– Charlie “Tremendous” Jones, author and motivational speaker
There are many issues that the community is facing. And only when we take the effort to find out more and keep ourselves up-to-date, can we be part of the solution and change can happen, to truly build a community that cares.
Poly students lend a hand through overseas projects
On finding that a farm in Vietnam was producing excess milk, a group of students from Singapore Polytechnic (SP) came up with a way to stop it going to waste and even help the farm make some cash - by turning it into soap. Students from SP's chemical and life sciences...
Social enterprise awarded for river cleanup
A local water solutions provider - which has made a mark on dozens of villages in India, Indonesia and Hong Kong by bringing them clean drinking water and sanitation - has won an international award. Ecosoftt is the first Singapore organisation to receive the Zayed...
Teen looked after dementia-stricken dad from 14
From a sociable and chatty man, Melissa's father became withdrawn, depressed and forgetful. Initially, Henry, a sales director, was diagnosed with depression. His family thought he was stressed by his job. He was diagnosed with young-onset dementia at age 54. His...
App to unlock memories for persons with dementia
Singapore residents with dementia could soon be reminded of some of their memories with help from a digital app developed by a group of museums in England, under an agreement inked yesterday (29 April). The My House of Memories app is designed to be easy to use, with...
Needy families get vouchers from social enterprise
Some 1,160 less well-off families in Nee Soon GRC each received $200 in FairPrice vouchers yesterday from a social enterprise in the community. The funds came from the surplus of around $250,000 earned by FutsalArena @ Yishun. Nee Soon GRC MPs - Mr K. Shanmugam, who...
Pre-schools instil green habits through play
Some pre-schools in Singapore are promoting a zero-waste lifestyle, hoping to instil green habits in a generation who will probably face the pressing challenges of climate change when they grow up. In January, the Shaws Preschool group launched efforts to reduce,...
Volunteers help mums in jail read stories to their kids
Every week or so, a group of volunteers has been visiting female inmates with young children to record them reading storybooks. They will also visit the children to play the audio recordings, so that the children hear their mothers' voices as the books are read to...
Tan Chuan-Jin’s photo project raises $1.7m
In the formal Straits Ballroom of Fullerton Hotel, a small boy bounds onto the stage to shake the hand of Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin, drawing the loudest applause from an audience of smartly dressed adults. He poses next to the photograph that his father -...
Orphan with a heart for the lonely
Mr Selva Raju Arumugam has a "happy-go-lucky" family who would spend weekends together, as well as with their extended families. But it all came to an abrupt halt when he was 15. His mother, who suffered from serious complications of diabetes, had come down with a bad...
Educator help wayward students thrive
When school lets out for the day, it’s another beginning for Nelson Horine. His students take geometry when other people are eating dinner. They learn Spanish or history as the sun goes down. The classes are small, and the stakes are high. Most struggled in typical...
App to feed the hungry launched
Singapore's first food bank fed 1,000 people in need yesterday at its inaugural community engagement event. The Food Bank Singapore (FBSG), which was established in 2012 with an aim to be the organisation that centrally coordinates all food donations in Singapore, is...
Move for more inclusive pre-school education
A workgroup will be set up by the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) to look at how to better integrate children with learning needs into pre-schools. The group will be made up of representatives from community groups, voluntary welfare organisations, as...
AI can be biased, too
As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to advance and become more widely adopted, ethical discussions surrounding its development have largely centred on manpower displacement, as well as the potential impact of errors or inaccuracies in the programming process....
More young people supporting peers with mental health issues
Young people are taking mental health issues in hand by forming ground-up initiatives to raise awareness of the stigma attached and to reach out to their peers in distress. These arose from the Youth Conversations dialogues the National Youth Council (NYC) held last...
Technology boom transforms how kids in India learn
From a multibillion-dollar education start-up to wired-up mannequins, technology is helping to revolutionise the way Indian school children are learning - provided their parents can afford it. A host of online platforms are taking advantage of a surge in smartphone...
Kids of different abilities learn together
A team of researchers from Nanyang Technological University (NTU) have developed a new educational tool, for teachers to tailor lessons to meet the needs of students of different learning abilities within the same classroom. Led by NTU Associate Professor Goh Wooi...
Riding the wave of climate issues
Artists use their works to explore and highlight environmental themes, approaching them in an evocative and poetic manner. Canadian artist and photographer Benjamin Von Wong and social impact strategist Laura Francois created a sculpture made from 18,000 plastic cups...
Robot for seniors to tour museums
The Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall received an unusual visitor yesterday (18 Mar) - a monitor sporting two long, vertical protrusions attached to a platform with wheels. Projected on the monitor was the smiling face of Madam Lily Wong, an elderly wheelchair user...
App helps families find lost seniors with dementia
Mr Anthony Lim, 54, spotted an elderly woman looking lost and disoriented. He recalled having seen the same 83-year-old woman about three hours earlier at the lift lobby of his Sengkang Housing Board block when he returned home from work. But he also remembered her...
A red-letter day for the recycling movement
Since it started its recycling effort last month (Feb), DBS Bank says it has collected close to three tonnes of red packets. They will be sorted, packed and sent to paper mills to be turned into paper pulp. This will then be processed into recycled paper rolls or...
