Youths who are interested in community work can now get a helping hand with the setting up of the volunteer youth corps, an initiative announced by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the National Day Rally earlier this month. Under this initiative, these youths can expect to receive allowances if they wish to take time out from their studies to do full-time volunteering, as well as training and mentoring, government funding for projects and networking opportunities. SMU undergraduate Yong Shi Yun, who set up the first campus arm of Habitat for Humanity, a non-profit organisation which helps build houses for the needy abroad, welcomes the move. The new scheme, she said, is a good way to "embed yourself in a community of volunteers (to) learn and receive emotional support”.