|
Project Awareness is very thankful to our volunteers and supporters for lending your helping hand to the Malay family at Boon Lay Drive. The family says they appreciate all the assistance from our volunteers and supporters. Today at Project Awareness, we once again witness racial and religious harmony when every Singaporeans come together to lend their helping hands.
The first list of items that posted on Project Awareness Facebook, I would say that most of the items are been delivered to them and some of the items will be send to them shortly by this week. Today, the family received the following items and some might be left out in this post, but do check out our photo accordingly. - 1 x Electric Standing Fan - 1 x Rice Cooker - 1 x Soup Cooker - 1 x Electric Kettle - 1 x Portable Electric Cooking Pan - 1 x complete set of Plates, Spoons, Forks and Cups - 1 x complete set of Baby Clothing, Toys and Diapers - 1 x Fridge - 5 x Pillows - 1 x Ration Goody Bag - 1 x Folding Table - 2 x $50 NTUC Voucher (stamped with "No Cigarettes and Alcohol") We do have a Chinese couple blessed the family with red packet as well, as they understand this family do need some money for their daily expenses too. There are also many kind souls blessing them with dry rations, including white rice and baby milk powders. We would like to thank Ms Sue from MSF Singapore for following up with the case. We also understand from the family that three Malay ladies from Boon Lay CC visited them after we posted their case, and they will follow up with the family again. We thank this three kind Malay ladies for your kindness and thought, and hope that you can render as much assistance to this family as possible. Our Project Coordinator Jacky Goh highlighted that Mr Seong Cheng, PGO Program Coordinator for Boon Lay, also visited this family today to understand more about their needs, and he will assist to look into the installation of the window grilles and advise on the long term assistance and available resources within the community that this family can apply for. He will be following up with this family again. Lastly we advise this family to see their MP Mr Patrick Tay during his Meet-The-People session for further assistance if needed. Overall, every little effort from each of us, I believe the family will be able to stand strong on their own soon. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A very meaningful Facebook post by our PM Lee Hsien Loong today, do read on: "Racial and religious harmony is one of Singapore’s most remarkable achievements. But what we enjoy today is far from a natural state of affairs. Our pioneers worked hard to bring different communities together, through events and celebrations, and through deliberate policies on housing, education and the National Service. Religious and community leaders have built personal friendships and trust with one another. They discuss sensitive issues that arise with mutual respect and give and take. At the OnePeople.sg Community Leaders’ Conference this morning, I emphasised the importance of this harmony to our multi-religious and open society. We must stay vigilant, strengthen our ties and harmony, and ensure that future generations understand these complexities and work together to resolve issues amicably. We can be of different races and religions, but we are first and foremost, Singaporeans. You can watch my speech here: http://bit.ly/1OQ7EYC." Source: https://goo.gl/WbT6jU ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kindness is everywhere and a little thought can mean so much! Remember to share and walk with us in Project Awareness. 蘇奕銓 Elson Soh Project Awareness - Share & Walk with me Visiting our beneficiaries at Choa Chu Kang St 51 on 2 September 2015. We also discovered a few more new families and will be putting them on our beneficiaries' list as well.
Thank you to Jacqualin, Ze Mei, Kerisa, Leo and Joycelyn, for volunteering your service to clean up the house for Uncle Chia at Boon Lay Drive last Saturday 11 July 2015.
Uncle Chia is a disabled person staying alone, but he is very happy with whatever he is doing now. He is a very nice person that will share his happiness with you and he appreciate whatever effort that we render to him as well. The story behind every door  She is a Singaporean and a mother of 5 children, the youngest of which is in primary 3. Her Malaysian husband has tried repeatedly to obtain permanent residency in Singapore but to no avail. Without her husband by her side and unable to cope with her stresses, she eventually plunged into major depression. When her close friend found out she was treated at IMH, their relationship ended. She cried over 3 days. The thought of losing her close friend still causes her pain. Her bills are pilling up and her children are losing interests in their studies  He is 76 years old and has been a tailor since the age of 20. His flat-mate had just passed away and he is looking at how to dispose of the deceased's belongings that are in the flat. He works from home and provides his tailoring services to a tailor shop that supplies him the fabric. He gets paid when he collects the fabric from the shop and has to personally deliver his completed handiwork. Working long hours each day, he is as healthy as he says he is and always wore a ready smile.  He had a stroke and was lying in bed when I visited. His helper opened the gate and showed me in. He spoke softly in Mandarin and there was not a word of complaint from him. He was contented as he was as he could still move but needs a wheelchair to go downstairs. When asked if there was anything he needed, he gently replied that he was doing fine.  This elderly couple have been living in the same flat for 15 years. They have 5 grown-up children who are living on their own. Their neighbourhood has become too noisy for them and they are troubled. She suffers from asthma and is in frail health and he is taking care of her. They need a quieter place for her recuperation are applying to move to a nearby flat but are worried that they may not get it.
It is always good to volunteer our time and thank you Project Awareness for giving me this opportunity to lend my helping hand and listening ear. Different stories unfold behind every door that I knock. As I walked from one flat to the next, I could feel my emotions fluctuate. We live to learn and learn to live, don't we? Kindness is everywhere and a little thought can mean so much! Remember to share and walk with us in Project Awareness. Tan Lam Siong 陈南松 Project Legal Adviser  I was at Whampoa yesterday morning with the volunteers from Project Awareness. At Jalan Tenterem, we visited a few families, including the homes of a jobless Malay man struggling to take care of his sick wife and children and an old Chinese lady who is still taking physical care of her adult sons.  [A family in need is a family indeed] Encik Jalil has 2 teenage sons and a 8 year-old daughter. His elder son is doing his national service and his younger son will be enlisted soon. There are no breadwinners in this family and the only income comes from the national service pay of his elder son. Making ends meet is obviously difficult and he has applied for financial aid to pay his utility bills which remain unpaid. Encik Jalil's wife suffers from severe diabetes. She emerged from her room as we were talking, walking with much difficulty. She had to lean against the wall for support as she moved. Apparently, she had dislocated her left foot a few months back and the sight of the injured foot would be too much to bear for those who are faint-hearted. It has become so engorged and deformed that the grossly enlarged foot covered with dry hardened scabs, appears side-by-side on the outer left ankle. Just imagine the left foot removed and placed beside the left ankle at almost the same level. I asked her if her condition has improved and her reply was optimistic. However, her optimism quickly dissipated when we discussed her 2 sons. She teared when she affirmmed that they were good and obedient. I could sense a mother's pain - that she was deeply worried for them. But soon there was a smile on her face when her chubby young daughter suddenly appeared and hugged her from the side. She was wearing a long dress made of t-shirt material with the word "princess" emblazoned on it. This cheerful little girl has just turned 8 yesterday and she was clearly the family's bundle of joy. All the time that we were talking with his wife, Encik Jalil wore a calm and gentle smile. He let his wife do most of the talking but quietly stood beside her. He was like her pillar of strength. In a world where many couples are unable to keep their promises to stand by each other in weal and woe, here was one couple that stood out. And because of their enduring commitment to each other, their family ought to get all the help they need.  [Mother of mothers]
When a woman has to take care of a child with congenital disabilities, it's tough. But Old Granny Jenny has to take care of not one, but two. And all by herself. She is divorced and in her late 70s. Her 2 sons, Eddy and Andrew, are now in their 30s. Eddy moves around in a wheelchair but Andrew is bedridden. Old Granny Jenny is their only one caregiver. When we visited, she was not at home. Eddy, who has physical and speech disabilities, was sitting all by himself in the common space outside his ground floor flat. He was happy to see us and from his gesticulations and utterances, we figured out that his mother had gone to the market. We tried to engage him in small talk and he was responsive and grinned when we teased him. Although we could barely make out his utterances, we could see his feelings from his facial expressions. He was constantly tearing at the corner of his eyes and salivating at the corner of his mouth. Yet, when he flashed his smile, it was the most genuine smile one could ever get. Old Granny Jenny soon came back. She was pushing a metal trolley with a new potted plant that she has just bought. We saw her walking with a slight limp and found out later that she just had a fall. We helped her carry the new potted plant and placed it in the little garden behind her flat. One of her plants has withered and it's time to plant a new one. What has to go will go and it will be replaced by something new. Old Granny Jenny has few pleasures and this little gardening work was probably her only leisure. Despite the cruel fate that life has dealt her, Old Granny Jenny never halted in showering love and care on her 2 dependent sons whom she takes care round the clock. She lives her life with such zest and tenacity that would put all those who crumble under less excruciating circumstances to embarrassment. If mothers were ranked on their capacity to take life's hard knocks, Old Granny Jenny would be high up on the list. Kindness is everywhere and a little thought can mean so much! Remember to share and walk with us in Project Awareness. Tan Lam Siong 陈南松 Project Legal Adviser 
Today morning I accompany this 82 years old grandma to see a doctor as one of her hand is swollen. The doctor advise her not to pick up cardboard and empty cans without using any glove due to bacterial infection. I will be visiting her again this weekend to check out her condition as she is living alone with no family and relative in Singapore. Her house was in a mess previously but after a few rounds of cleaning, at least the condition is so much better now. The photo below shown how messy her house was before the cleaning and most of her stuffs are moved to our mini warehouse that we rented a year back. Usually after our spring cleaning session, partial of their stuffs will be moved back and some of it will be throw away, while some of it will be kept in our mini warehouse as we do not want their place to be in a mess again. This mini warehouse system work well and we hope to continue with the support from all of you at Project Awareness. You might want to read more and understand how you can lend us your support in this area. 
The rental of our mini warehouse was previously supported by one kind donor from Malaysia, but she had stop a couple of months back without informing our team until we found out recently. This mini warehouse not only store a few of the elderly' furniture and belonging, but also a number of stuffs that contributed by our volunteers for future distribution, such as old clothing and textbooks etc.
To me, a house is not a warehouse, and we seriously need this warehouse. Do not suggest us to forgo the warehouse, do not suggest us to stop collecting clothing and useful items contributed by the public, as whatever items that we collected, it does benefits many of our beneficiaries at Project Awareness. Friends and volunteers at Project Awareness, do lend us your helping hand by supporting our mini warehouse rental. For more information, do PM us in Facebook and every little effort assist us to lighten our expenses. Kindness is everywhere and a little thought can mean so much! Remember to share and walk with us in Project Awareness. Elson Soh 蘇奕銓 Project Awareness - Share & Walk with me 
There are many elderly depending on selling tissue papers and big sweep lottery to earn a simple living for themselves as either they do not want to burden their children or they do not even had a family. (Photo shown is not the elderly mention in this post)
Below is a message from one of our supporters at Project Awareness and do read and pass the message around. Most importantly, we will see how we can assist this elderly man through the right government agency who can offer a long term support to him. Message by Josephine Chan: "There was this elderly man who is in wheelchair. He will be outside Bukit Merah Central NTUC selling Big Sweep lottery every day. It has been years since he has been doing this. I happened to be there this early afternoon & noticed that his health conditions has deteriorated. He used to be able to feed himself n sit up straight in the wheelchair but now he can hardly moved n kept on slipping down the wheelchair. When I approached him to buy the lottery tickets, he requested help to make him sit up straight. He was already sitting with his back to the wheelchair. Despite our help, he seemed to slip down from the chair again and bending forward. After we put him up and walk away, he requested help from a number of people who approached him as well. I am not too sure what can be done or which is the right agency I can approach to help him. Let me know if you guys can do anything to help him........thanks." Friends and volunteers at Project Awareness, if you are around Bukit Merah Central NTUC, do lend him your helping hand too. If you have any such incident to share with us, write to us at projectawarenesssg@gmail.com or PM us in Facebook. Kindness is everywhere and a little thought can mean so much! Remember to share and walk with us in Project Awareness. Elson Soh 蘇奕銓 Project Awareness - Share & Walk with me  Some of you may not have heard of French Road in Singapore. It is not at all anything to do with France. In fact a portion of housing there lives low-income families and elderly, who are often alone.
This old couple in their 80s and 70s I knew last year when I first started Project Awareness, have been married for many years but they have no children. Most often their day starts with grandpa bringing grandma for a walk around the neighbourhood, having breakfast along the way and then back to their home where they watch tv and spend their day. On alternate days, grandpa will wheel grandma in her wheelchair to NKF for her dialysis sessions. Both of them are not working anymore. Having knew them for so long, I always felt they needed something but they don't say it out directly. Visiting them time to time I always notice the food in their fridge being bare. I guess they try to make do with whatever that is given to them, even though at times grandma's health condition requires her to eat better. I also know that loneliness is sometimes a problem they face. Grandma's face lights up everytime she sees me and I knew they hope to have a grandson or granddaughter or a family member to visit them and talk to them. Recently grandma went for a surgery and hospitalise for about a month and grandpa is getting weak as well. Sometimes it saddens me to see them going through this. For me I try to help them with whatever I can hoping to make a little difference in their life. If you want to be part of the difference, do let me know. Let's spread love around. If you can lend your helping hand, do PM me in Facebook for more information and I hope that we can further improve their current lifestyle.  Visited this family referred by Ms Ang at Boon Lay Drive. Mdm Teo is a 45 year old single mother living with her two daughters (age 5 years old and 10 years old). Both daughter are from different fathers. Mdm Teo is working part-time as a flyer distributor and earn a monthly income of $500. She have a government grant of $200 every month and both her daughter's education is been fully subsidized by the government. After chatting with her, I understand that she is currently in financial difficulties as previously her youngest daughter been falling sick for nearly 6 months and most of her saving is being used up just to pay off the medical bills even it is subsidized. Moreover her own mother (age 82 years old) who is suffering from kidney problem, is depending on her earning of $500 to pay off the medical bills.  Mdm Teo had met a couple of volunteer groups for the past few months. Most of them just come and go after talking to her and knowing of her situation, and none of them offered her any assistance. One of the volunteer groups even suggested her to go on media and send her youngest daughter for adoption if she cant afford to give her a good life. She was very upset upon hearing this. I bought her sufficient rations to last her for the next two weeks and hopefully she can pull through this difficult period. I told her that Project Awareness and our volunteers are different from many other groups as we believe in helping the less-privileged families to pull through their difficult period without asking for anything in return.  I also assured her that she will not be disturbed by any of our volunteers and no question will be asked after the meeting at her house today. Currently her house is using SP Services PAYU (Pay as you use) as her outstanding SP bill is more than $1000. Her current PAYU credit is left with $1.28 and we had just topped up $30 for her.
If any of you wish to lend a hand to this family, do PM us in Facebook Inbox for more information. Thank you so much. Kindness is everywhere and a little thought can mean so much! Remember to share and walk with us in Project Awareness. Elson Soh 蘇奕銓 Project Awareness - Share & Walk with me  Mdm Choo, 48 years old, is unemployed for past six months due to her second surgery and she is not able to stand for long working hours. She is staying with her 78 years old mother, depending on government grant of $300 a month. When I visited them today, both of them cried and share with me how they spent their days for past six months. The old mother went from Commonwealth all the way to Raffles Place MRT just to sell tissue to earn both their daily expenses, and most of the time she only manage to get $10 to $20 a day. Her daughter's medical bills can no longer use CPF as they don't have enough funds inside to support anymore, as such they have to pay by cash even after the government subsidize.  Their rental flat do not have much furniture... When I went it was a little messy but considered quite clean compared to many families that I had visited in the past. Both of them are simple minded and hope that kind souls out there can assist them to pull through this difficult period. They are now weary of strangers approaching them as previously a volunteer group published their address online, resulting in a series of events that attracted many strangers visiting them daily and questioning them on their situation. Mdm Choo tells me she felt like "animals in the zoo" and their life is being affected. I had assured them that they will not be disturbed and ask them not to worry so much.  If any of you wish to lend a hand to this family, do PM us in Facebook Inbox for more information. Thank you so much.
|
Contribute to
Project Awareness -------------------------------- Your support is important to Project Awareness's overall operation The Founder 
We are seen HERE
Categories
All
|
