conferred an Honorary Officer role, e.g. former ADs, Coordinating ADs, Senior ADs, DDs and/or Director.

[9] Granted to Teacher-Officers In Command, or Volunteer Officers who have exhibited competent leadership. This is the highest possible rank an Officer can be promoted to.

[10] Granted to Teacher-Officers In Command, or Volunteer Officers who have exhibited competent leadership.

[11] Granted to Teacher-Officers In Command, or Volunteer Officers who have exhibited competent leadership.

[12] Granted to Teacher-Officers who have completed the Unit Officers' Programme (UOP).

[13] Granted to Teacher-Officers In Command, or Volunteer Officers who have exhibited competent leadership. This is the highest possible rank an Officer can be promoted to.

[14] Granted to Volunteer Instructors, aged 21 and above in the year of promotion, who have completed the Volunteer Officers' Programme (VOP).

[15] Granted to Volunteer Instructors who have passed the Volunteer Instructors' Programme (VIP).

[16] This is the highest possible rank a RCY Cadet can be promoted to.

[17] Rank no longer issued.

[1] "Singapore Red Cross Society". redcross.sg. Retrieved 7 June 2019.

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