A Long Serving Volunteer
July – September 2026Perspectives: Volunteer
"I thought I wasn’t suited for it."
This was Ezra Phang’s initial reaction when he was first asked to volunteer at WE CARE. He genuinely believed he was bad with people. A former lawyer, he describes his past self as an "arguer" — someone who preferred working alone, didn't like group affiliations and actively avoided being tied down to any single organisation. For a long time, he preferred being on the outside.
Yet today, Ezra, or Yen as most of us know him, is WE CARE’s longest-serving volunteer, amongst all existing volunteers, marking four years of involvement in the centre’s art initiatives.
In person, Ezra speaks with the sharp self-awareness of someone who has reinvented himself. Transitioning from law to art, painting became his second vocation. But during the pandemic, a quiet crisis of purpose hit him. He found himself questioning the ultimate meaning of his craft. "I felt like I was just painting pretty shit for rich people," he reflects candidly. Volunteering, as it turned out, became the anchor that gave his art — and his life — a different kind of purpose.
But the true turning point happened by accident.
Walking past the art room one day, Ezra was struck by the sound of abundant laughter and a vibrant, infectious energy radiating from the space. Intrigued, he looked inside and noticed something beautiful: there were people seated at the table, and he literally could not tell who were the staff and who were the beneficiaries. Everyone was just human, creating together.
That atmosphere drew him in. He became the third art volunteer in a lineage that began with Barry, the first volunteer art teacher, and Annelaure, an art therapist. Looking at the setup, Ezra notes with appreciation how well-resourced the center is, providing the physical and emotional space needed for real expression to take place.
Though he was concerned that people would quit the art programme, Ezra stayed. He had found a community where his sharp edges could soften, using his vocation for collective and mutual healing.
He recalls of one art session where there was a mix of students, and a few of them had already attended a few sessions prior and were used to the flow of things. Leveraging their experience, they stepped up to co-lead the activities for some new participants. Watching his craft being passed down in real time brought him a profound sense of joy. In that moment, he realized this beautiful cycle of mentorship is exactly what volunteering is all about.
In his own words, Ezra notes that, “There is no such thing as a mistake.” He says that one should keep all first drafts because it is not about being perfect but about progress. It is not about finding the correct medium or to tackle any one subject matter per se, but to see how things would react to each other.
There is no one right way of doing things, and that is how it is. It is a journey of self-discovery.
His biggest takeaway, is watching the story of an individual person unfold, and bearing witness to their transformation through art. He prides himself in creating a safe space where individuals can slowly find their voice. He came to realize that you don't have to be a traditional "people person" to make a difference; you just have to be willing to sit in the room, share the energy, and help others find their own canvas.
By Arthur Albuero
Arthur is pursuing a degree in Linguistics at NTU, and is interning with WE CARE during the break before his final year. In his spare time, he likes to speculate about alternative futures and other lives. He has also discovered a passion for working in social service agencies.
