Project MI is an Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) project for students to develop their capabilities for leadership and community whilst at the same time, raise awareness about the issue of poverty and food waste. Over a course of three days in January 2017, 20 NTU Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) Club student leaders mentored and guided over 300 students from Bukit Batok Secondary School to collect more than 14,000kg of uncooked white rice to redistributed to 800 households in the Bukit Batok and Toh Guan estates. The excess rice was also donated to Voluntary Welfare Organisations such as Willing Hearts and Lotus Light.
The project consisted of three stages – Advertising (14 Jan), Collection (21 Jan) and Distribution (22 Jan). The first day focused on mainly on door-to-door advertising of the project while the second involved both door-to-door collection as well as sorting of the rice before repackaging them into 5kg bags for distribution. The amount of heart and tenacity that the students had really showed as they smiled cheerily and continued on despite facing rejection door after door.
The distribution was supported by the Bukit Batok Citizens Consultative Committee which had assisted to identify the low-income households receiving the welfare. The students soon realised that distribution was the easy part; witnessing how eight people could live within a single room flat was what was difficult to swallow. Every door hid a story; be it senior citizens who could not walk to the door or families which have fallen through the cracks of the system. Each bag of rice was a reminder that there are people who still cared about those left behind. It represented love.
“It really showed me what we could do with something so simple, if only we wanted to do something about it.” Jared Tan, Student Volunteer
About NTU Humanities and Social Sciences Club (HSS Club)
NTU HSS Club is the Academic Club of the School of Humanities & Social Sciences.
The Club was formed to enhance and enliven the members’ university experience both academically and socially. Through events such as Exam Welfare Week, HSS Week, Freshmen Orientation Camp, Dinner & Dance as well as dialogue sessions, they are able to interact and bond with fellow students from other divisions and, through this exchange, foster an unique HSS Identity.
NTU HSS Club strives to enrich the lives of fellow HSS mates through both social and academic activities aimed to foster a common belonging to the school.
