2527 – Two Heavy Bags

Comms Team Another Week Beyond, Community

Story Contributed by Colin, Intern It was mid-afternoon in Ghim Moh, and our team was halfway through distributing food rations to residents. Most came prepared with trolleys or had children helping them. That’s when Lisa* caught my eye. She walked toward us alone, empty-handed. She chatted with my teammates who were collecting details for a community survey. With no trolley and two heavy bags of rations to carry – including a 5kg sack of rice and a litre of oil – I offered to help bring them up to her flat. She smiled with relief. “Thank you, young man. That’s …

2526 – Something About Familiarity

Comms Team Another Week Beyond

Written by Nina, Community Relations It was 8am on a weekday, and we were far from the spaces we usually occupy – a warehouse with heavy grey doors, a maze of corridors, and huge loading bays. A stark contrast from the HDB blocks and community spaces we’re used to. My teammate and I were there to issue over 200 bundles of Charity Draw tickets to Singapore Pools outlets across the island. It was supposed to be a straightforward task: pack, log, hand over, repeat. We were prepared for a long day of admin. Instead, we found ourselves in the middle …

2525 – Three Humans, Figuring It Out

Comms Team Another Week Beyond, Arts, Community, Community Theatre, Community Theatre

Written by Rachel, Beyond Editorial Team It was 20 minutes to show time. The crowd was settling in – a restless sea of chatter and expectation. The mic crackled sharply. You could feel the energy thrumming through the hall. For 10 months, youths and volunteers from The Community Theatre (TCT) had poured themselves into this moment. They’d gathered week after week to conceptualize a performance around a message close to their hearts – the confusing, and often, overwhelming experience of growing up. Then, right before the show, I heard that Jamie*, one of our volunteers, had stepped outside. The noise, …

2524 – “Bad” At Math

Comms Team Another Week Beyond, Children and youth

Written by Wilson, Community Worker Qistina is a quiet, earnest 13-year-old who comes every week to our academic support programme for secondary school students. From the start, it was clear she struggled with mathematics. Like many of her peers, she found comfort in languages but stumbled when it came to numbers. When we first started the programme in March, Qistina was the only one who showed up consistently. Still, after the first session, one volunteer shared that she found Qistina unmotivated to learn. I asked gently, “Then how come she’s the only one who keeps coming back?” The volunteer paused, …

2523 – A Little Braver Together

Comms Team Another Week Beyond, Children and youth, Community

Written by Nina, Beyond Editorial Team On 28 June, a small group of volunteers, neighbours, and new friends gathered in Jalan Bukit Merah for a Learning Journey. It wasn’t meant to be a tour. It was an invitation to see the neighbourhood through the eyes of those who live there, to walk alongside those who call this place home, and to witness how community grows when people build it for themselves. Ali* was among the community guides leading my group that day. Sixteen and soft-spoken, he mostly kept close to Madam Sita*, an older neighbour who had known him since …

2522 – The Chair at the Front

Comms Team Another Week Beyond, Children and youth, Community, Community Theatre, Community Theatre

Written by Jie Min, Community Worker Nenek* is a familiar and beloved presence at our office whenever The Community Theatre holds its weekly rehearsals. She’s there not for the theatre, but for her granddaughter, Sam** – one of the main actors in this year’s production. While the other youth bustle about in preparation, Nenek waits quietly in her chair, eyes on her phone, taking a brief moment to rest before the journey home. She never watches the rehearsals. Never intrudes. But her presence anchors the space. And over time, she’s become Nenek to everyone. A few hours before the big …

2521 – What We Miss When We Don’t Ask

Comms Team Another Week Beyond, Children and youth

Written by Pei Ling, Partner Relations It was just before a youth programme at the office. Two boys sat in the pantry, quietly waiting for it to start. I asked, casually, “What are you up to these days? Studying or working?” A simple question. But one that opened the door to something deeper. The first youth, Adam*, shared that he had missed his N-level exams not once, but twice. The first time, he was hospitalised. The second time, he fell ill again, but didn’t seek medical attention. His younger siblings were unwell too, and his mother – a single parent …

2520 – Finding Home, Finding Community

Comms Team Another Week Beyond, Children and youth, Community

Written by Amelia, Community Member In 2016, my family took a leap of faith. We left behind the familiar and stepped into the unknown, hoping to build a better future in Singapore. As a transnational family, with my mother and me being the foreigners in our household, we have faced and continue to face numerous challenges. At first, we felt lost. We weren’t familiar with the many schemes and programmes available to Singaporeans, let alone the welcoming spaces within the community that could have helped us settle in. One of the first hurdles was making our house feel like a …

2519 – Together, Let’s Just Try Our Best

Comms Team Another Week Beyond, Children and youth

Written by The Beyond Editorial Team Claire* was still figuring things out when she reached out to us. She was in the middle of preparing for her PSLE, deep in planning and revision like thousands of other students across Singapore. But even in that intensity, she paused long enough to ask a question: Would Beyond like to receive some stationery gift packs for students taking the PSLE? There was no big plan yet. Just a seed of an idea rooted in understanding. She knew how it felt to be at this stage. How overwhelming it can be, how isolating. And …

2518 – Community Interdependence

Rachel Goh Another Week Beyond

Written by Wilson, Community Worker Over the past few months, community workers had been knocking on flats, hoping to learn what mattered to residents right now. Not everyone answered, and not everyone was ready to talk. But those who did often stayed longer at the doorway than expected. Stories came out in pieces: a recent move, a child struggling in school, a neighbour who had suddenly moved away. From these encounters, we invited a few residents to meet, just to get to know one another. Ann* and Marlina* came, both mothers of young children. They had met the year before …