As the year comes to a close, City News looks back on individuals who have wholeheartedly undertaken simple projects to make their community a better place.
Contributed By Wong Chock Fang
Young Lives, Big Hearts
It started with four teenage girls with an idea to do good and serve their peers. As their project gained traction, Crystal Wong, Simone Lim, Zheng Xiao Han and Jessy Zhang were joined by 11 others to form Team Beyond ’10 to organize a concert and raise funds for Beyond Social Services, a welfare group for youths-at-risk.
For their charity cause, these youths made many sacrifices meeting up after school to plan, spending weekends street-busking and selling knick-knacks, and trawling Orchard Road with donation tin cans. Their perseverance and hard work resulted in a well-run concert attended by over 300 people and approximately S$3,000 raised. Proof indeed, that with enough heart for the community, a successful fundraiser can be entirely organized by the youths to reach out to the youths.
Of Cars And Kids
If you think car forum members are always thinking and talking cars only, you are wrong. In June this year, the members of SG Koupians, the official club for the Kia Koup owners in Singapore, brought 20 children, ages ranging from three to 15, from the Children’s Aid Society for a ride on the Singapore Flyer, followed by lunch at Popeyes restaurant.
“This is our way of giving back to society, to provide the children with a great time,” says a member, who added that more of such events are currently in the pipeline.
Mission Inspired
“Giving back” is not just a phrase, but an action plan for seven individuals who took time off their busy work schedules for a trip to Thailand-Laos to bring sustainable improvements to the lives of the people there.
From the moment they landed at Chiang Rai airport, Dr. Fong Wai Yin, Joel Peters, Royce Lee, Winnie Pua, Agnes Yip, Ruth Teng and Daniel Quek got busy with preparations. Heading to Chiang Khong, they gave out goodie bags at the children’s home at Hmong village, and set up an outdoor medical clinic. The next day, the team crossed the Mekong river to Laos and headed to Nam Cheng elementary school where the day was spent fixing the roof and packing goodie bags for over 300 students. Three new computers, a laptop and sports equipment were also donated to the school. The team also worked out lesson plans with the principal and discussed how they could continue to provide assistance and aid to the school. The team has plans to return to the Thailand-Laos area for another trip in the near future.
One Passion,Many Wonders
It was an eight-year passion put to a good cause as medical student Sin Yong (aka Syros Kyrano), a seasoned magician, put up a spectacular PassionTM Magic Concert, together with five of his medical faculty friends, to raise funds for World Vision International.
The two-hour production kicked off with an astounding visual display, followed by graceful and entertaining magic performances. Syros wowed the 270-strong audience with his card-throwing display. Proceeds of ticket sales went toward World Vision International to help its cause to eliminate world hunger, thereby giving less privileged children a renewed hope.
Joining Forces For Good
A two-part community service project by undergraduates from the four universities in Singapore —Jing Seah from NUS, Ezekiel Wong Shang Jie from NTU, Perex Loh Ziyang from SMU, and Ivan Tan from SIM—brought smiles to over 30 children and the staff at the Asian Women’s Welfare Association headquarters in August this year. The Quad-Uni Community Service Project, as they named it, rallied 25 other university students to devote their time and energy to its cause.
The undergraduates put together a jamming studio at AWWA’s EXCELerate Services youth center, complete with mural paintings, that would serve as a training ground for those who aspire to play music as a means to earn a livelihood.
The second part of the project aimed to raise the value of sportsmanship among the underprivileged children at AWWA, and to celebrate the spirit of the Youth Olympic Games. An entire morning of activities was organized for the children.
Oh, Happee Day!
Happee Day was a carnival organized for 50 children from the Children’s Cancer Foundation and their families. Daphne Ling, a parent blogger and mother of two toddlers, enlisted the help of 45 other parent bloggers to spread the word about the Happee Day carnival.
The response was overwhelming as Ling and her team of volunteers treated the children to a morning of games, food, fun-filled activities and entertaining performances at Hort Park. The carnival ended with the cancer-stricken children going back with an activity kit bag packed with games which they can play at home. With support from companies which sponsored the venue, logistics, food, activity booths, performances and activity kit bags, the carnival was a definite success. As the volunteer emcee Bernard Loh, puts it, “I saw many happy faces and the kids totally enjoying themselves. That is priceless!”
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Say Cheese!
Six foreign students from Balestier Hill Secondary School came together to raise funds for the Handicaps Welfare Association. Led by Yeo Eun Ji from South Korea, the group which comprised students from Indonesia and South Africa as well, registered with Youth for Causes 2010 and was chosen to carry out their fundraising activity with an initial funding of S$1,600 from HWA.
With two Polaroid cameras and film, materials to make hand-made cards, and a tiger costume as their mascot, the youngsters staked out at Plaza Singapura and East Coast Park every Saturday from May to September, calling on passers-by to take pictures with the mascot for just S$5 for the photograph and a hand-made card. Proceeds went toward funding the cause of HWA.
