Dear friends, “Look around this room. What memories come to mind?” We posed this question to a group of youth assisting an artist to create a mural that adorns our premises at Whampoa. Spontaneously, one uttered, “Standing around this table like what we are doing now.” He elaborated that he was curious why his friends were gathered at the table …
Another Week Beyond – 2136
Dear friends, 3 interns have been supporting 5 children to participate in an online reading programme at home. These children live in the same housing block and a significant part of this endeavour has been troubleshooting whenever the digital tools and access we provided were not working optimally. Our interns realised that often, it was not faulty equipment but the lack of …
Another Week Beyond – 2135
Dear friends, While we support and facilitate food distribution exercises, we do not regard ourselves as a food aid agency. However, because of the pandemic, we distributed 96,117 cooked meals and $818,740 worth of supermarket vouchers last year. Spread across 20 different neighborhoods, our members received a cooked meal at least once a week and up to 5 times when it …
Another Week Beyond – 2134
Dear friends, Ellyn joined our after-school programme at 9 years old and she remembers that she was placed 3rd in a 5km race at the East Coast Park that year. She was having a shower when her mother told her that her name was being announced on stage and urged her to hurry up so that she could collect her prize. …
Another Week Beyond – 2133
Dear friends, A month ago, I was with a locksmith at about 10 pm fixing the locks of the gate and main door of a flat. While the gate could still be secured with a padlock, the wooden door behind it could not be locked from the outside. The locksmith was very skillful, and both the gate and the door …
Another Week Beyond – 2132
Dear friends, “Our Singapore Spirit” is the theme for this year’s National Day Parade and on its official website, visitors are invited to say what the Singapore Spirit means to them. As of 28 July 2021, the top 2 traits articulated are “hard-working” and “caring.” We can’t disagree as our work is significantly sustained by the caring people who donate their …
Another Week Beyond – 2131
Dear friends, After saying his name, he added “I am 14 years old, and I don’t know what I am doing here!” It was not the reconciliatory opening statement others in the room were expecting but perhaps the occasion was just overwhelming. His older brother who spoke next, immediately defended him. “I am here because I damaged the RC’s door and …
Another Week Beyond – 2130
Dear friends, Jael, who is doing her internship with us in partial fulfillment for her degree in social work was curious why most of the caregivers she met were mothers and women. She wondered where the fathers and the men in the community were. “Men and fathers are difficult to engage,” she was told at school and when she asked the …
Another Week Beyond – 2129
Dear friends, A mother contacted us sounding extremely troubled. She told us that a police officer had contacted her informing she had to pay $1500 for a door that her sons had damaged. He also told her that her sons may be charged for attempting to break into a premises. It sounded rather odd that a police officer would be asking …
Another Week Beyond – 2128
Dear friends, “Where do you imagine yourself to be 10 years from now?” We posed the question to group of caregivers aged from 61 to 26 years old. “Heaven!” A man in his 50s quipped but a couple of others took him quite seriously and said that it seemed like a reasonable answer for them too. A colleague who was taking …