Good afternoon Comrades, Ladies and Gentlemen.
1. I am glad to be here with you this afternoon.
2. This is my first visit to Geylang Home East for The Aged. It has elderly daycare services, sheltered home, respite care, community meals, befrienders’ service and neighbourhood link. I am told that residents who live around here also contributed by sharing the food they buy from the markets as well as volunteering their services. To me, this is a modern replication of the Kampong Spirit when residents within the same kampong helped one another with baby sitting, marketing, sharing home cooked food and so forth. All who lived in a kampong knew one another. In smaller kampongs, one’s business is everyone’s business. It is a place where the community spirit is very strong.
3. As a country moves towards modernity and progress through urbanization, people upgrade from their closely knitted kampongs in rural areas to big city areas. This move somehow affects the social fabric that holds the family and community together. With globalization and the search of a better living, many people leave the comfort of their home to look for more opportunities overseas. Spouses, children and their elderly parents are unfortunately left behind.
4. In Singapore, we are still a young country; most of our people in my generation have experienced kampong living when we were younger. Now living in a modern and fast-paced society, I believe that most people would agree that the merits of kampong living is worth preserving. One of such merits is the kampong spirit.
5. There is a Chinese idiom - “Yin Shui Si Yuan”, that reminds us to think about the source when drinking water. Our older generation has helped built this nation together. As Singapore’s ageing population increases, we have to pull more resources from within the community to support the older generation. One way is to link up all the related services together, so that they are well-connected and within the very reach of the community.
6. Human beings by nature prefer the familiar. Even though Singapore is a small country, people living in the East somehow prefer to still live in the East when they move and so do people living in the West. The preference of familiarity somehow increases with age. That’s why you often hear that children adapt faster and better to changes as compared to adults. Hence, helping the elderly to live well with sufficient support within their familiar environment becomes a goal. We can all work towards this goal. This is where NTUC ElderCare Co-operative can play a part. It runs daycare services for elderly at present and is exploring ways to provide more comprehensive services and support for the elderly.
7. Under its “Care and Share” pillar, NTUC has been organizing an annual project known as “Gotong Royong”. It is an act of doing something together with the kampong spirit. We visited various welfare homes and together with the residents of the homes, helped with things like painting, planting etc. In recent years, quite a number of welfare homes have moved on to better facilities in clean and modern environment. Hence, our act of doing something together has evolved into just visiting the Home and contributing to the wish list of the Home that benefits the residents. Because of this, we thought the project formerly known as the “Gotong Royong” project will be better reflected as a “We Care and We Share” Project.
8. Today, I am happy to note that 10 of our unions have without any hesitation, gladly contributed towards the needs of this Home. The total contribution amounted to more than $15,000 worth of gifts to the Home and its elderly. We hope that the simple act of caring and sharing will bring some joy to the residents here today.
9. On this note, I would like to wish everyone here a joyous and memorable afternoon!
10. Thank you.
