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The Straits Times: Teen violinist with an astonishing maturity
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The Straits Times: Teen violinist with an astonishing maturity

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by Chang Tou Liang, 29 October 2016

“Fifty years ago, the classical music scene in Singapore was spearheaded by Goh Soon Tioe (1911-1982), violinist, pedagogue, conductor and all-round music entrepreneur.

His name lives on in the award created in his memory, given to exceptional young Singaporean string players and administered by his daughters Vivien and Sylvia, and the Community Foundation of Singapore.

The recipient of this year’s Goh Soon Tioe Centenary Award is teenager Mathea Goh Xinyi, a student of former child prodigy Lee Huei Min, whose 75-minute solo recital distinguished her as a major talent to watch in years to come. There was nothing student-like in her playing, only an astonishing maturity that has to be experienced to be believed.” Read more

Photos: Adrian Tee of Pixelmusica

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Stories Of Impact

Empowering Seniors to Age Well

By 2030, one in four Singaporeans will be 65 or older (Population in Brief, 2022), making Singapore a “super-aged” society. This significant demographic shift means that more people will be required to serve as caregivers, and demand  for community services and healthcare support will rise.  As our population ages, more emphasis is being placed on allowing seniors to age comfortably in their own homes and communities.

By 2030, one in four Singaporeans will be 65 or older (Population in Brief, 2022), making Singapore a “super-aged” society. This significant demographic shift means that more people will be required to serve as caregivers, and demand  for community services and healthcare support will rise.  As our population ages, more emphasis is being placed on allowing seniors to age comfortably in their own homes and communities.

At the Community Foundation of Singapore (CFS), we believe seniors should be able to age with dignity, while pursuing meaningful activities, and having access to personalised care. 

To this end, our donors support a range of programmes and activities designed to support seniors and their caregivers.

Caregiving Welfare Association – Home Personal Care

In 2017, the Caregiving Welfare Association (CWA) introduced its Home Personal Care service which aims to provide long-term support for frail seniors living alone, and elderly couples without children. This is to address the growing need for personalised care among the elderly, particularly those without immediate family support. 

Professional caregivers conduct comprehensive assessments of clients’ needs and assist with daily activities such as showering, housekeeping, and grocery shopping. They also engage clients in mind-stimulating activities, help with medication reminders, manage appointments, and offer respite care for primary caregivers.

One client, Madam Oh (not her real name), says the convenience and familiarity of receiving care at home has significantly reduced her stress and improved her mood.

Thanks to CWA's service, I can live more comfortably, confidently, and joyfully. Beyond the invaluable assistance, it's the warmth of companionship that truly touches my heart.

A caregiver from Caregiving Welfare Association taking care of a client during a home visit

St Joseph’s Home – Dusk to Dawn Night Respite Programme

St Joseph’s Home offers several programmes, including their Dusk to Dawn Night Respite Programme. This allows families caring for an elder with conditions like dementia or sundowning syndrome to have some night respite. Clients can use the service a few nights a week or on an ad-hoc basis. The facility prioritises clients’ well-being by providing a restful environment and keeps them engaged and entertained.

St Joseph’s Home Dusk to Dawn Facility is designed to look like a typical home.

Yong-en Care Centre – Home Care Service

To support seniors with limited mobility and chronic health conditions as they recover at home following a hospital discharge, the nurses and support staff at Yong-en Care Center’s Home Care Service closely monitor patients’ health, administer medications and medical procedures, and provide virtual support to patients and caregivers through tele-consultations. In addition to addressing medical needs, the staff also assist clients in navigating support systems to apply for necessary funding and subsidies, and coordinates with social service professionals from Yong-en or external agencies should follow-up be needed. A beneficiary of the Home Care Service shared the following thoughts: “When people ask about Yong-en, I would always tell them that the staff are great and really have the heart for seniors like me.”

Yong-en Care Centre’s professional nurses ensure that patients get the medical assistance

Thanks to programmes like these, seniors in Singapore can receive quality care, empowering them to age in place with peace of mind. Another community-focused effort launched by CFS in partnership with the Agency for Integrated Care (AIC) is the FUN! Fund. The FUN! fund supports initiatives that inject fun for seniors receiving Community Care services, helping them design novel and impactful programmes that boost the well-being of older adults. You can read more about the fund here

To learn more about the causes we support and how to contribute, visit https://cf.org.sg/charities/causes-beneficiaries-we-support/

 

References

Population in brief 2022 (2022) The Strategy Group in the Prime Minister’s Office. Available at: https://www.strategygroup.gov.sg/files/media-centre/publications/population-in-brief-2022.pdf

News

The Community Foundation of Singapore: Philanthropy, legacy giving; doing good and how to get involved

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An older couple smiling while posing for a photo, holding a flower in their hands, radiating love and happiness.

Through legacy giving, making a profound lasting change to people’s lives might be easier than you think

Dr Lim Boon Tiong had a long and distinguished career as a doctor, and it shaped his interest in helping the elderly and those suffering from urological conditions. So devoted was he to his causes that he set aside S$24m along with a list of charities he wanted to help. And when Dr Lim passed on, his daughters Sylvia and Ivy Lim had to execute his will.

“Initially, we had many questions when we saw our father’s will. The Community Foundation of Singapore (CFS) has put everything into a nutshell for us, so we are well-informed to make the right decisions,” said Ivy.

In 2018, the sisters set up the Dr Lim Boon Tiong Foundation, a donor-advised fund with CFS. It supports projects such as the Dr Joseph Lim Boon Tiong Urology Cancer Research Initiative at the National University of Singapore (NUH), which funds experimental research to help improve patient healthcare standards and treatment in urological cancer. Other beneficiaries of the initiative include Catholic Welfare Services (CWS), which runs three nursing homes, and Assisi Hospice, which provides inpatient and palliative care.

The gift to set up the donor advised fund is an example of legacy giving, a concept that is slowly gaining traction around the world. In 2018, charities in the United States received almost US$40 billion (S$54.7 billion) in legacy gifts. Likewise, in Singapore, CFS has managed S$67 million worth of legacy gifts to date. Planned giving is not limited to a simple donation of cash. It is a process where donors can make a more informed choice with their contributions, which can take many shapes or forms, including insurance payouts, CPF monies, marketable securities or real estate. One does not have to be a billionaire to make a lasting difference to the causes you hold dear to your heart.

As we grow more astute financially, we become more attuned to the importance of estate planning. The Wills Registry in Singapore registered 3,911 wills last year compared to 3,535 five years ago. Or perhaps, the prospect of an uncertain future and its consequences heightens our collective awareness of this need: earlier in the year before COVID-19 forced the country into shutdown, there was a marked increase in wills registered.

As part of a drive to raise awareness for legacy giving, CFS actively reaches out to professional advisors in the hope that they can appreciate the value of planned gifts and relay this passion to their clients. Advisors will also be better equipped to help clients who are already looking to give – options can be in the form of a donor-advised fund or a direct donation to support the needs of the community. Your advisors’ services will be critical, especially for pledges of complex assets.

To make the process more meaningful, it is good practice to speak directly with charities about the ways legacy gifts can support their work. Likewise, CFS is not the only option you have when considering which approach to take, and you should do your due diligence to find out what works best for you.

But if you decide to work with CFS, you are good hands indeed: founded in 2008 to encourage and enable philanthropy in Singapore and has to date, CFS has raised over S$185 million in donations. It currently manages over 150 charitable funds and works with more than 400 charity partners. CFS does not lean towards a particular cause, so they enable grantmaking across a wide range of organisations from those helping children, seniors or marginalised individuals to education, arts and even animal welfare.

As they are always working to identify gaps and opportunities within the community, the organisation is well-placed to help donors find suitable matches for their interests and maximise the use of their donations. CFS looks to do more with your giving; fostering a culture of effective giving and raising effectiveness through rigorous evaluation of the programmes. Planning your legacy gift now also ensures that your causes can receive donations in whatever manner you see fit, be it in the form of a perpetual endowment, or expendable gifts (i.e. a donated sum that can be spent down). Both are equally valuable.

If this is something that resonates strongly with you, perhaps now is the time to take the first step. Make a legacy gift for the greater good, and see how you can change lives with an act of kindness.

Source: Robb Report Singapore

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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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Events

Colabs launches Seniors series to tackle the question ‘How can our seniors live more happily in the community?’

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A gathering of individuals seated at tables within a room, engaged in conversation and activities.

In October 2018, 55 representatives from the government, corporate and non-profit sectors together with a group of senior citizens, gathered to deliberate the answers to one question: How can our seniors live more happily in the community? 

For everyone in the room, the inaugural session of Seniors Colabs marked the start of a new collaborative journey, with participants expected to meet regularly over a six-month period to share knowledge, build insights and find practical ways to help seniors age well. As the third and final run of a three-part Colabs series, Seniors Colabs brings people with a common desire to tackle issues around growing old in Singapore.

The Lien Foundation kicked off the session with an overview of the senior care landscape. Research showed that while Singaporeans were ageing from a position of strength in terms of health and financial outcomes, higher life expectancies and declining fertility rates will mean fewer caregivers for a fast-ageing population. Given this, families will have to increasingly depend on the community for support and care in the long run.

Moving away from the broader perspective, participants at the second session in November took a human-centered approach to understand the needs of the elderly. Insights were shared by the National Council of Social Services’ “Understanding the Quality of Life for Seniors” – a study that surveyed over 1,000 seniors living in Singapore on their perceived well-being.

Results showed that in line with global trends, seniors in Singapore have a significantly lower quality of life compared with the general population. The elderly in Singapore were most keen to see improvements in their physical and psychological well-being; as well as an increase in their level of independence.

During discussions that followed, Colabs participants acknowledged that seniors in Singapore are a diverse group. Thus, having the right mindsets and assumptions determined whether services would be relevant. Most participants took a practical stance and spoke about issues around social support, caregiving, healthcare, finance and mobility. “Empathy alone does not pay the bills,” summed up a Colabs participant from a non-profit organisation.

Invigorated by passionate conversations, the Seniors Colabs community closed the year by taking the opportunity to establish connections with like-minded people across sectors.

Colabs is a philanthropic initiative by the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre and the Community Foundation of Singapore. It drives collaboration by bringing together the public, private and social sectors to tackle complex social issues. It enables philanthropists, businesses, non-profits and sector experts to collectively build insights and co-create solutions for lasting change.

The next session of Seniors Colabs will take place in January 2019. If you’re interested in Colabs, visit here or write to colabs@cf.org.sg.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipiscing elit dolor

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”。

Picture of admin bluecube
admin bluecube

Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book.

News

Celebrating 15 Years of Impact: CFS Annual Report 2024

We are pleased to share our 2024 Annual Report, celebrating The Community Foundation of Singapore’s 15th anniversary. This year’s report outlines our progress over the years, and reinforces our firm commitment to being the community foundation focused on uplifting and supporting communities across Singapore.

We are pleased to share our 2024 Annual Report, celebrating The Community Foundation of Singapore’s 15th anniversary. This year’s report outlines our progress over the years, and reinforces our firm commitment to being the community foundation focused on uplifting and supporting communities across Singapore.

A Year of Exceptional Grantmaking

FY2023 was a year of growth, particularly in the areas of grantmaking and capability building. We distributed $22.5 million to 240 grantees, a 32% rise from the previous year, and enhanced our human resources to address growing industry demands.

Key Highlights for FY2023:

  • Surpassed $300 million in total donations, thanks to our generous donors 
  • Awarded the Charity Transparency Award and the Friends of Community Care Award
  • Launched The Collective for a Stronger Society to support social mobility for lower-income families
  • Significant tech upgrades to our CRM system, website, and new donor portal

Looking Ahead

The Community Foundation of Singapore remains steadfast in our dedication to inspiring philanthropy and cultivating cohesive and compassionate communities. Check out our 2024 Annual Report to learn more about our collaboration with donors and the community.

Contact us to be part of our mission. Together, we can create a brighter future for all.

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