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938Now: Night Chat with Susan Ng
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938Now: Night Chat with Susan Ng

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(From 938Now’s Facebook post on 23 October 2018):

Join us on #NightChatWithSusanNg from 9pm-10pm

Leading our conversation tonight – the work of the Community Foundation of Singapore. Their vision is to inspire giving. And they do this by partnering donors and charities to enhance giving in Singapore.

Catherine Loh, Chief Executive Officer, Community Foundation of Singapore tells us more about the work they’ve done over the last 10 years and how they’ve encouraged philanthropy in Singapore.

Ten years after Lim Wei-Jen founded his wealth management company Liontrust, he started the Liontrust Charity Fund with the Community Foundation of Singapore. This was his personal long-term goal – to give back to the community when the company started doing well. Managing Director Ashley Ong also believes in helping people, a value that is important to the company.

Liontrust supports charities focusing on children from disadvantaged backgrounds and with special needs. https://liontrust.com.sg/

Community Foundation of Singapore is a registered charity with Institution of Public Character status. For more information visit www.cf.org.sg.

Encore broadcast of the interview will be on Saturday 27 October 2018, 9–10pm.

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The competition was organised by City Harvest Community Services Association and received support from FUN! Fund, a Community Impact Fund jointly established by the Community Foundation of Singapore and the Agency for Integrated Care, with the aim of addressing social isolation among the elderly.

Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Communications and Information & Ministry of National Development Mr Tan Kiat How attended the event. He encouraged the elderly to stay physically and mentally well, as well as urging them to participate in community activities and enjoy their golden years together.

Learn more about FUN! Fund at https://www.cf.org.sg/fun-fund/.

 

The programme provides the children with a non-threatening platform to connect with peers and have positive conversations. In addition, it exposes them to different people who can assist to broaden their perspectives.

L.S., a volunteer with the Reading Odyssey programme @ Spooner Road

中心“常胜将军”胡锦盛:比赛限时反应要快

现年92岁的胡锦盛是最年长的参赛者。自2017年退休后,他几乎每天都到活跃乐龄中心报到,从此爱上了玩拉密,每次可玩上三个小时,在中心是“常胜将军”。

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LIFT (Learning Initiatives for Employment) Community Impact Fund – Training and increasing employability for marginalised groups

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a few people cooking

The Learning Initiatives for Employment (LIFT) Community Impact Fund (CIF) from the Community Foundation of Singapore (CFS) provides social enterprise funding to enable disadvantaged groups to obtain training in order to be more employable. 

The funding provided has allowed two social enterprises, the Bettr Barista Coffee Academy and Dignity Kitchen develop a more standardised training programme for their students, as well as expand the number of training places available to aid more disadvantaged groups to enter the workforce.

Both social enterprises were covered in the story, along with the experiences of a beneficiary that had benefited from the programme. It was reported that the two enterprises had provided training for 115 people from April 2020 to March 2021, and managed to get 73 people employed, out of the 91 that had completed the training. Amongst the 73 employed, 55 of them remained employed for more than three months, showing the success of the programme.

The first story covers the journey of Jiefan, an 18 years old who had dropped out of school a few years prior and was on probation due to violating the law. He went through 20 interviews in two months, yet was not hired due to his probation and surveillance sentence. After a recommendation from his social worker, Jiefan received training at the social enterprise Bettr Barista, where he not only learned how to brew coffee, but also to control his emotions and improve his communication skills.

The second story talks about the experience of Jerry Tan, 23 years old, who had suffered from a stroke four years ago back in his second year in Singapore Polytechnic. While he survived, the left side of his body was left stiff and weak, and his left arm still remains unresponsive up till today. In addition, with the vision in both of his eyes also affected, Jerry was disadvantaged physically. He underwent a one-month training course in Dignity Kitchen to complete a series of Workforce Skills Qualification (WSQ), following which he worked in a Japanese restaurant for about a year, before returning to Dignity Kitchen to serve as a cashier due to Covid-19. Jerry is now currently helping to train other colleagues with physical disabilities while he considers his future education and career.

The article also featured a quote from Joyce Teo, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of CFS, explaining how the disadvantaged people also needed some training to adapt to the workplace environment, as most of them had never gotten a chance to enter a formal workplace in society. She also spoke about how she hoped that the public could actively support and donate to the LIFT fund to help subsidise the training fees for the socially disadvantaged population, which could cost $5,000 per individual on average.

If you would like to support someone in their journey towards sustained employment opportunities, please visit our donation drive on Giving.sg here.

This translated article was originally published by Lianhe Zaobao 

Credit: Lianhe Zaobao © Singapore Press Holdings Limited. Permission required for reproduction.  

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ChannelNewsAsia: New film project to unearth stories about Singaporeans from the 1970s to the 1990s

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picture collage of 15 local filmmakers

15 films by 15 local filmmakers inspired by real-life stories of good from the ground. This homegrown project combining film and philanthropy is looking to crowdsource support through the Stories of Us Fund. The Community Foundation of Singapore is proud to manage the Stories of Us Fund with films curated by Daniel Yun and supported by the National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre (NVPC).  We can’t wait to see how these untold stories will unfold. Read more.

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联合早报: 领导基金会教师奖得主: 激发特需学生学习兴趣比成绩更重要

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a picture of two teachers holding The Leading Foundation Teacher Award

胡洁梅 18 October 2016

特别学校教师郭正才利用乐高让学生创作动画,也利用机器人等来提高学生的学习兴趣。对他而言,学生享受学习过程并从中激发他们的好奇心,这比学生的成品更为重要。

郭正才(33岁)在特别需求者协会东陵学校(APSN Tanglin School)任教,是今年领导基金会教师奖的得主之一。

领导基金会教师奖(The Leading Foundation Teacher Award)自前年起颁发,目的是肯定学前教育工作者、特别需求教师和教育协作人员(Allied Educator)在专业领域的卓越表现。

该基金会由新加坡政府投资公司集团总裁林祥源与女儿林华敏设立,基金会目的是支持教育与领袖培养项目,特别是肯定学前和特别教育工作者的贡献。林祥源曾在不同政府部门任要职,包括公务员首长、教育部常任秘书。

今年共有四人得奖,另三人是人民行动党社区基金会(PCF)Sparkletots学前教育中心教师帕敏吉(Parvinjit Kaur)和扎希拉(Zahirah Bte Surian),以及圣加俾尔中学教育协作员贾雅然(Jeyaram s/o Kadivan)。

郭正才踏入特别教育工作五年,对他而言,获奖是种肯定,但最大的成就感莫过于看到特需学生的才华获得他人赞赏。

他分享说,今年中带领几名学生到新加坡科技设计大学举办的“制汇节”(Maker Faire)参展,由学生介绍他们的三维打印作品。参观者在反馈单中反映对学生作品的欣赏,好些公众表示并没发觉他们是来自特别学校。

他说:“看到学生能够独立,在公众面前展现自信并获得肯定,我更加确信我的(职业)选择是正确的。”

特别需求者协会东陵学校的学生主要患有轻微智力障碍,郭正才是推动科技教学的其中一名教师。他认为,学生在制作机器人(robotics)等时能应用数学和科学概念,激发他们的思考能力和好奇心,学习也更有趣。

另一名得奖教师帕敏吉(36岁)曾是骨科矫形外科助理,因为喜欢与孩童互动,六年前到PCF Sparkletots学前教育中心(兀兰第677座)教书,边工作边进修学前教育课程。她间中也曾到AWWA的特别教育学校工作一年。

她说:“每当看到孩子的笑容,或听他们和我分享故事,我就觉得很欣慰。”

颁奖仪式由国立教育学院和新加坡社会基金会联办,新加坡社会基金会是管理领导基金会的非营利机构。评审来自国立教育学院、教育部和新加坡幼儿教师协会。今年的得奖教师可获得1350元现金和奖状。

Read more.

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Stories Of Impact

Retired doctor donates $1m to start new donor-advised fund

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two elderly climbing up stairs

Dr Chua, a retired doctor, 80, gave $1 million to start the Bamboo Lotus Fund with the Community Foundation of Singapore (CFS) in July after being inspired by another retiree’s donation of $1 million to start a charitable trust that he did the same thing. 

Describing himself as an “ordinary” general practitioner, and not a “highly paid medical specialist”, Dr Chua said: “I hope (my example) dispels the myth that only prominent individuals or corporate organisations can make significant donations. “To me, $1 million is a significant amount that will get others to notice and start to consider how much they can give too.”

Dr Chua, who has a daughter, said that helping others comes “naturally” to him and his family. Over the years, they have given “small contributions” to charity. But when he turned 80 this year and felt he may not “have many years left”, he decided to help in a more substantial way.

He plans to help disadvantaged women and families, and the arts and heritage through his new fund.

The retired doctor says bamboo, which signifies resilience, is his favourite plant, while lotus is one of the characters of his wife’s Chinese name. Thus, the Bamboo Lotus Fund was born.

It is one of 165 donor-advised funds under the Community Foundation. Donors pledge at least $200,000 to set up a fund. The foundation manages the money, advises donors on the needs in the community and disburses the funds according to their wishes.

CFS chief executive officer Catherine Loh said the number of donor-advised funds started to grow exponentially several years ago. At the start of 2018, there were 110 such funds. The biggest donors have given more than $20 million to set up their funds.

It took 10 years for the CFS to attract $100 million in donations for all the donor-advised funds set up by various individuals or companies. But it took just the past three years for that sum to hit $200 million, Ms Loh said.

The CFS was ranked third in a report on the 10 largest philanthropic foundations here.

Ms Loh said: “Through times of crisis like the pandemic, individuals have become more open and willing to give more sustainably to make their giving more meaningful.”

A growing awareness of the CFS’ track record has also attracted more donors to set up such funds.

They include successful professionals, retirees or individuals who are semi-retired, and companies.

They give to a wide range of causes, with mental health and the environment among those growing in interest, Ms Loh said.

Since its formation in 2008, the CFS has given out $122 million in grants to a variety of needs.

Dr Chua said: “I hope that this will inspire others in my profession or people of my age, to also donate their money before we pass on.”

To find out more about Legacy Giving, visit us at Legacy Giving or contact us here.

This article was originally published in The Straits Times here. Source: The Straits Times © Singapore Press Holdings Limited. Permission required for reproduction.

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