Dear Friends, The women in our baking programme checked every box of mandarin oranges carefully before including them as part of a Chinese New Year hamper they were preparing. They soon discovered rotten oranges as well as boxes that did not contain the full complement of 18 oranges. They carried the boxes back to the mini-mart and got the shopkeeper to put things right. “It is the new year for our Chinese neighbours, and we want to give them the best fruits,” they maintained. 12 Malay women participated in a project to prepare 100 festive hampers sponsored by GIC Pte …
Another Week Beyond – 2003
Dear Friends, When Khalid, an intern from Nanyang Polytechnic assisted with “Make & Play,” a weekly craft programme attended by 10 to 15 children, he noticed volunteers taking a few children aside to read to them. It was the first time he was attending the session and he wondered why. After the session, he learnt from the volunteers that they were there to teach craft and to encourage children to create toys and knick-knacks with their hands but in the process, they realised that many could not read. This disturbed Khalid and at that moment, he decided that he had …
Another Week Beyond – 2002
Dear Friends, Some of us wear a tracker or use a smart watch to monitor our activity level and to spur ourselves toward a healthier lifestyle. Having an awareness and understanding seems to encourage us to act on our fitness goals. In the same vein of facilitating informed action, we are supporting residents of a public rental neighbourhood to discover the health challenges and aspirations of their community. We are training these residents to speak with their neighbours and to help paint a picture of the health-related needs of their community. This picture will then be shared with the community …
Another Week Beyond – 2001
Dear Friends, Several greetings that I received the past couple of days alluded to 2020 being a year of vision and so before I go on, I wish you a clear, purposeful and Happy New Year. In collaboration with the Kampong Kapor Family Service Centre, we engaged 21 youth in a drama workshop over the past 2 months. “Youth Stories” created a safe space for these young people to share their day-to-day experiences as well as their challenges, fears and concerns. Last Thursday, they put together a short performance for their caregivers to highlight the risk of getting entangled with …