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Bringing out the kampung spirit in Tampines
The 12th iteration/edition of Project Refresh returned with the highest number of volunteers to spruce up the homes of low-income seniors within the North East District today. This is the sixth time that Young NTUC (YNTUC) and North East Community Development Council (CDC) collectively amassed the strength of their networks in support of the less privileged. This morning, some 1,000 volunteers from unions, schools, corporate organisations, grassroots and Tampines residents stepped up to refresh the homes of low-income seniors and seniors, who are living alone in Tampines.
Project Refresh was mooted by YNTUC in 2016 to encourage active volunteerism and provide an accessible platform for different groups of volunteers to volunteer. Since 2017, YNTUC has joined hands with North East CDC to run five Project Refresh in the North East District, making today’s edition the sixth, and the largest in terms of scale, by far.
Spring cleaning of homes, in time for Lunar New Year
Today, the volunteers enthusiastically rolled up their sleeves to conduct refurbishment works in 95 household units in Tampines. These included cleaning, decluttering, painting and furniture replacement.
The cleaning and painting equipment and supplies, as well as new furniture and bedding are sponsored by North East CDC’s corporate sponsors. They include BUILDERSmart Pte Ltd, COMMUNE Lifestyle Pte Ltd, System Pest Control Services Pte Ltd, and Wasaly Pte Ltd.
Today’s Project Refresh came in just in time for the Lunar New Year. This heartwarming initiative brought out the kampung spirit as volunteers from the PAP Community Foundation (PCF) and Tampines grassroots contributed their time to towards preparing hand-made Lunar New Year decorations and greeting cards to decorate 59 Chinese households. Volunteers also extended the spirit of celebration and brought cheer to the homes of Malay and Indian residents by giving handmade cookies, mandarin oranges and red packets to less-privileged families.
Visit by Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat and other Advisers
Today’s Project Refresh was flagged off by Guest-of-Honour and Minister of Finance, Mr Heng Swee Keat, together with other members of the Tampines Group Representation Constituency (GRC) – Mayor of North East District and Assistant Secretary-General (ASG) of NTUC, Mr Desmond Choo; Senior Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Transport and Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth, Mr Baey Yam Keng; and Adviser to Tampines Grassroots Organisations (GROs), Miss Cheng Li Hui.
Minister Heng and the other grassroots Advisers visited the multi-purpose hall at Tampines Block 868D where volunteers gathered to make the Lunar New Year decorations, which included calligraphy and origamis. The Advisers also dropped by Block 868B to witness the final touches of the mural painting by local artist, Mr Patrick Yee and his own network of volunteers, who spent a couple of weeks working on the artwork. This wall mural, with sketches of volunteers in a home, depicted neighbourliness and aimed to inspire volunteerism in the Tampines community. This move was in support of the Tampines Kindness Movement, which seeks to connect individuals for a kinder Tampines, through small acts of kindness to families, neighbours and the environment.
Tampines resident, Mr Wong Cher Khoon, said, “We appreciate and look forward to Project Refresh organised by Young NTUC-NECDC for senior citizens like us. This project brings joy and hope as we know there are people who care for us. Their actions touched our hearts and we are sincerely thankful to the volunteers for their strong community commitment.”
Minister Heng said, “We can strengthen our social fabric through volunteering platforms like Project Refresh. It encourages our youths to work together to help fellow Singaporeans. By creating opportunities for our young people to connect with and understand their community better, we can effect positive changes together. We will support more younger Singaporeans to build such platforms.”
ASG Choo added, “Since we started Project Refresh in 2016, we have 2,350 volunteers stepping up to help our less-privileged. Our younger Singaporeans care deeply about their community and can chart the way forward to building a resilient and caring Singapore. We must continually build platforms with them to best express their passion and allow them to leverage on their inventiveness.”
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