– 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.
Stroke and laid off but pushing on
Mr Lee Yong Jie was 19 years old when he had a massive stroke. He needed an operation to remove the blood clot in his brain, and even if he survived the operation, he might be paralysed. When he awoke, the doctors told him that he had a congenital condition called a...
Reaching out to fellow workers
In August, construction worker Govindasami Venkatesan, 25, found out that his dormitory roommate's employer owed him $9,800, or three months' salary, including overtime. The roommate, whom he knew as Kumar, was the sole breadwinner of his family and was worried about...
Retired carpenter’s Paris dream fulfilled
When Mr Sum Kin Nar built a 30cm-tall model of the Eiffel Tower about five years ago, he relied on photos and his imagination. The 78-year-old lives alone and depends on public assistance to get by. He had never been to Paris and could not afford to travel there. Two...
Befriending former Dakota Crescent residents
Every Saturday morning, former Dakota Crescent resident Yee Dew Eng welcomes volunteers who come knocking on her door in Cassia Crescent. The former part-time cleaner, who lives alone, cannot read the instructions on her medication, so the befrienders explain them to...
Grandpa on a roll to help kids with special needs
Malcolm Chen, 72, continues to work towards his dream of creating a more inclusive society through the power of the bicycle. The avid cyclist, who cycles in places such as Sarawak and Fiji, created non-profit organisation Ageless Bicyclists in 2015 to teach children...
Good Samaritans win President’s awards
Restoring the eyesight of needy elderly and getting their lives back on track is what keeps Dr Marcus Ang going. For the past 10 years, Dr Ang, 37, has been taking his equipment to needy elderly and giving them free eye check-ups. The ophthalmologist came up with this...
Man’s best friend brings cheer to children and elderly
Once a month, Ren Ci Nursing Home resident Huei Ah Looi, 77, gets to play with dogs, such as Smoky the cocker spaniel and T-Rex the toy poodle. These dogs are part of a team of volunteers under a programme known as Healing Paws, by animal welfare charity Save Our...
Stories That Inspire
It's Giving Week! Giving isn’t always easy, but their words of wisdom inspire us all to take action. Watch their stories and be inspired. Featuring volunteer and organisation stories from: Touch A Life - An international humanitarian organisation that embodies...
12,000 volunteers join President’s Challenge this year
For the past decade, housewife Shirley Tan has been giving residents of nursing homes free haircuts. She said to the elderly that it is not about vanity. "Many people may think haircuts are insignificant, but a good haircut can actually make the seniors very happy....
Rebel starts social enterprise to help the needy
When Mr Justine Lee was in Primary 5, his Chinese Language teacher threw his exercise book out of the classroom window after he failed his dictation test for the umpteenth time. Reckless and rebellious, his attendance and grades were abysmal, and he often took part in...
8 Days of Giving
#GivingTuesday is a movement fuelled by social media and collaborations that celebrates and supports giving and philanthropy with events throughout the year. It falls on 28 November this year in Singapore! Join in the spirit of Giving Week 2017 (28 November to 5...
Wong Kah Chun; Conductor tunes in to lift children’s spirits
Conductor Wong Kah Chun, 31, goes the extra mile to prepare for concerts, including observing orchestras incognito. Wong won the first prize at the prestigious Gustav Mahler Conducting Competition in Germany last year, said: "I like to do research on the orchestras I...
Sonny Liew; The Art of Charlie Chan
Cartoonist Sonny Liew, 43, came to Singapore from Seremban, Malaysia, when he was five and became a Singaporean about five years ago, when he was working on his acclaimed graphic novel, The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye. He studied philosophy at Cambridge, and later...
Kirsten Tan; Film-maker to put Singapore on the map
36-year-old Kirsten Tan’s debut feature Pop Aye was recently picked as Singapore's submission to the 90th Academy Awards in the Foreign Language Film category. The road movie, about a disillusioned Thai architect and his elephant friend, won prizes at the Sundance and...
Jason Chee; Accident, Cancer – Para-athlete
"A lot of people ask, why are you so determined, despite losing so many things?" said Jason Chee, 34, who lost both his legs, left arm and three fingers on his right hand, after a horrific naval accident in 2012 when he was caught between a motorised winch and a...
ST Singaporean of the Year: First 4 nominees
A para-athlete, a film-maker, a graphic novelist and a conductor are the first four nominees for The Straits Times Singaporean of the Year 2017 award. Now in its third year and supported by the bank UBS Singapore, the award seeks to recognise Singaporeans whose...
Take ownership to make Singapore cleaner
At the annual Clean and Green Singapore carnival, Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam urged Singaporeans to take more ownership in their daily lives. "Today, we are reliant on 50,000 cleaners… We also have our community initiatives, teams of volunteers who go...
Dramatic rise in plastic seabed litter around UK
According to the data published by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA), there has been a dramatic rise in the amount of litter, especially plastic, found on the seabed around Britain. Tim Farron, a Liberal Democrats spokesman on the...
Cargo containers gain steam as building blocks of new homes
Cargo containers, a staple of international trade, are now gaining mainstream popularity as building blocks for affordable homes in a variety of sizes and types. "When we built our first container home about eight years ago in upstate New York, the locals all laughed...
The plastics problem
Bioplastics and polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are polymers generated by certain bacteria when they are fed foods, including sugars. First discovered decades ago, they have been held back from commercial success by high production prices. But technological breakthroughs...
