'Do you fly an airplane?' This RSAF regular piques kids' curiosity when she's giving them free computer lessons

A child's curiosity knows no bounds.

Tan Wan Yi from the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) found that out after becoming a "big sister" to several primary school students.

Speaking to AsiaOne on Thursday (June 8), the 26-year-old shared about her squadron's collaboration with non-profit organisation Bringing You Technology Empowerment (Byte.sg) to teach computer literacy skills to children from underprivileged families.

Tan, who joined the air force in 2020, said: "They would usually ask, 'Do you fly an airplane? Do you fight enemies?'.

"They will also steer the questions towards the superheroes that they like who can fly. It's all very casual and we try to keep it [that way]."

Besides teaching these kids, aged seven to 12, how to find information on the internet, she and her team also applied some of their work expertise while volunteering.

This includes showing the children satellite imagery on online maps and pointing out landmarks to them.

"We understand the importance of being digital literate. And we are thankful for all the support from the RSAF, which gives us opportunities to gain digital skills during our daily training," said Tan, who is an Air Imagery Intelligence Expert.

"So it's a privilege to volunteer [and] help the disadvantaged to improve their computer literacy skills."

On Thursday, the RSAF announced a coordinated effort for air force members to participate in community service efforts as part of their 55th anniversary celebrations.

Running from June to September, the RSAF Cares campaign will include initiatives such as beach cleaning activities and blood donation drives.

Members of the public can show support by donating to their charity drive, which starts in August, said the deputy chairman of the campaign Aaron Tan, who is also Commander of the Air Engineering Training Institute.

While the air force's collaboration with Byte.sg ended last December, Tan is looking forward to its second run during the June school holidays.

Recalling her conversations with the children, she said: "We don't just teach them during these lessons. We interact and build rapport with them.

"There were a few that were older… and that's when I know what they did during the school holidays, what their school life is like and what they do with their family."

While the young students have also asked about Tan's job, have any of them expressed an interest in joining the air force?

"No," she quipped, adding that "it's not the focus" use the community outreach project to recruit new blood.

chingshijie@asiaone.com