Dear Friends, Jobs and the ability to draw an income weigh heavily on the minds of many and it is no different for the young people we engage. After speaking to more than 50 youth between 16 to 25 years old, we discovered that most wanted to explore different career paths which they were interested in. However, they felt that they could not afford to do so as contributing to the household budget was priority. They were also rather clueless how they could explore their interests and would tend to gratefully take on whatever comes their way. Their sense of practicality is …
Another Week Beyond – 2034
Dear Friends, When the Rotary Club of Marina City wanted to provide a meal for 160 residents of a public rental neighborhood, we suggested that they engage 4 mothers who have acquired their food handling certification from the Singapore Food Agency. We have been supporting mothers to acquire this certification with a view that they may eventually start a micro-business catering for house parties and small events. There are no parties or events at the moment and this opportunity seemed like a nice little project to take on. The cook received an allowance of $12 for every hour’s work while …
Another Week Beyond – 2033
Dear Friends, Rose called us on the phone to inform that she was at the hospital with her mom who had a fall at home. She wanted to let us know that she may not be attending a training session we were holding the following day. She sounded frantic but calmed down after we told her that we would organise another session for her if necessary. Thankfully, after treatment, her mother was well enough to remain alone at home and Rose showed up for the session. She told the others, “At the hospital, I felt so lost. On one hand I had …
Another Week Beyond – 2032
Many years ago, my boss hosted dinner during a stay-in planning retreat. He started the dinner conversation asking my colleagues and I to share what we loved most about Singapore. I told him “the trees” and got on with my dinner but eventually all of us put aside our cutlery as he revealed the reason behind his question. He said that he would find it hard to see how anyone could do what we do if there was nothing we loved about the country. Most of us did not think much about his comment as we felt that we were just doing …