NTUC visits Bishan Home
5 December 2007
Media Release
1 In the spirit of being all inclusive, participants from 10 unions and NTUC Income got together at the Bishan Home for the Intellectually Disabled (Bishan Home) to reach out to those beyond NTUC’s membership base. There are 129 residents and 19 day-care clients with intellectual disabilities at Bishan Home and the NTUC family held a mini-fair to share the upcoming festive joy with the residents. Please refer to ANNEX A for the full list of unions who have participated in this visit.
2 The participants, made up of union leaders and members, set up stalls on the premises of Bishan Home to sell foodstuff, balloons and T-shirts – “pasar malam” style. Coupons that replaced genuine money were distributed to the Home’s residents to purchase items at the mini-fair. To help them understand the value of money, the residents were guided to keep their transactions to a budget of $8.
3 In addition, to help build their life skills, NTUC engaged the help of Bukit Batok Driving Centre to set up street signs and barricades to guide and instil road safety habits in the residents. As Bishan Home is adopted by the Staff Union of NTUC-ARU (SUN) this year, SUN also distributed red packets to all residents at the Home to bring a cheer to their holiday season.
4 NTUC Secretary-General Lim Swee Say was there for the visit and said, “As a caring and sharing labour movement, the NTUC family is going beyond our membership base in reaching out to the wider community. We understand that the residents of Bishan Home would like to have more opportunities to mingle with people from outside the Home. This morning, our members from 10 unions and NTUC Income had a great time interacting with the residents here. We thank Bishan Home for giving us this wonderful opportunity to do our part in serving the community.”
5 Mdm Aishah Bte Akil from SUN, who volunteered at SUN's candy floss stall, found the experience to be mutually beneficial. She said, “We are happy that Bishan Home benefited from our little gesture because it was an enriching experience for us as well. Through our interactions, I developed a greater understanding and sense of inclusiveness for them. We hope to be able to spread such joy to more charity homes in the future."
Mr Ong Ah Heng
Director
Care and Share
National Trades Union Congress
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About National Trades Union Congress (NTUC)
The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) is a national confederation of trade unions in the industrial, service and public sectors representing 500,000 workers in Singapore. NTUC comprises 63 affiliated unions, 6 affiliated taxi associations, 9 co-operatives and 6 related organisations. NTUC’s objectives are to help Singapore stay competitive and workers remain employable for life; to enhance the social status and well-being of workers; and to build a strong, responsible and caring labour movement. NTUC's vision is to be an inclusive labour movement for all collars, all ages and all nationalities. For more details on NTUC, please visit our website at www.ntuc.org.sg
About Bishan Home
Bishan Home started in 1999 which currently houses 129 residents and runs a Day Activity Centre for 19 clients. While taking care of clients’ basic safety, food and shelter, we try to give them as much as possible a good quality of life inside a communal living environment. We also firmly believe in the benefit of being a part of the wider community. Not only do our residents have more joyful and esteemed lives through making of friends from outside of the home, it is also an important channel for people to develop greater understanding, tolerance and inclusiveness for people with disabilities.
Annex A
