1960s-1970s-2010 Peoples’ Association

Last Friday, 29 Jan 2010, People’s Association (PA) celebrated its re-location to its new home at the former Victoria Secondary School premise. On this backdrop, I would like to recount my experience with PA and its community centres.

In the 1960s, I lived in Paya Lebar area near to Lorong Bengkok. The nearest community centre was MacPherson Community Centre (CC) at Circuit Road and Paya Lebar CC. My impression of the then CC was a black and white television set placed in an elevated box at the courtyards of the community centre. Row of wooden benches, well without any back rest were placed in front of the television set.

Though the setting was uncomfortable, the hordes of residents, young and old, alone or with family members turned up at the CC every evening did not seem to mind. As seats were limited, some would stand, others would bring their own chairs.  The residents chit chats, made friends, children running around to entertain themselves if they were not watching television programme. If it rained, it was just not the day as there was no shelter at the television area. Residents would have to “take cover” at the CC building.

I remembered watching the television series “Combat” starring Rick Jason and Vic Morrow. Many years later, Vic Morrow became our local term in the army of “don’t go through the vic morrow”. I also remembered Samurai (Shintaro), Ultraman (the Ultraman is not the current version Ultraman), Rin Tin Tin, a tracker dog from the US Calvary etc. There were variety shows like the Rado Show, Sharp Night. Talentine etc.  

Compared to today’s multi-storey air-conditioned community clubs offering modern facilities, the already “vanished” CCs which I grew up with may be inferior but they contained the memories of my childhood days. Lives then were simple.

On 29 Jan 2010, our Prime Minister, Mr Lee Hsien Loong, declared open the new Peoples’ Association (PA) HQ .  I was honoured to have recieved an invitation to witness the officially opening of the new $47 million PA HQ located at the former Victoria Secondary School. The main school building still stood there withstanding the test of time. However, the once dull building has undergone a facelift and it looks majestic especially in the evening with colour lights shone onto the building. The opening also signaled the bringing of all staff under one roof for more synergy and effectiveness. This is Happiness No 1.

 

Happiness No 2 is the crossing of the 50 years milestone of PA on 1 Jul 2010.  50 years is not a short span of time, it is a golden jubilee celebration.  There is more to celebrate the success of PA as over the years, PA has been able to continue to bring people together through its own transformation and its continual evolution to stay relevant to stay in touch with the ground.

Nonetheless, the challenge is made more difficult with the advent of IT and globalisation where we now live in an inter-connected world which shapes the behaviours of a new generation of Singaporean. Though there are challenges, I am sure PA will continue to stay its course to achieve its mission. 50 yrs agothe mission of PA was to promote racial harmony and social cohesion in a pluralistic society. In the next 50 yrs, PA mission is to build and to bridge communities in achieving one people and one Singapore. PA can achieve this mission if it continue to collaborate and work hand in gloves with grassroots organisations on ground issues in a changing social landscape.

It was like a mini National Day celebration with staff from PA formed the choir to sing the PA theme song. It was followed next by Chingay procession with performers and colourful floats. The finale was the fire works display to commemorate the event like National Day albeit a smaller scale fire works display. The opening was well done.   

                       

This year is 2010. Singapore has come a long way. Similarly PA has also come a long way. Let wish the continue success of PA in achieving one people, One Singapore.

The Unlicensed Moneylender….. a saviour or a predator

This is a story of Mr “Wantan”, who is in the late 20s.  He is a single and lives with his aged mother. Wantan holds a regular job with a decent pay. With Wantan’s income, he is very comfortable to pay off his HDB mortgage and his family expenses including his mother’s medical expenses. He lives from hand to mouth and he has no savings. 

One day, his mother was admitted to hospital as she suffered a stroke. Her medical expenses accumulated and soon, Wantan is unable to foot the medical. Wantan resorted to borrowing from relatives and friends. When that source dried up, he resorted to borrowing from Mr Loan Shark.

Mr Loan Shark, an unlicensed money-lender (UML) was willing and readily made a loan of $3000 to Wantan on the condition that he services his promptly. To Wantan, Mr Loan Shark was his “saviour” as no other financial institutions are willing to help and he needed the money. Well a filial son.    

As days grew, Loan Shark became a predator when Wantan’s failed to service his debts. Wantan. Characters O $ P $ …..call 1234567 were scribbed on the walls of common corridors and lift cabin to attract Wantan’s attention. Piants were also thrown at Wantan’s home. Fearing his safety, Wantan took flight. 

The act of vandalising act was seen by a neighhour. “They are teenagers……give them a chance” he thought. “I have nothing to do with Loan Shark , this is Wantan’s problem” came to his mind. “What if I call the police and be found out by Mr Loan Shark, I am in trouble”. “Mind my business” came to his mind. 

Days passed and paints were thrown at neighbours’ home to pressure them to get Wantan to pay up or they pay up for Wantan.

Is the above scenario far-fetched?  No. It happened on the ground and neighbours became collaterals at the mercy of Mr Loan Shark. It is unfortunate but a reality if neighbours adopt an indifferent attitude to self preservation rather than owning the problem collectively.  

The self interests of neighbours reinforce the behaviours of these runners and they act as though they are upholding the laws of the country.  

Last year, 2009, there were 16,800 cases of loan shark and related harassments compared to 11,800 cases in 2008 (Straits Times, 18 January 2010) . Some town councils have to spend up to $70,000  to restore vandalised common property to original condition. That money could have been better used. Parliament had debated and amended the Money Lenders Act by giving more power to the courts to mete out stiffer sentences to UMLs. 

The legislation is good but these predators will find a way around the Act to continue with their thriving business in a different “business model”. Already it seems to me that these UMLs are already one step ahead of the law optimising technology and coming out with ingenious ways to elude apprehension.   

The thriving market is partly attributable to the quick “life line” offers by UMLs and there is no law enacted to criminalised borrowers. For borrowers who want to take the UMLs for a ride would often disguise their real identities or using their old addresses to confuse the UMLs and leaving new owners in a fix. I can understand from the UML’s perspective that they need their money back and therefore underarms tactics. 

Whether the new Money Lender Act and a set of HDB rules requiring owners to register their tenants will be effective remain to be seen. Can we just wait?  

The longer we wait, the worse it would become as UMLs would receive a strong signal that community is not interested or the community is self-centred. It is precisely that the UMLs understood the psychological make-up of us that they become bold to now even vandalise in broad daylight.  

The law is ideal but the fight must be taken to the community level for each in the neighbourhood to own the UMLs’ challenge. To win, the fight must be a concerted effort and every one must take part to watch out for each other back.  Remember, we have the overwhelming numbers of residents while UMLs have few runners.  In the miliary context on force to force comparison, we are a superior force and we should win. Today,  the odds is against us, we have the numbers yet we are no match for the few runners. We should reverse the rule of the game by turning the table on UMLs.

 To win this fight, perhaps we could rally ourselves as follows.   

• Educate our neighbours to be active in forming neighbourhood watch group or floor watch group to keep an eye for each other. The self-help group will complement the police as the eyes and ears. This will help our police narrow their area of operation of the UMLs.  
• Report people behaving suspiciously in the vicinity to our police by giving detailed descriptions of the suspect. 
• The Residents’ Committees to lead the fight and organise the residents with the advice given by our police.

Well, look at the punishment to be meted for UML.

• First-time offenders found guilty of operating a business as an unlicensed moneylender may be fined up to S$200,000 or jailed a maximum of 2 years, or both.
• Repeat offenders face a fine of up to S$200,000 and mandatory jail term of up to 5 years.

My wish is that residents in Changi Simei can rally together to get rid of the UMLs who are the predators. It is through our collective effort will we succeed. Depending on the community leaders to tackle the UMLs may not be adequate. Your participation is crucial. Please contact your Residents Committees.

Changi Simei’s Also Got Talent

America’s Got Talent. We too have our own talents.  We have Changi Simei’s Got Talent but with a difference…. read on.

 

On 23 Jan 2010, the Changi Simei Community Club Management Committee (CCMC) mustered all its Interest Groups and members at the community club to feature their talents. The performance include the Kuda Dance, Chinese Dance, Zappinrobics, Line Dance,  Belly Dance, Chinese Orchestra etc with the MC from the toastmaster Club.

 

Performers on stage and off stage come from all ages and races as we are a One People first.  I was told that the most senior performer is one gentleman who is above 80 years of age. I took my hat off to him when I saw him executing his dance steps to perfection not one but two Chinese dances in succession. As I watched him danced from my seat, I was wondering  how many of us would still have that kind of physical stamina and drive  to last the entire dance. This senior is our role model of what keeping mental and physical fitness is  all about.      

Unlike the reality show in America where the top prize is US $1 million, the Changi Simei’s Got Talent is a talent show with neither prize money, nor judges who at times dished out damning remarks nor an audience’s vote casting system. Our show is about creating joy and enjoyment for these members, is about encouraging residents to come out for their homes to join a group which share similar interest with them, is about creating a harmonious relationships among the members in a multi cultural and racial country.

In this afternoon performance, every member has made a sterling performance in the début show. Congratulations to all our performers for the time and efforts to make the début show a success. 

Since the formation of Interest Groups last year by the CCMC, there are now 23 Interest Groups being formed with over 300 members. These Interest Groups are being led by the respective Chairpersons of respective sub committees. Currently, there are 1 Interest Group with CCMC, 5 Interest Groups with Malay Activity Executive Committee, 2 Interest Groups with Youth Executive Committee, 5 Interest Groups with Indian Activity Executive Committee, 5 Interest Groups with Women Executive Committee and 5 Interest Groups with Senior Citizens Executive Committee. 

Performing groups:

– Chinese Orchestra

– Belly dance

– Dikir Barat

– Chinese Cultural Dance

– Kuda Kepand

– Zapinrobics

– Line dance

– Hip Hop

 

Non performing groups:

– Badminton for senior 

– Qigong

– Ace Alumni

– Handicraft for senior

– Scrapbooking

– Yoga

– Hobby craft

– Pickle ball – Senior

– Pickle ball – Junior

– English Toastmasters Club

– Floor Ball

– Brisk Walking

– Robotics club

– Asia card gaming club

 

Besides the Interests Groups formed under the CCMC, there are also Interest Groups formed by the Residents’ Committees (RC) and the Constituency Sports Club (CSC) as follows.

– Brisk Walk Club

– Recyling Club

– Karaoke Club

– Detox club

– Qi Gong Club

– jogging Club

– Healthy Lifestyle Club

– Kebayarobic

– Soccer Club

– Senior Citizens Walk and Jog Club

– Badminton Club

– Table Tennis Club

– Bowling Club

– Dragon Boat Club

 

 

More Interest Groups could be formed if there are demands from residents as there is no restriction on the type of Interest Groups to be formed as long as these Interest Groups benefit the residents and promoting community spirit. We could have such as  Interest Groups in Knitting, Gardening, Kite Flying, Remote Control Car etc.  To form Interest Groups, please check out the details at Changi Simei Community Club @ 67816058 or 67875365

 

Forming Interest Groups is easy but their sustantance are a challenge in view of financial challenges. To make sure that our Interest Groups could flourish and are  sustainable, SE CDC provides a matching fund with a funding ratio to start any Interest Groups. There are rules governing the usage of the matching fund and Interest Groups need not worry about accounting as all funds are managed and account by the CCMC.   

You may like to know how the Changi Simei Community Club Management Committee (CCMC) functions. The CCMC promotes racial harmony and social cohesion through the various cultural, educational, recreational, sporting, social and other community-based activities organised specially for residents. In essence, beside managing the community club, it also  make sure that it keep up with the expectations and needs of residents, organise creative and innovative courses and activities for residents in the community. Should you have any query, please call the CC.

Divided Views …… Divided Society

Changi Simei, Singapore, 21 Jan 2010

“United We Stand and Divided We Fall.” Are these words sound familiar? We may have heard these words many times over. You may ask, “Are these words still remain relevance in today affluent Singapore?”

In my mind, these words are very relevant in view of our multi racial and multi religions society. We may be enjoying peace and harmony now, but that peace and religious harmony can quickly dissipated through external driven events.  Look at the countries around us, Malaysia is being embroiled in religious controversy and discord in the wake of a High Court ruling that allowed another religious faiths to use a “word” to refer to their GOD on the eve of New Year. 

Some Malaysians were clearly unhappy and as a result places of worships were vandalised; 9 Churches, a Mosque and a Sikh temple and even a Convent School. Further north, you find people with  different religious faith battling each other. In the south, it no different where fanatics all wired up may choose to do some thing against humanity. In the east, you will find another battle ground. 

Even in our country, the presence of JI is a cause of concern. Then, are we really living in peace and harmony or we lured into a false sense of living in peace and harmony and thinking that whatever happened in other countries will not happen to us?    

I live through the racial riot in 1964 although I may not recall much of it as I was a child. Nonetheless, my memory of policemen and “white” soldiers patrolling the streets and the curfew were deep impression. I started to understand the impact of the 1964 racial riots when I read about it in school. Frankly, I do not want to see another riot here but developments in countries around us underscored the need for us to stay vigilant and not to take the current peace and religious harmony for granted.

It is easy to lose everything at one go. Look at Sri Lanka and Lebanon which were once thriving economies but fell into  anarchy and they are still licking their wounds from racial and religious fallouts. Even a poor African country like Rwanda was not spared from racial tension that culminated to the infamous ethnic cleansing of the Tutsi tribe by the Hutu tribe.

These are good examples of what will happen to us as we are not insulated from any external events. It is now make worst in today’s society as we now live in an inter-connected world. How vulnerable we are in.  We should count our blessing that we have a government which is vigilant and is decisive to deal with such issues unlike some foreign leaders who back paddled when their decisions bred more tensions and misunderstanding.         

Last year, I dealt with one case involving 7th moon prayer. One resident was splashed with water in the midst of the prayer.  Some one living at the high floor had deliberately splashed a pail of water at the resident and the offerings. Naturally, this resident was upset over the incident. 

Another incident involved one resident sending flyers to all his neighbours alleging the infringement of URA Act by a house owner who set up a temple beside his house. In the flyers, the residents alleged many inaccurate practices of the temple and these inaccuracies created alarm in the neighbourhood. 

For both incidents, it was fortunate that the alarm was raised to the CCC by a concerned resident. We moved into action quickly by visiting residents to explain what it should be and the need for tolerance.

For the prayer incident, almost every unit in the block was visited and residents appraised of the situation. We were fortunate the incident did not degenerate into bigger issues as families of different faiths visited expressed tolerant of each other practices. Though the culprit was never identified, it was not important. We managed to defuse the tension through visits and dialogue. 

Similarly, the temple issue was also resolved through visits to the neighbourhoods particularly the houses in the immediate vicinity of the temple which was actually a prayer hall instead. Neighbours in the immediately expressed support and understanding and the so call temple owner (who is the owner occupied) also co-operated to forge a win-win solution. From the onset, we were not interested in identifying the resident who wrote the flyer but instead to focus on the real issue on the ground and to get it solved. 

Both incidents reinforced the need to stay vigilant and to take immediate action. In our constituency, I am glad that we have formed the Inter Racial and Religious Confidence Circle (IRCC) where its members are drawn from the community like grassroots leaders, religious leaders of different faiths, business leaders, etc. The mission of the IRCC  is to  promote understanding, trust and respect among different races and religions and to respond quickly to incidents with racial and religious undertones during a crisis. It was fortunate that both incidents did not turn ugly as we acted to nip the roots cause instead of choosing to wait and see. 

It was life as usual when I visited both areas recently.  

Besides racial and religious tensions in region around us, the geo politics in the region more often than not also make us the bogeyman. The bogeyman may be a distraction to mask their real domestic difficulties of our neighouring countries.  Not too long, we became a “Red Dot” not too bad, I supposed. We are also labelled as a rebellious young brother who do not know how respect the elders who are supposedly “wiser”. 

These are inevitable and as long as we Singaporeans know ourselves and remain united, we will be strong. As long as we talk to each other, I think we can overcome the different views instead of reaching an impasse which will turn into divided views and hence a divided society which will spelt doom to us Singaporean.

Hopefully, we are one nation with one united people, regardless of race and religion and we are Singaporean first.

Are Prices in Supermarkets Competitive?

Changi Simei, Singapore, 17 Jan 2010

During a casual conversation with a friend, the topic on functionalities of iPhone was raised and the conversation led to keen competition by the Telcos to control the telecommunications market through their market and pricing strategies. Both of us agreed that de-regulation of the telecommunications market worked to the advantage of subscribers.

My first purchase of a PCN mobile phone costed about $1500 in the mid 1990s. Wow, a high price to pay to stay contactable. Fast forward to 2010, any high end phones would cost less than half my PCN phone today and a reasonable high end phone is free with a new service plan. That is the reality once the market is opened with many competitors. 

Our small chats turned to prices of food and daily essentials we needed daily. “Like the Telcos, the supermarkets should also lower prices” said my friend. “Prices in XXX supermarket are more expensive than YYY supermarket and we need more supermarkets to compete in our estate so that consumers are not at the mercy of XXX supermarket” he added. Coincidentally, a resident also surfaced the issue that the prices of a local supermarket operating in the estate are higher than its competitors. We wished each other well and carried on with our lives.

To find out the truth, I decided to make field trips to check out prices. I selected various supermarket and hypermarket chains, local or foreign-owned for my comparative study. An assumption was made that prices would be lower if there were more than one supermarket chains in operations within walking distance. A comparison would be made to find out whether prices are reasonable for supermarket or hypermarket chains operating with competitors nearby and no competitor in the area. 

I visited 3 supermarket and hypermarket chains located within walking distance of each other and 2 stand-alone supermarket and hypermarket chains. Products selected include rice, infant milk powder, toiletries, cooking oil and various groceries of the same brand and weight. 

From the comparative study, I could infer that these supermarket or hyper market chains adopted pragmatic pricing strategy to stay competitive thus many similar items were listed with similar price tags. This pricing strategies do not change even when their chains’ stores are located within distance of their competitors. In addition, I could also infer that competing supermarket or hypermarket chains would compete differently if they adopt a differentiated market strategy or marketing strategy liked offering the freshest food items. With a different marketing strategy, one supermarket chain prices were found to be higher, nonetheless, the higher pricing did not deter its regular clients as observed during the field trips. 

My study also found that the main differences in pricing come in the form of weekly offers make by the various supermarket or hypermarket chains. Their weekly offers consist of items ranging from food products to daily essentials and offered items vary from each other and items also vary from week to week. Weekly offers are also being published in the major local print media. It could be inferred that such offers would result in substantial savings. One local supermarket chain was also offering a purchase within a purchase with good discounts if the total receipt exceeded a minimum sum  

A couple of items like rice, infant milk powder etc were sold at a uniform price in the supermarket or hypermarket chains visited when these items were not on offer. I could infer that these prices may be regulated by their suppliers or the government to keep prices low.   

 To also understand price mechanism, I used the prices collected to make comparison with supermarket and hypermarket operating in estates or areas without competitors. I could derive an observation that the listed prices were also almost similar to their other stores specifically those stores operating in competitive environment. There was no price differentials and the price mechanism did not work as well as it should be in economic theory.   

 From my field trips, my take is that prices at the various supermarket or hypermarket chains are reasonable and the differential if any is small to stay competitive. The differential may exist as different stores in different locations incur different overheads which in my view is justifiable. I also cannot find a distinct price advantage or a relatively cheaper store when there are more than one competitors operating in the area. 

With the field trips, I am now in a better position to shop for the cheapest items at the different stores with different offers. The question is much time would have to be spent to make comparison of prices before the purchase. The call is ours to make.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Passion and Purpose in Grassroots works

“Only a life lived in the service to others is worth living for” ……….. Albert Einstien

Many years ago, I had made a resolution that my children would not live in a similar condition and experience that I lived and gone through and their childhood’ memory should preferable be sweet and care free. I came from a low-income family thus during my childhood days, it was a struggle to survive and to rid the poverty cycle. Through education although I must admit that I am not academically bright but with perseverance, hard work and the spirit of “can do”, I have made progress, a step at a time. Nonetheless, I am happy of where I am today and it is time to give back to the society.       

Fast forward to early 2000, as it was, on one fine day, I was being “volunteered” to  join the grassroots network. I was told I had the potential to contribute to the society. I pondered for a while and gave my consent. I have no regrets to say “Yes”. Infact, I am now enjoying every bits of my grassroots works to make a difference in the community in which I live in ie Changi Simei.  

When I gave my consent, my friends posed this question to me; “Why do you want to join the grassroots movement and what do you expect to get out of it?” My straight answer was to serve the less able people bearing in mind my humble background and life is about taking actions and not merely talks. These days, no one ask me the same question as in the course of grassroots works, I learned to be more empathetic and less dominance in personality and I did not have a personal agenda to start with.

Till today, I am still passionate and serious in going about my grassroots works and the purpose of serving the less able people remains my goal.

Passion and Purpose are complementary to each other. Without passion, grassroots works would not be sustainable. The same goes to purpose as without a clear purpose in the service of others, it will be to each his own no different from being mercenaries, calculative, egocentric and serving for personal reward regardless of consequences to others. We do not need grassroots mercenaries?    

I always admire the dedication, selflessness and loyalty of my grassroots leaders. They have volunteered not because of perks but to serve as a bridge to neighbourliness in order to  create a community that they want. Though it is a tall order considering the affluent and many modern materials creatures in our society, these grassroots leaders work hard to foster the community or kampung spirit. Our Residents’ Committees (RCs) work hard to engage residents on weekends. It is a challenge and hard work but they never give up. They are sincere and hope to join hands with more residents to create the future. I have seen them hard at work  especially in the recent works on the ground to gather support for the Neighbourhood Renewal Programme to transform their zones. I want to acknowledge their hard work and contributions and giving their best to Changi Simei. This is passion.

 

The Residents’ Committees (RCs) (logo on the left) were introduced in 1978 to promote neighbourliness, racial harmony and community cohesiveness amongst residents within their respective RC zones in Housing and Development Board (HDB) estates. Run by residents for residents, RCs also work closely with other grassroots organisations (GROs) like the Citizens’ Consultative Committees (CCCs) and various government agencies to improve the physical environment and safety of their respective precincts.

Over the years, new members are recruited through tea sessions. We have recruited a numbers of new members to join our grassroots rank.  These new members volunteered to join us and during the tea session, I had made clear on the vision, mission and purpose of the grassroots organisations and the various works and programmes being implemented or completed by our grassroots leaders. During the presentation, I had deliberately amplified the purpose of grassroots works to reiterate to make sure that potential members understood and to seek clarity on purpose. The same vision, mission and purpose were articulated in our CCC Retreat in Mar 2009 to participating grassroots leaders. I must admit that I do receive enquiry from residents who want to joining the grassroots movement for personal benefits. You know my answer.     

To assure potential members, grassroots organisations in Changi Simei are organised to serve the residents and for the residents. Our mission is to serve as the driver and catalyst for change and transformation. We are not interested in idealogies but worked towards the well being of residents. If you have the time, do drop me a note and I am always interested to hear new ideas and to work closely with residents in view of the different perspective of things that we see.

Ideas, suggestions or proposal may at times not being adopted or  implemented. It could probably due to current policies or a lack of fund or technically non  feasible. I often heard residents blaming grassroots leaders for not hearing them which is not the case and I do hope residents can understand the challenges we have.       

                                                 

 As residents ourselves, we do argue for the good of Changi Simei. A good example is the covered linkway from Blk 106, Simei Street 1 to the bus stop. The linkway is nearly being torpedoed as funding is only available in 2012. Our Member of Parliament, Ms Jessica Tan and grassroots leaders wrote many appeals  to HDB to justify the need of the covered linkway.

 

 

Our patience prevailed although it took almost 6 months to succeed. We did not just accept the outcome when our appeal was rejected. We continued to appeal and provide new justifications.  Construction on the covered linkway was completed on 12 Jan 2010.  Just for the record, one resident actually wrote in to express his disappointment with the delay in timeframe. As we were on top of the situation, we were able to explain the situation which the resident accepted.       

  Another example was the re-alignment of the pedestrian walkway at the car park as seen in the photographs above. We widen the walkway between the park vehicle and the grass turf to create additional space for pedestrains.

 

 

As the Chairman of the CCC, I can lead the charge but not alone. I need volunteers, grassroots leaders to help drive projects and be the catalyst of change to build a better environment in Changi Simei.

Before I conclude, Margaret Mead said “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has”. I like this quote as it summarises my thought on Passion and Purpose of volunteers’ works.

Reach for the Stars – A New Frontier

Changi Simei, Singapore, 9 Jan 2010

The Changi Simei Citizens’ Consultative Committees (CCC)  (logo on the left) is the apex of all grassroots organisations. The CCC is a vital bridge between the people and the Government, the CCCs plan and lead major grassroots activities within the constituency, oversee local assistance programmes, and organise major fund-raising projects and national campaigns.

 

On Saturday, 9 Jan 2010, Changi Simei Citizens’ Consultative Committee (CCC) together with its grassroots leaders set a new milestone in making the Edusave Merit Bursary and Scholarship memorable to our stakeholders; the award recipients of the Edusave Merit Bursary and Scholarship (EMB), their parents, grassroots leaders and all our partners who have pitched in to help. 

  

 We were able to deliver the positive experience to our stakeholders through  collective efforts from key planners to functional OICs to helping grassroots leaders, staff members of the community club, our master of ceremony, our photographer, our caterer and our partners. We worked as ONE with One Outcome in mind that is “the best and memorable ceremony for our stakeholders and to make it happen”. It did happen.

From the word “go”, it was precision clockwork in the 4 ceremonies being organised. Each grassroots leaders knew their tasks and every details that we had planned or envisagee and these details unfolded in sync with the scheduled timing. The timing was perfect.  There was only a Plan A and the Plan B was never called into action.  In any case, we did not waste time in overplanning the Plan B as overplanning is like planning for Plan A to fail. We focus on Plan A and walk the talk to identify challenges that may surface at each stage.

  

The whole proceeding went on smoothly and I could attribute this through the strong camaraderie among grassroots leaders, the hardworking staff of the community club and our partners. We aimed high, being realistic and decisive and we continually sought  improvement in all areas which might have an adverse implications on the EMB ceremony.  Besides, the merticulous planning by the key planners which included the community club staff, Jo and Wen Bin, one critical aspect which could not be overlooked was the understanding of the “Chairman’s Intent” by grassroots leaders, staff from the community club and partners. A deep understanding of the “intent” would facilitate the One Outcome as the alignment would serve to inspire and motivate to get the job done with smashing success.         

  

You may ask “why the need to deliver positive experience?” In affluent Singapore,  we set high expectations, we love to win, we have low tolerant for lethagic organisations, we remember mistakes and we hardly give praises or show appreciation. Attending a poorly organised event would not only turn off our stakeholders, it would be remembered as a fiasco for many years to come . Words could spread far and wide and negative impressions would be deeply ingrained. Could the CCC risks the EMB ceremonywhich is an annual event to create an opportunity for the community to share the joy of award recipients for their sacrifices and hardworks, allow the community to congratulate and motivate them to continue to do well in their academic pursuit and to inspire others to do well and become potential award recipients? The answer was obvious. We needed to organise a flawless, efficient and effective event leaving no doubt in the mind of award recipients and their parents in that the grassroots leaders had organised the EMB event with them in mind and the grassroots leaders were not merely going through the motion to clock mileage.  

 

For the grassroots leaders and others, we needed to take cognisance that grassroots leaders are volunteers and they have committed their time and there are opportunities costs for them. A “super” event  would serve as an inspiration and motivate for them to continue their contributions to serve the community and hopefully to spread their enthusiasm to others. It is natural for any human being to feel happy, feel great and feel satisfied and be associated with great organisations. These feelings are infectious to the delivery of positive experience.       

Last year, we broke away from the traditional approach of organising the EMB ceremony. Instead of seating in blocks where award recipients and their parents were seated in separate blocks, we decided to do away with such seating arrangement. We took the decision to organise a standing ceremony where award recipients and parents mingled with others recipients and their parents. We also examined the manpower resources required with the intention to minimise manpower resources.  We visualised and constructed a new work flow to cut the waiting time. We walked the talk to identify gaps of what was and what it could be with a new model. For example, we optimise the manpower resources reducing 15 registration counters to 2 counters manned by a team of 4 grassroots leaders as the new model was less manpower intensive. The new work flow also reduced more than half the waiting time from registration to the end of the ceremony.

 

       The photographs were those taken in one of the EMB organised with the old processes. Look at the differences.

 

 

The new model was put into operations in the 2009 EMB ceremony. We reviewed the lessons learnt and refined the work processes. We made it even more affable and pleasant for all our stakeholders attending the ceremony.  We had made the right decision and we changed gear and worked towards the positive outcome.

 

We also had a great Emcee in Ms Suhani who had volunteered her time although she does not lives in Simei. She was able to capitalise the window of opportunities through her quick thinking and wits injecting humour into the ceremony.

 

 

 

Though we had a good run in the ceremony, the staff at the community club had also to deal with a small group of abusive and unreasonable parents over the skipping of the ceremony and collection of their bursary and scholarship. Nonetheless, the staff at the community club handled them well. It is nonsensical to execute the emissary who don’t make decision but communicate whatever decisions made by the CCC. The grassroots leaders would back the staff up and that clearly stated from the onset.          

Finally, I would like to give credits to the following for their dedication and leading their respective grassroots leaders. We had done it and done it well.

Grassroots Leaders.  Jason Ong who acted as the Chief of Staff overseeing the ceremony. Low Eng Hoe and representatives members from RC Zone 1, 2, 3 and 4 in Logistics.  Susan Ang and Caroline Lee and PCF Teachers in Registration.  Billy Chua, IAEC and MAEC members in backroom processing.  Chew Bee Leng and her WEC in reception. YEC in sound system and manning the information counter. Chairmen of RCs, Mohd Said, Douglas Ng, William Mok, Steven Lam, NC Chairmen, M Sreenivasan, Steven Lau, Michael Tay, Lawrence Chin. All grassroots leaders who have helped in one way or another which I am unable to reflect in the blog .

Staff from the Community Club.   Jo (SCM who guided and motivated her colleagues). Haidah (DCM. She returned to help although still on leave). Candy (ACM helping  with the backroom processing). Alvin (ACM. Who stayed and help although he was not feeling well). Wen Bin (Executive. He was the main co-ordinator of the ceremony). All the staff who had help in one way or another especially in answering the demands at times unreasonable from parents).

My Thoughts in 2010

Changi Simei, Singapore, 7 Jan 2010

This is my first blog not only the first in 2010, it is also my first using the new media tool….blog 

Earlier I was hesitant to blog in an unknown territory especially in the cyber world. I had many ifs…. the many” ifs” continue to dominate my thought. It was a  forgone conclusion that I would not get started with the “in” thing at all. Then, my preference was to stay in the comfort zone to stay safe than treading in the minefields and not knowing how to negotiate to safe ground. I choose to become an IT laggard instead and not as an early adopter which is the opposite of my children who are early adopters.  

In reality, there are minuses for not getting in line with new media. Firstly, I risk being a technology obsolescent, losing a powerful media to connect, network and share my thoughts and secondly through sharing learn from others. I always pride myself as an adaptable person with strong surviving skills in any environment friendly or hostile. I see no reason I cannot jump into the fasting moving new media.  Perhaps it is my mindset that plays the trick as the other voice inside me is misleading me. What has happened to my one  year training in learning organisation which focussed on change and my reading of Peter Senge’s Fifth Discipline. Well, I need to overcome and triumph over this negative voice in me. Perhaps it is the lack of training opportunity and my busy schedules with other priorities may have resulted my choice as a laggard. 

Before the close of Year 2009, Jess spoke and nominated me to attend a new media training. It was an excellent training opportunity and I quickly agreed to the nomination. On 2 Jan 2010, I attended the training and a new chapter in a new decade begins for me. I learned some thing during the training. It was a day well spent commencing from 9 am to 4.30 pm. The opportunity cost was high for not lazing on the comfortable bed especially in a super long holiday season but it was worth the while to be in the training room learning some thing trendy. The training brought me to facebook which I already have an account, twitters and blog. New media tools are powerful media. It was no wonder President Obama capitalised on these tools to score his decisive election victory. I too have also scored a victory in my own as I am now a new blogger.    

Having successfully wrote this blog, I think, I will want to use my blog to network with residents through sharing and updates on latest developments and happenings in the estate. Hopefully, together with residents, we can make an all-inclusive and vibrant society in Changi Simei.

Watch out for my next blog

Hello world!

Today is 2 Jan 2010, the 2nd day of 2010.

Happy New Year. May you and your family be blessed with abundance (anything your dream off), health and may you also take a step out to join me at Changi Simei CCC to offer your expertise and time in the service of humanity.