Mr Zulhaqem Zulkifli is used to seeing neighbours stream in and out of his home, a two- bedroom rental flat in Queenstown that he shares with his father and three younger siblings.
They come for any number of reasons – help with reading letters from the Government, marriage counselling, or advice on conflict resolution from his father. Sometimes, they ask for rice and instant noodles when they do not have enough to eat.
His father Zulkifli Atnawi, a retired cleaner known in the area as a “kampung head”, is ever willing to help.
This neighbourly spirit rubbed off on Mr Zulhaqem and his siblings, who came together in April to launch Project Hills – a ground-up initiative that provides outreach and financial assistance to residents of rental housing estates, including the one they live in.
Mr Zulhaqem returned to Singapore from his overseas studies in March when the coronavirus pandemic worsened. Back home, he noticed many of his neighbours had fallen upon hard times. Those who faced pay cuts or retrenchments had difficulty making ends meet.
Starting with just the four siblings, the volunteer pool has grown by word of mouth to about 50 people, most of them under the age of 35.
Outreach programmes take place about once a week. Volunteers go door to door to distribute essential items, top up the prepaid credit tokens residents use to get electricity, or offer ad hoc assistance, such as sourcing a wheelchair for a needy elderly person or a laptop for home-based learning for a family.
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Source: The Straits Times, 29 August 2020