Generating Social Capital through Sports

Changi Simei, Singapore, 11 Dec 2010

It was a cool morning and by 7.30am, more than 250 residents of various ages and diverse background from Changi Simei RC Zone 1 had gathered at the Basket Ball Court for a sole purpose; to interact through a walk covering 2.5 km distance. One American PR by the name of John was also in the midst of the locals.

For those who are physically agile and fit, the 2.5 km walk was a breeze to them. For the senior folks and younger children, it was a challenge to them. Nonetheless, there were many senior citizens whom had returned to the start point at Blk 106 in quicker time than I had previously thought. These senior folks were those health conscious ones who participated in brisk walks and other forms of daily exercise groups. If all our senior folks are part of any group, I can only conclude that our senior folks will be in a better position in both their mental and physical agility. Unfortunately, they are still many senior folks who prefer to be coped at home rather than coming out to join others. The respective RCs will need to work harder to recruit these senior folks into their folds.

The brisk walk began with an aerobic exercise conducted by Chairman, Changi Simei RC Zone 1’s Senior Citizens Executive Committee.  Ms Jessica Tan our Member of Parliament was with the residents performing the warm up exercise which I thought was suitable for residents of all ages. I was too busy snapping photographs thus I did not join them.

After the warm up exercise, Ms Jessica Tan flagged off and also joined the brisk walk. The residents response to the flagged off was fantastic. Many walked at a faster speed and were physically and mentally fitter than I had thought. The fitter they are, the healthier they are and less likely to fall sick. We may not be aware that being sick consumed resources in term of productivity, money and time and being physically and emotionally uncomfortable. Therefore, there is a need for more physical activities to be organised and more health screening.

The Citizens’ Consultative Committee is working with Changi General Hospital to roll out a programme known as the Eastern Cluster Health Outreach programme. In view of funding, we have set a numbers and on a first come first served basis. The programme includes health screening at an affordable cost. Participants must remain in the programme for 3 years that is going for health screening annually for 3 years. Medical workers will be on hand to provide advices on healthy living base on the results of the screening. There are details that the CCC is still working out. There is also another programme for senior citizens known as the Wellness Programme where senior folks as part of our health programme and at the same time to draw out the seniors from their home for interactive programme. Like the ECHO, details will be released at a later date.

Coming back to the Brisk Walk, residents who completed the walk exchanged their coupons with goodies bags similar to collecting the completion medal after the marathon. Many were happy to receive their goodies bags as that were their achievements. I thought it was a good idea to give to hand over the goodies bags at the end of the walk.

Residents were also treated to a late breakfast after the walk. Many who came with families and friends gathered for their own interaction to enhance family bonding or forging deepened friendships among themselves. They sat in groups, happily eating their breakfasts and some made for their second rounds to eat to their hearts content.

When their tummies were filled, there was a line dance demonstration, games like putting and lucky draw. NEA and police also set up their booths to educate residents on dengue prevention and basic knowledge on crime prevention. Prizes were given to winners who could fulfill the games’ requirements as some form of skills would be required to complete these games.

After over one year of planning, consulting residents and obtaining the necessary support from residents to upgrade the precincts in EC Zone 1 and 2 under the Neighbourhood Renewal Programme, the NRP is now in its final planning stage. The relevant agencies had already given their final approval on the works and designs that we want and the project is now in its tender stage. If all goes well, works on the NRP would commence in the 2^nd Quarter of 2011. Once completed, residents would see a rejuvenated precinct in RC Zone 1 and 2 followed by RC Zone 3 and 4 which our Member of Parliament had announced the upgrading project for these two zones.  

On the rejuvenated precinct, I am also looking towards to the completion of the works for the benefits of residents. After more than 20 years of the estate’s life, it is time to create a new external environment, all thanks to Ms Jessica Tan Soon Neo, our Member of Parliament who has taken up the renewal issue with HDB after the announcement of the NRP programme by our Prime Minister during his 2008 National Day Rally. This is just one aspect of renewing the hardware and the other piece is to promote the software through creating vibrant activities to bring all communities together as ONE community. The day will come sooner if all our residents come out to join our programmes.

Senior Citizens Lunch Gathering@Changi Simei RC Zone 3

Changi Simei, Singapore, 11 Dec 2010

Once a month, around 50 to 60 senior citizens of Residents Committee Zone 3 gather at its senior citizens corner to share their lunch together.  This morning on 10 Dec 2010, it was no difference. The only different in the programme was the inclusion of a caroling session by senior citizens of the Moriah Church located a stone throw away from the RC Centre. The choir was invited by Fiona, the chairperson of the RC Senior Citizens Executive Committee.

On my arrival, I noticed these senior folks were eagerly waiting for the programme to start. While waiting, they chit chats with each other and there were smiles on their faces perhaps these senior folks were happy to meet each other again in the once a month lunch gathering.

Before the commencement of the lunch, the caroling added to the festive mood. Those senior folks who could manage English, they too sang along with the carolers. Perhaps, the next time, the carols should include the Mandarin version so that many more senior folks could also participate in the caroling. Nonetheless, it was fun for all.

At the end of the caroling, it was time to celebrate Christmas and the New Year. The organising committee prepared a cake which I understood was available for this lunch gathering only. Being Singaporeans, instead of the traditional log cake, the senior folks preferred a cake which they could divide into equal pieces for the senior folks who were presence. Well, it was not the traditions that matter but the opportunity for bonding created by such lunch gathering. I was asked to lead the cake cutting after the traditional singing of “We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year”.    

Finally, it was lunch time, 8 course buffet lunch where these senior folks paid $2 which was a third of the cost for lunch per pax. The lunch was definitely value for money. RC Zone 3 has been funding the senior citizens for many years now to attract these senior citizens to come out of their homes. Coping at home may not be the best option for these senior citizens firstly, they are lonely at home and secondly, meeting others raise their qaulity of life.   

After lunch, the senior folks attended a talk on Dengue as part of the RC educational programme on each playing a small part to eradicate Aedes mosquitoes. Many details like the cycle of  mosquitoes breeding, the areas to look for at home to prevent breeding grounds, the symptoms of identifying dengue victims from normal flu, statistics on the numbers of dengue fever cases in RC Zones etc were shared.

At the end of the sharing session, there were 10 questions quiz with umbrellas to be won for giving the correct answers. The participation was overwhelming. Many senior folks raised their hands at all the same time which made it a challenge for NEA to determine who raised their hands first to stake their right to answer the quiz. What surprised me was these senior folks gave the correct answer the first time. This proved that these senior folks were listening with a strong presence of minds during the sharing session.  

The sharing session was useful to create an awareness of dengue fever. I had also reminded these senior folks on this common myth. There are no breeding grounds in their homes and if there are, mosquitoes in their homes, it is always their neighbours who are the culprits to have bred mosquitoes and these mosquitoes flew into their homes. I had told them that during inspection at their homes conducted by NEA, a compound fine of $300 would be issued if NEA inspectors detected any breeding ground. These senior folks understood the monetary penalties and the appearance in court for repeat offenders after two composite fines. The position taken by NEA on mosquitoes breeding grounds is non-negotiable as a momentarily lapse in dengue prevention can result in grave consequences as seen in 2006. That year saw an outbreak of dengue in Singapore with many deaths cases related to dengue. I had a colleague who was hospitalised for weeks and even undergone a blood transfusion and fortunately he recovered. Therefore, why go through the suffering where prevention taken is better than falling sick?

I thought the monthly lunch gathering was a good way to bond and at the same time creating awareness of the environment around them.

Creating social capitals…hub and spoke

Changi Simei, Singapore, 10 Nov 2010

We Build, We Engage and We Bond ….. through a social network. To start with, there is a need to create the local network through the hub and spoke system in each HDB Block and linking these HDB blocks in a bigger neighbourhood network.

This is the concept that I am thinking off to create an inclusive Changi Simei where every resident lives, works and plays in the company of warm and friendly neighbours in a gracious living environment. This is a long-term vision of Changi Simei which may take many years to reach although we have seeded the vision since 2006 of creating an inclusive and vibrant Changi Simei.

The hub (RC) and spoke (housing units) system is essentially designating each HDB block as a hub and each floor as a spoke to reinforce the hub. What it means is that in the first phase, each spoke consisting of 4 to 8 units will serve as a platform for interaction with each other to generate social capitals in term of friendliness and openness, hospitality and kindness, care, cooperation and support, mutual aid and helpfulness. These social capitals created at each floor will permeate to the immediate upper and lower floors where these neighbours from the 3 floors can meet and interact with each other in the second phase. With each floor interacting with two other floors, these spokes will eventually be strengthened. The final phase is to gather all the neighbours for a block party to complete the interaction process.

Though theoretically, it seems to be a relatively easy exercise on engaging neighbours. In reality, the infusion of neighbourliness is a long and tedious process and it cannot be rushed into in view of the differences in sentiment, attitude, opinion and emotional reaction of different people. Some residents may be cynical about the need to build a strong neighbourhood preferring to adopt the belief that such is politically motivated by the governing party to keep them in power. Some may be skeptical about the need to build social capitals preferring to keep their privacy. Others may view that familiarity may lead to being taken advantage off. There are yet still many other reasons that can stall the effort to build social capitals.

At the grassroots level, the main challenges are time and resources. Each block of flat with 120 units in 11 floors may need 31 floor parties to complete its task. In calendar month, it will take 31 weekends to complete out of 104 Saturdays and Sundays. In addition, the financial resources will also be high as each floor party may cost up to $120 or about $4500 to organise for a block. Monetary aside, if the hub and spoke system can take off to create a softer and warmth society, the intangible benefits will out-weigh the monetary terms. Nonetheless, being practical, financial resources is one of the major considerations to embark on this project besides the time factor.

This morning, 7 Nov 2010, RC Zone 2 led by Mr Douglas Ng, Mr Joseph Seat, Ms Susan Ang, Mr Williamica and uncle Lee Huay Thien organised a floor party at Blk 131 to facilitate residents to reach out to each other. The floor party started at about 10 am with 7 families joining the party. One of the families told me that after more than 20 years, this is her first floor party where she met other neighbours. She commented that the floor party had helped her family to deepen their relationships with their neighbours.        

The gathering on the 6^th floor had been completed. The next step is to follow-up with these residents who have turned up and to exchange information with each other for them to keep in touch with each other. This is one way to build bonding and hopefully in the lift, these neighbours can address each others’ names instead of just a “hello” less their names.

With the “we build, we engage and we bond” works being started at RC Zone 2, we will continue to use such platform to build the Changi Simei society that we desired.

Recognising the Contributions of Grassroots Leaders

Changi Simei, Singapore, 7 Nov 2010

The NDA was established in 1962 as a means of recognising the excellent contributions of Singaporeans and even non Singaporeans in their service to the nation. I remembered that many foreign rescuers were honoured for their courage and bravery in risking their lives to save victims who were trapped in the rubbles in the aftermath of the collapse of Hotel New World. Then in 1962, there were few medals. Through the years, several other awards were included and the Star of Temasek being the highest level of award and the lowest being the Long Service Award.

On 9 August 2010, the list of National Day Award (NDA) recipients was released in the Straits Times. There were 3192 recipients in 20 awards categories. Congratulations to all the recipients.

Among the list of recipients were Mr Madhavan Sreenivasan and Mr Steven Lau Puay Yeong.  Both are serving grassroots leaders in Changi Simei who have distinguished themselves in serving the people. They were awarded the Public Service Medals.

Mr Sreenivasan is the current Chairman of Indian Activity Executive Committee. His committee is charged with the responsibility to organise educational, cultural, social, recreational and sporting activities to promote mutual respect and harmonious relations between Indians and the other communities. The IAEC works closely with other grassroots organizations to open up opportunities for Indians and other Singaporeans to interact and build mutual understanding. Besides being active in IAEC, Mr Sreenivasan is also an active member in the Indian Activity Executive Committees council or Narpani Pearavai. The council acts as a catalyst enabling Indian Singaporeans to contribute positively as active citizens. Since Mr Sreenivasan came on board the IAEC, the committee has been very active to promote its activities in collaboration with other grassroots organizations.

Mr Steven Lau (in red polo-T) is the Chairman of Sunbird-Apollo Neighbourhood Committee (NC). The NC is tasked to encourage active citizenry and foster stronger community bonds through promoting neighhourliness, harmony and cohesiveness among residents within private housing estates. The NC works with various government agencies to improve the physical environmental needs and aspirations of residents. Through the efforts of the NC in rallying the residents, many residents turned out for the NC activities like the lantern festivals, night tours etc. The NC also put forth proposals to enhance the physical environment of the estate.    

What are Public Service Medal and Public Service Star?

Public Service Medal or Pingat Bakti Masyarajat or PBM in short was instituted in 1973. The medal is awarded to any person who has rendered commendable public service or who has contributed in the field of arts, sports, sciences, business, labour movement, community services etc. Recipients are entitled to use PBM after their names.

Public Service Star or Bintang Bakti Masyarakat or BBM was created in 1963 to recognise any person who has rendered valuable public service to the people of Singapore or who distinguished themselves in the field of arts, sports, sciences, business, labour movement. In addition, for those who make significant contributions after being awared the BBM earlier can be awarded with a Bar. Recipients are entitled to use BBM after their names.  

The NDA has stringent criteria and elaborate system of assessment before the list of recipients is sent to the cabinet for clearance and to the President for final approval. The criteria for each category of award vary from award to award. For PBM and BBM, grassroots leaders must also satisfy the minimum time in service before they are deemed to be eligible to be nominated. As the award is one of highest level of recognitions by the state, PBM and BBMs are awarded to grassroots leaders who have made significant contributions to the society in the areas of community engagements.

Since helming the Citizens Consultative Committee in 2002, I have attended every investiture ceremony in the month of November each year. During the investiture ceremony, the President hands out the medals to the recipients witness by members of the cabinet, Members of Parliament, senior public service officials, representatives from the business associations etc. Award recipients also invited 2 of their immediate family members to witness the investiture ceremony. I am always happy to attend the investiture ceremony to support my grassroots leaders who are award recipients.

This evening, I was at the NUS Cultural Centre to witness another investiture ceremony. I left my home at about 5.30 pm and drive along ECP to NUS Cultural Centre. The traffic was smooth and by 6 pm, I was at NUS. Security was very tight with armed policemen manning check points and Gurkha Police securing important accesses to the NUS cultural Centre. I felt very safe with so many level of security checks.

When Minister Mentor Mr Lee Kuan Yew arrived at the hall, there was a loud applause to acknowledge his presence. His entry was followed closely by SM, Mr Goh Chok Tong and our Prime Minister, Mr Lee Hsien Loong. The audience seated also welcomed them through applauses. The investiture ceremony started at 7 pm with the arrival of our President. The ceremony began shortly after the singing of our National Anthem. Like previous years, the order of presentation was based on the protocol of the medals.

This year Public Orator was the Honourable Justice Steven Chong. The Public Orator read out the citations of the higher protocol medal like the Distinguished Service Order won by Mr Tan Gee Paw, Chairman of PUB. The citations continued for recipients of the Meritorious Service Medal where there were 8 recipients. After the Meritorious Service Medal, the Public Service Star (Bar) and Public Service Star were next up for citations. There were 5 recipients from the grassroots organisations for the Public Service Star (Bar) and 7 other individuals who have made contributions to the society. There were 35 grassroots leaders and 11 other individuals receiving their Public Service Star from the President. 

After the presentation of these higher protocol medals, the Public Orator took his leave as there was no citations to be read for Public Administration Medal followed by the Public Service Medal (PBM).  Other medals like the Commendation Medal, Efficiency Medal and the Long Service Medal will be presented by the respective ministries. 

The formal presentation ceremony ended at 8.30 pm. Our President would have to stand for that amount of time. It was not easy for our president.

During reception, I met up Sreenivasan and Steven Lau for a group photo as our Adviser, Ms Jessica Tan Soon Neo was out of town on an official business. It was a free and easy reception. There were buffet tables laid out on the ground, 1st and 2nd floors. As many would prefer to mingle at the ground floor, the two upper floors were not crowded thus it made sense to join the reception at the upper floors.

On the way home, the traffic police provided the escort for the president’s motorcade. I was pulled to the side by the traffic police on Benjamin Sheares Bridge  because I was travelling on the extreme left lane. The act of stopping my vehicle travelling at 70 kph in a raining day with poor visibility posed safety issue  to the traffic policeman and I. What if I was not alert, I would have collided with the traffic policeman endangering his life and mine. I didn’t understand the rationale to pull me aside in a 4 lanes expressway. Nonetheless, all went well during my journey home.

For M Sreenivasan and Steven Lau…Congratulations, for your hard work in the service of others.

Creating a Vibrant Living Space at Changi Simei

Changi Simei, Singapore, 30 Oct 2010

Finally, HDB has given approval to upgrade Changi Simei Residents’ Committee (RC) Zone 3 and Zone 4 (from Blk 140 to 235 through the Neighbourhood Renewal Programme (NRP). With this approval, our Simei estate will see a transformation by 2014 or earlier.

The NRP is aimed at upgrading the living environment based on the needs and preferences of residents with all costs borne by the government. Hence residents’ involvement plays an important part in its success.  

This exciting and important journey started with Ms Jessica Tan Soon Neo, our Member of Parliament for East Coast Group Representation Constituency. She has worked hard in her pursuit to upgrade our ageing HDB estate as our peoples’ representative in parliament.

Through her works, HDB selected RC Zone 1 and 2 for the NRP in 2009.

Works began immediately with the formation of the NRP Working Committee. Together with the appointed architect, a survey form was sent to residents to seek their feedback on their needs. Many residents participated actively to give feedback and collectively decide on what facilities they want. In addition, many topographical surveys on the ground were also being undertaken before coming up with an initial plan. The initial plan was taken to the residents for their inputs. Two more consultations and a dialogue were held with residents to involve them to work on the NRP plan. Concurrently, the architect also submitted the proposed upgrading plan to the relevant agencies for their inputs as without their approval, no works could proceed.  

The in-principle approval was obtained after much deliberation by these relevant agencies. The whole planning and approval process took more than a year. Finally the plan incorporating residents’ suggestions if possible was ready to seek final approval. To facilitate the approving process, the final NRP plan was presented in a brochure delivered to each home. Residents living in RC Zone 1 and 2 gave an overwhelming 87% “yes” to proceed with the NRP.

The NRP is currently in the tender stage. In the next couple of months, the NRP Working Committee, the architect and East Coast Town Council will be working hands in gloves to ensure the commencement of the construction works, mitigate the potential noises and inconvenient issues likely to be raised by residents. We are confident that we can manage learning from the Lift Upgrading Project which was completed in early 2009 for the entire estate less one block. The only block that did not qualify for the LUP is due to the high costs as there are few benefitting units to share the costs.     

With half the estate being upgraded through NRP, Ms Jessica Tan Soon Neo continues to pursue with HDB the upgrading of RC Zone 3 and Zone 4. She is passionate about upgrading the estate to create a vibrant living space thus she keeps close track on the progress of her request. The grassroots organisations also pitched in to pursue the upgrading issues.

After many months of hard works, our efforts paid off with HDB announcing that RC Zone 3 and 4 are selected for the NRP in late September. We are glad that at long last, the upgrading of RC Zone 3 and Zone 4 will complete the transformation of our HDB estate less the newer HDB blocks. Though these newer blocks are not upgraded, newer facilities like drop off porches, BFA etc would be added to complement the look and feel of the Simei HDB estate.

The news on upgrading for RC Zone 3 and Zone 4 was shared with residents attending the RCs’ block parties this evening by Ms Jessica Tan. In her announcement, Ms Jessica Tan stressed that the NRP focused on upgrading the common areas only at no costs to the residents as the government will bear the full upgrading costs. As the NRP is a project own by residents, Ms Jessica Tan encouraged her residents to support the NRP as NRP can only proceed if 75% of residents give their approval through a simple voting process.

To give an idea of what NRP entails, the architect’s drawing of RC Zone 1 and 2 were displayed and shared with residents bearing in mind that the final designs for RC zone 3 and Zone 4 differ from RC Zone 1 and Zone 2. I thought the sharing was useful to create an awareness of what the NRP means as “a picture is worth a thousand words”.

I must commend both Residents’ Committees for organising their respective block parties to draw out residents this evening. Both parties served as social platforms to enable social gatherings. Unlike the old kampong days, where residents are united by a common interest and kinship, the same cannot be said today because our social norms have changed in view of societal indifference. There is a need to organise activities to facilitate interactions of residents.                 

This evening, both RC Zone 3 and Zone 4 organised the block parties with different themes. RC Zone 3 adopted the carnival style with karaoke and flea market party while RC Zone 4 focused on 4 different types of food and karaoke to draw its residents out. Judging from the turnout of residents from both zones, both parties were a success.

This evening, I saw more youths attending both the block parties. The participation was an encouraging sign. It was a good start and the question is how to sustain their interests in grassroots events? Our grassroots leaders will need to innovate and be creative.

The block parties may be over by now but our works in the grassroots will continue to bring changes to the living environment and creating opportunities for interaction between residents. We see our vision and press on.

One Strategy for Success….Estate Upgrading at East View Garden

Changi Simei, Singapore, 18 Sep 2010

In early Sep 2006, the Ministry of National Development (MND) wrote to respective Members of Parliament seeking them to nominate eligible landed estates for the 5^th Batch of Estate Upgrading. The Estate Upgrading Project (EUP) is part of the government’s continuous effort to enhance the quality of life in the private estate through physical rejuvenation of common areas and to recognise the needs and aspirations of private home dwellers.  What was most “attractive” was that the government would fully fund the upgrading of the common areas through the allocation of a fixed sum of money to each dwelling unit. I could not recall any other governments in my memory who would fund upgrading in private estates and in that matter also HDB estates.  

With a fully funded upgrading project by our government, many residents looked forward to their estates being selected for the upgrading.  But there were criterion to fulfill and even after meeting them, there was another huge hurdle ie MND to select the estates in view of the many nominations from the other constituencies vying for the allocation of limited fund.  

Therefore, to stand out from the rest, Changi Simei Citizens’ Consultative Committee (CCC) developed a calculated strategy to “catch” the attention of MND.  The CCC decided to include photographs on the maintenance status our three private estates, East View Garden, Sunbird-Apollo Garden and Sea Breeze Garden in our written submission.  In addition, the CCC also wrote a short paragraph on our thoughts and aspirations of the residents to accompany our submission on the need to upgrade the estate. These two requirements were not required by MND. As picture would worth thousand words, no harm trying especially when all our estates may not have fulfilled all the criterion. We were fortunate. East View Garden was selected for the EUP.  Upon its selection, MND informed Ms Jessica Tan Soon Neo, our Member of Parliament for East Coast GRC that East View Garden qualified after MND reviewed our photographs and our one paragraph which created awareness on the poor condition of the estate. MND was impressed with the efforts put in by the CCC to justify for the upgrade to benefit the residents. 

In view of us setting a new benchmark in our submission, from 2007 onwards, MND now requires photographs to accompany upgrading submissions. We were lucky to past the post in view of us being the first constituency to have decided to do things differently from the rest and mosre importantly we dared to be different.  In the CCC, we believe in the “first mover” principle and to do our best as we could for our residents. Not being successful at times was not due to any slack but it was a matter of the stringent selection process.

Once the approval was given, Ms Jessica Tan sent a note to inform residents in East View Garden about the good news in early 2007.  The CCC followed by sending an invitation note inviting residents to come forward to form the Estate Working Committee. The CCC believes that our residents know best and they should be included in the decision making process. A handful came forward to form the working committee with the CCC under the direction of Ms Jessica Tan  co-ordinated and harnessed resources and requirements from the relevant government agencies.

Soon, I found out that not all residents were excited about the upgrading plan which would create a better living environment and an enhanced value of their home. When Ms Jessica Tan made visits during the routine house to house visit, there were residents who told her that they did not know about the upgrading plan. What peeved me was residents said that they told Ms Jessica Tan that they did not receive any letters on the upgrading.  My immediate thought was could this be a reality? Probably not as together with my grassroots leaders, we delivered the notification letter door to door. Later, I learned from one resident that any letter which did not carry the resident’s would be treated as gabbage and thrown away. That was a valuable lesson for my team on the psyche of private estate residents at least for some of them.  For those who were interested, they were delighted.     

Upon the formation of the working committee, we met the architect, the project consultant and government agencies like LTA, NEA, PUB, NPark, MND and Town Council (who land borders the private estate) to work on what we want the estate to be. Our approach was any suggestions and proposals must benefit the mass and members should not join the working committee with self interests.  I was glad that these residents contributed their thoughts and ideas and we had vibrant discussions for the good of the estate. We also collected feedback and conduct survey to solicit ideas for the upgrading. I remembered a couple of “great” feedback requesting for an underground tunnel linking the estate to Singapore Expo, building a hawker centre like “Chomps Chomps” in Serangoon Garden at the former Changkat Changi Secondary School, a basketball court at the Pelatok Park. I must admit that these were constructive but they could not be implemented in view of budegetary constraints,  practicability especially disrupting the quality of life in the neighbourhood.  The working committee needed to balance these suggestions with due diligence. For those ideas we incorporated into our plan, they were implementable and benefit the residents. We also get brickbated for not accepting ideas which did not benefit residents like building a basketball court which from our experience would result in continuous noise level affecting the homes located beside the court. 

Our draft plan for the estate was finally ready for consultation with residents. We selected 27 Jul 2008 to convene a dialogue session with residents. We sent out our invitations, this time through drop mail service by Singpost.  On the day of dialogue, less than one-third of the entire population attended the session. We had about 100 residents in the dialogue where they went through the design and plan. We did not have a 100% convergence of the plan although the majority did agree to the design of the upgrading. We also picked up a couple of good ideas and included our plan.

After the dialogue, it was time to see to through our upgrading plan. Considering the amount of fund given for the upgrading project, we would not be able to do much to enhance for the estate that the working desired. We therefore met with PUB, LTA and NPark to request that they reviewed their future plans for the estate. PUB agreed to cover the drain, NPark decided to enhance the streetscape and LTA would do up the internal roads and the pedestrians’ path along Upper Changi Road East. These were big-ticket items and cost considerably to these agencies, but they obliged to our requests for the benefits of residents. With these agencies on board, we would be able to see a more complete upgrading works in the estate. 

The current drainage covering works is now at its tail end. It commenced in Jan 2009. In the last one year or so, we had also received negative feedback on the works being carried from affected residents. When possible, the Secretary of the Upgrading Working Committee, Dr Ong who lives in East View Garden, Chairman of the Neighbourhood Committee Mr Laurence Chin and I went on site to try to mitigate these negative feedback as much as we could. We were able to help out on these differences.

In early August 2010, MND had selected the upgrading contractor to commence with the upgrading works. The selected contractor is now submitting documents to the relevant agencies for approval. Once approvals are received, works would be completed within a year.

To mark the milestone, the working committee e organised a ground breaking ceremony at Jalan Pelatok Park. Ms Jessica Tan was invited to initiate the ceremony by operating the excavator to symbolise the start of the upgrading works. The beginning of the upgrading works would bring dusts and the generation of noises. We would try to reduce these as much as we could and also minimise the disruption the routines of residents.

It is now beyond planning and it is time to see our fruits of labour from the last two years of planning and talking. With a shared vision, we developed the concept together with the architect. It is now beyond planning and we look forward to turn our concept into reality by next year.

中秋節@Changi Simei

Changi Simei, Singapore, 18 Sep 2010

The Mid-Autumn or Moon Cake Festival or the Lantern Festival  or Zhongqiujie  中秋節 , falls on the 15^th day of the 8^th Lunar month.  On this day, the moon is at is perfectly round and luminous. Besides the Spring Festival or the Lunar New Year or commonly known as the Chinese New Year, the Mid-Autumn Festival ranks as one of the important Chinese festivals as far as I understand.  In Singapore, we too celebrate the festival which falls on 22 Sep 2010.

The Mid-Autumn Festival is one rich in poetic significance, there are many poems relating to the moon. I remembered a poem written by the great Chinese poet, Li Bai on “Quiet Night Thoughts” which I was taught many years in school.  The 3 liners with 5 words each poem is about the poet reflecting the nostalgia away from home. 

The origins of the Mid-Autumn Festival are very unclear. Nonetheless, many Chinese festivals are connected to legends. The most commonly and popular legend or tale connected to the Mid Autumn Festival is that of Chang Er  嫦娥 and the story of the rabbit. But the earliest records indicated that celebration existed as early as the Han Dynasty and it evolved through the years till today. Though many of us may not know the motivation of celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival in the past, we continue to celebrate the festival year after year as part of the Chinese culture and our heritage. We continue to relate the stories of Chang Er to our next generation.   For how long our Chinese culture, traditions and roots will survive the generations to come especially with the advent of technology and new knowledge and “undue” influence from the western culture remain a mystery. I am optimistic that our culture will survive provided we continue to celebrate these celebrations instead of succumbing to the pressure of seeing these celebrations as things from the past and thus superseded with time.

The Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the most celebrated traditions in Singapore every year besides the Lunar New Year. In recent years, other races also joined in the celebration to understand the Chinese tradition and for the fun of it as there are games associated to the festival like riddles solving, pealing of pomelo etc.  Yesterday at Sea Breeze estate, a gentleman from the United Kingdom took part in the celebration with his children. This gentleman joined the pomelo pealing contest competing with his neighbours including Ms Jessica Tan Soon Neo, the Member of Parliament of East Coast Group Representation Constituency.

Besides Sea Breeze estate, there were another 5 concurrent locations organising the celebrations.  Ms Jessica Tan, visited all the locations spending time interacting with residents, the young children who looked forward to carry their lanterns in a procession and the seniors who drank Chinese tea, eat moon cakes and enjoying the company of their neighbours.

The celebration started as early as 6.30 pm. Our first stop was at the Changi Simei Community Club. I arrived at the community club at about 6 pm. The crowd was beginning to build up. There were traditional games, lantern making competition, Chinese Orchestra performance etc and activities catered to different ages. The Chairman of the Community Club and I judged the lanterns entered by residents in the contest. I particularly liked the bird nest design lantern in view of the resident’s creativity. Other lanterns were too creative too using recycled materials.

Our next stop was at Residents Committee (RC) Zone 2.  Residents took part in the Chinese riddle contest. Though these riddles had few words which served as clues, there was a need to think in depth to derive the answers.  It was definitely not an easy task for many to unravel the riddles despite of the cues in view of language competency. The children also played with sparklers and the much waited lantern procession. We were treated with traditional moon cakes, yam, sweet potatoes, Chinese Tea and pinkish flesh pomelo from Thailand. The pomelo was sweet and perhaps it was its sweetness that the fruits were being featured significantly in Chinese festivals.  There were many lucky draw prizes awaiting for its lucky owners.

We proceeded to RC Zone 3 and on arrival Ms Jessica Tan was greeted by residents who had already gathered to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival.  Prior to the celebration, residents were treated to dinner and each received goodie bags. Residents were also treated to a performance of Zapinrobics, a Malay form of aerobic exercise. A couple of residents were also dressed up in traditional Chinese dresses to participate in the karaoke. Perhaps these residents chose their dressing appropriate to their song titles.  A group of youngsters was responsible for the image projection. These youngsters were children of grassroots leaders or residents who were keen to contribute their time for a good cause. I also saw a new innovation ie turning milk tetra pack into wallets by residents.

The turnout of residents at RC Zone 4 was good. The emcee of Zone 4 was very energetic and much liked by the young children. These children treated her liked their elder sister when she conducted games for them. At one corner sat a balloon sculptor who patiently listened to the request s made by those young children on what they would like for their balloon sculptures. One girl requested for a butterfly while a boy requested for a sword and another asked for a balloon lantern. Their requests were all fulfilled by the balloon sculptor. Ms Jessica Tan joined in the lantern procession. I too joined the procession carrying a lantern. During the procession, it was time to reminisce how we celebrate our time years ago.  It was re-living our younger days.

Next we arrived at Sea Breeze garden. The festival at Harvey Avenue was organised by the newly formed Sea Breeze Neighbourhood Committee (NC).  Last year as a pro tem NC, they organised a similar event at Sea Breeze Avenue. The mood at Harvey Avenue was joyous where adults and children played games together after having their dinner as one big family together earlier. The emcee was entertaining and he knew how to pamper his audience with his sweet talks.  A pomelo pealing contest was organised with residents and Ms Jessica Tan taking part. It was a friendly contest with laughter and encouragement of “go…go…go” for every contestant. It was encouraging to see residents from the private estate coming together to have fun together.

By the time we reached RC Zone 1, it was almost 9 pm. It was heartwarming to see the friendship and enthusiasm these residents display on the arrival of Ms Jessica Tan.  On stage, there was an acrobatic performance. The performer was balancing 5 set of flower vases with all her limbs and one on her mouth with residents exclaiming “wow”.  Next she performed the hula loop. It was not one loop but I think more than 10 at one go. At the end of the acrobatic display, a lantern procession was organised for the many children who had stayed behind waiting for the procession to start. Parents also joined in the procession.  When we arrived at the start point, the emcee belted out one song related to the Mid-autumn Festival. It was followed by a lucky draw before the emcee bided till we see again next year.

By the time we completed the circuit of celebrations, it was past 9.30 pm. My thought was that it was worth the travelling from one location to another as it was an excellent approach to decentralise the celebrations to be held at as many location as possible. Judging from the numbers of residents who came out from their homes to join the celebration at the 6 locations was an indication of the strong support for the grassroots events to bridge the communities together. 

Next year, perhaps we should continue to decentralise the celebration but the lantern procession could be centralised to meet at a central location for a larger community celebration. Till we meet again next year.

An Icon in 3″R”…reduce, reuse and recycle

Changi Simei, Singapore, 11 Sep 2010

The initial objective of the project in 2006 was to “go green to save the earth” through the Reduce, Reuse and Recycle (3 “R”) project. Residents’ Committee (RC) Zone 2 was the lead grassroots organisations to spearhead the project for the whole community in Changi Simei in collaboration with Veolia Environmental Services.For being the lead, RC Zone 2 led by Douglas Ng had won a couple of award relating to environment in the past three years.

With its wide acceptance by residents, the once a month manning of the 3”R” station at RC Zone 2 became inadequate to meet the high demands of residents. In 2008, the project was proliferated to all the RCs in Changi Simei and now each RC is being rotated to set up a half a day collection point for residents to deposit their unwanted items for recycling purpose. The current collection stations are manned for residents convenient as follows.

      RC Zone 1 (Blk 108) – morning (10.30 am to 1.30 pm) on last Saturday of the month

      RC Zone 2 (Blk 133) – afternoon (9 am to 12 pm) on last Sunday of the month

      RC Zone 3 (Blk 155) – afternoon (2.30 pm to 5 pm) on first Saturday of the month

      RC Zone 4 (Blk 231) – morning ( 10.30 to 12 pm) on third Saturday of the month

In our first year of the project from 2006/2007, RC Zone 2 managed only 5.3 tons of recyclable materials. This figure was a respectable and an encouraging figure as we had at least succeeded to create an awareness of going green in Changi Simei.  In our 2^nd year of the project, from  2007/ 2008, RC Zone 2 collected a total of 25 tons of recycle materials. This was a 367% increase compared to 2006.

The message of “don’t throw away your unwanted items” eventually began to sink into the thoughts of residents. It was spread through words of mouths and the 102 outreach programmes on resource conversation to minimise wastage. To encourage and motivate residents to take the first step, unwanted items brought in by them were converted into usable items for their home use. For those who do not require usable items, many gladly donated to their financially strapped neighbours living in the estate. Besides the 3’R” practise by them, these residents also do their part to care for the needy neighbours. From 2008/2009, we collected 68 tons and last year, 2009/2010, we collected 204 tons of recycle materials.

From a humble beginning of merely wanting to do our part to contribute to a greener environment, we have exceeded our aspiration. If the amount of unwanted items deposited at the collection centres is a proxy indication of the 3”R” message in Changi Simei, we have achieved our targets.

Since 2006, Changi Simei is the leading division in East Coast GRC and SE District in the recyclable project. This is only possible through the efforts of the 4 RCs whose members have volunteered to man the collection station during weekends. Their high energy level since we started the initiative in 2006 has not dissipated but on the contrary it gains momentum to move to the next level of competency in promoting a greener environment.    

Our high level of energy was recognised on 4 Sep 2010 during the launch of the Recycling Week at Choa Chu Kang by Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, Minister of Environment and Water Resources where  Changi Simei won the inaugural 3”R” Achiever Award. We have won the award in SE District in view of our works to conserve resources and reduce wastes.  On behalf of the Changi Simei, I was invited to collect the award from the minister.                                                                        

This morning, Changi Simei organised the SE District Recycling Week. Temasek Polytechnic, CHIJ, National Library, Veolia ES, NEA and many other partners also participated in the launch of the Recycling Week by Ms Jessica Tan Soon Neo, Member of Parliament for East Coast GRC and Adviser to East Coast GRC GROs.                                                                              

Participation from residents was very encouraging. I saw many carting their unwanted items to the collection point man by Veolia Environmental Services. A resident Mr Anand told me that he had to make more than a trip to bring unwanted items to the centre. Among the items was e-waste like computer, monitor, CRT television, hi-fi set etc. As encouragement, residents who brought their unwanted items stood to win fabulous lucky draw prizes with the top prize of a micro oven.  

With the SE District, Ms Jessica Tan presented awards to Changi Simei RC Zone 1 for being the champion in this year recycling project. They collected 2.5 ton of recycle materials more than Changi Simei RC Zone 2 who was the last year champion. A distance third was a RC from Eunos under Marine Parade GRC.  Winning of awards is not our final objective to support a greener environment. We do what we have to do and in the process being recognised serves as strong motivation and will encourage us to do even better.

Children were not left out. They were engaged in what the 3”R” is all about when they participated in colouring and drawing contest.  Ngee Ann Secondary’s rock band performed their own brand of music to the delight of the audience.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Though my fellow grassroots colleagues teased me as being the new age “kurung guni” man, I thought we have succeeded to create awareness in getting residents to bring their unwanted items to our collection centres. Awareness therefore minimise the indiscriminate discarding of unwanted items around their estates thus keeping the environment clean and pleasant to our eyes.

Judging from our works, Changi Simei, we have set a new benchmark for others to emulate. In SE District, we are now an icon in 3”R”.

Winning the People’s Association Award 2010

Changi Simei, Singapore, 5 Sep 2010

The People’s Association (PA) Awards is an annual event that recognises the contributions of corporate and grassroots organisations in promoting community bonding, strengthening friendships and enriching the lives of resident through its activities and social support programmes. To win, there are criteria to be fulfilled and merely working on these criteria will be sufficient to win. However, winning for the sake of winning is hollow victory. It is just another trophy with little significance attached to make a difference in the community. To be the real winner, it goes beyond the physical accolades. It is about doing it from our hearts and sustaining the works despite of adversities. Winning is not about individual’s pride and glory but the team’s vision for a better tomorrow.          

On 3 Sep 2010, the various grassroots organisations under PA gathered at Meritus Mandarin Hotel to honour the winners of the 2010 Awards. The ceremony was presided by Minister Lim Boon Heng who is also the Deputy Chairman of People’s Association. The awards presented were the Excellence Award, The Constituency Achievement Award, The Special Community Spirit Award and the Employer’s Support Award.

This year, the honour in Changi Simei went to RC Zone 2, RC Zone 4 and Indian Activity Executive Committee for winning the Excellence Awards. The Excellence Award under the PA Awards Scheme is awarded to GROs that have achieved 4-Star Grade for three consecutive years. The will mean that the award can be won once in every 3 years. Therefore, the challenge is for winners to maintain their performances in the next 3 years in order to win again. In theory, having a straight 3 years of 4-Star Grade although seemingly easy to achieve but sustaining the ground works is a challenge. There are GROs that may not have won at all.  

The other award, the Constituency Achievement Award was won by our Citizens’ Consultative Committee (CCC). The CCC had made the cut this year having missed it last year by a nose.  The Constituency Achievement Award is an award presented to constituencies with all GROs achievig  4-Star Grade in the same year. This year, we achieved 36 Stars out of the possible 36 Stars. Last year we acheived 35 Stars out the 36 Stars thus was not in the honour list.

Mr Chua Soon Lee and I represented our CCC to collect the two awards from Minister. When Changi Simei CCC was announced, I felt proud of all the grassroots leaders who have dedicated their previous time to serve the community. Some of them have been serving the community for the last 40 years and they are still with us working hard to make a difference in the estate. The Constituency Award is a testimony of their efforts and the never say “cannot” attitude.

The never say “cannot” attitude has permeated into the ranks and files of grassroots leaders. Instead of relying on well tested approach and established activities, the grassroots leaders are now more prepared to adopt new management techniques and technologies to create opportunities to bring residents together to interact and bond with each other.

Going beyond what we are currently doing, as the Chairman of the CCC, I am thinking of what can we do more to bring people out of their homes to interact or to provide feedback on our local driven initiatives or government policies to serve the community better.

We aim to do our best with or without being conferred any award.

Hair for Hope….a fund raising event for Children Cancer Foundation

Changi Simei, Singapore, 29 Aug 2010

Cancer….. a dread illness even in today high standard of medical science and care. No cure has been discovered to eradicate this illness during the late stage of discovery. Nonetheless, there is hope if detection of such illness is early.

Cancer also affects children. A child suffering from cancer not only affects the child in term of physical and mental well being, the illness also affects the family psychologically, socially and emotionally. It also places financial strains on the family.

To support these children who are stricken with cancer and their families, civic organisations like Children’s Cancer Foundation established by a group liked minded individuals offers to take the lead to build a community to support these children and their families.  The Foundation helps by offering programmes to enable them to lead a normal and quality lives of their own by enhancing their emotional, social and medical well-being. The Foundation has done a great job and since 1996, it has served over 1800 families. Currently, the Foundation is serving 500 families annually with 120 new diagnosed child cancer cases every year. The numbers is by no mean small as it also implied that the Foundation will need to raise more funds to support these children and families. 

To continue with its mission, the Foundation runs its own fund raising event besides the corporate sponsorships to raise $3 million dollars annually to meet its expenses. One of the fund raising events is the Hair for Hope which the Foundation has organised since 2003. Besides raising fund, the Hair for Hope also aims to create awareness of childhood cancer in Singapore.

This morning’s Hair for Hope event is the last of the 21 satellite events organised by the Changi Simei Citizens Consultative Committee (CCC) for the Foundation. The aim of the CCC is to support the Foundation with a message to support these children that there is nothing wrong to lose hair or be bald during the chemotherapy treatment.

For many years now, our CCC has been active in supporting the various charitable causes. We work with METTA Welfare Associations in their annual charity events, we support Simei Care Centre in their flea market, we raised funds for President’s Challenge, we participated in the Run for Hope organised by National Cancer Foundation. We partnered South East Community Development Council by organising charitable events like 10 skips for a bowl of rice, brisk walking to exchange for rice and we even folded 30,000 paper cranes to exchange for 500 kg of rice to be distributed to the less fortunate families living in Changi Simei. Today, our CCC is supporting the Children’s Cancer Foundation and this is also the first time, the Foundation is working with a grassroots organisation in the Hair for Hope event.  

When we publicised the Hair for Hope event, a total of 34 residents in Changi Simei volunteered to have their hairs shaved and to solicit at least $30 for the cause. Of the 34 volunteers, there were 5 ladies. It is not an easy decision to shave off one’s hair. It is even more challenging for ladies to have their hair shaved.  I salute all of these volunteers for taking the brave decision in the name of charity. During the event, another 16 residents walked in to have their hair shaved to support a good cause. The youngest was 2 years old boy and his 4 years old brother also had his hairs shaved.  

Ms Jacqueling Chua, a member of the grassroots organisations did not intend to be a volunteer. She took up the challenge when she was offered $500 by J Force for a good cause. She decided to shave without thinking twice.  Did she regretted her action, I doubt so, perhaps feeling at the top of the world of doing a good deeds.

Mr Jason Ong is a regular in the Hair for Hope. He had been shaving in previous years. This year, he brought his son and daughter to shave too. For those who did not shave, they contributed by making donations. Ms Jessica Tan also donated for a good cause to encourage these volunteers. I have also donated to Jason and his children to encourage them.        

 

The success of this Hair for Hope event is made possible by East Point Mall Management for sponsoring the venue, J-Force (photo left)for sponsoring the publicity and the stage backdrop, TOUCHE for sponsoring the door gift and the Children’s Cancer Foundation for their advice and support and the students hair stylists from ITE College East (Simei).

It was a meaningful event this morning for me.