Dear Friends “Whenever I felt like giving up during a run, my coach will encourage me, and I would push myself. That’s how I relate my training to my life. Everyone faces difficulties, but it is how we persevere. When I push the kids during training, I think they can learn a lot from it,” says Thaslim, 20 years old who runs a weekly fitness programme for our children. Thaslim is convinced that he has benefitted much from the many sporting and personal development opportunities he had received and is simply doing his bit for others. This year, to inspire …

Dear Friends “Unleash my strengths!” sounds like a command we may use to summon our superhero alter ego. But maybe that’s why it attracted 12 children to attend a 6-activity programme designed by Jia Jia, a 19-year-old intern studying psychology at Ngee Ann Polytechnic. She felt that we often associate strengths with the competencies that bring success, and seldom do we celebrate other qualities of a person. True enough, when asked to list their strengths at the first session, the children mainly put down football, cycling and art in their scrap book. However, by the end of the second activity, …

Dear Friends It was 4 am when Diljan received a knock on her door. “My husband has just died,” her elderly neighbour told her. Immediately, Diljan switched on the lights, brought her in and comforted her. As her neighbour began contacting her relatives, Diljan and her husband prepared a small reception table outside their flat so that family and friends arriving could have a warm drink and a small snack. There was also a little sign indicating that all guests were free to use the rest room in her home. “It was not yet daybreak, people would not have eaten,” …

Dear Friends Jia Min, 22 and Miao Yu, 23 are studying psychology and social work at the Singapore Management University and the National University of Singapore respectively, and they have just finished a 2-month internship with us today. Both had wanted the experience of community work and when they first got here, they received the brief to better understand how we may support youth aged 18 to 25 with their employment. The task was daunting as they imagined reaching out to people often described as ‘youth-at-risk’ whom they pictured to be boisterous at best and if not, downright rude and …

Dear Friends, The Singapore Education System is organised to prepare students for work and life-long learning. Nonetheless, teenagers could do with a little help from the community to think about careers that they may want to pursue. During the school holidays, the Apprentice Collective a volunteer group invited our youth to Day X which offered 2-hour slots for participants to get a taste of 3 different professions through hands-on activities. There were more than 60 different professions to choose from and the 3 teens who attended chose to meet a pharmacist, a financial planner and a photo-journalist. Perhaps, they were …

Dear Friends Community is a way of belonging. Members of a community experience a sense of belonging to a place that they also believe belongs to them. Sometimes it is really a physical place where people reside but often a shared purpose, or an interest brings people together. What’s important though is that that when people come together they enjoy a sense of connectedness and contentment. InterNations reaches out to expatriates with the assurance, “Wherever in the world life takes you, our InterNations Communities help you feel at home.” It is interesting how strangers from diverse backgrounds can have a …

Dear Friends This is the first week of the Islamic month of Shawwal and we look back with gratitude at the generosity and kindness we experienced in abundance during the month of Ramadan. Our volunteers and friends hosted communal meals to mark the breaking of fast and there was much sharing and cooperation among neighbours. The goodwill arrived in different ways; new clothes for children, volunteers to tidy up homes and even fish donated at the end of a fishing competition. More than 40 families benefitted from the catch at Dbest Fishing Pond. Last Friday, volunteers from the Prime Minister’s …