When 54-year-old Madam Liang first noticed that her elderly neighbour had lost a lot of weight, she decided to pay her a house visit.
Despite living in the same Circuit Road block, the pair seldom interacted, but that did little to deter Madam Liang. To her shock, she found the elderly woman’s house rubbish-strewn, smelly and so cluttered that there was only a narrow space to walk through the house.
Speaking to Shin Min Daily News, Madam Liang said she was worried for her neighbour’s difficult circumstances, and wanted to help. So, since early July, she has accompanied the old lady to the food collection point below their block every morning, making sure that the latter manages to pick up her free meal for the day.
And she’s not the only one who’s stepping up to lend a hand. According to Madam Liang, another neighbour also occasionally buys food and leaves it at the old lady’s door.
Passers-by rush to aid of injured motorcyclist
After an accident that took place at the junction of Ghim Moh Link and Commonwealth Avenue West, a motorcyclist was injured and found lying on the road.
Concerned for his safety, passers-by rushed forward to help while waiting for the authorities to arrive. In a video uploaded by Facebook user Minghui Ming to the SG Road Vigilante Group, they were seen securing the accident site and clearing debris that had fallen onto the road.
Ming himself could be seen re-directing oncoming traffic, and even helping to retrieve the motorcyclist’s belongings that were strewn on the road. Together, the group tended to the injured motorcyclist until paramedics came onto the scene, in a great display of the kampung spirit.
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Help for the needy elderly in Macpherson
In their 60s and semi-retired, Madam Rosemary Lim Moh Tin and Mr Anthony Lim Thiam Poh could very well choose to take it easy and look forward to a comfortable retirement.
Instead, the married couple are throwing themselves into volunteer work, hoping to make a difference for the less fortunate in Singapore. As participants of the National Healthcare Group Neighbours’ Programme, the Lims help vulnerable elderly who require social and medical support.
Despite living in Pasir Ris, the couple actively volunteers in Macpherson, a mature estate with many low-income households. They had once lived there for a period of time, and their volunteering efforts in the community began in the 1970s. Through many house visits over the years, they have forged close bonds with the needy elderly living in the area.
Speaking to The New Paper, Madam Lim said: We do a lot of house visits so we can understand the profile of this place and its needs. We want to help out as much as we can, hoping we can do our small part to make life here a little bit better.”
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Singapore Red Cross volunteers make an impact
As a high-flyer at Hewlett Packard (Asia Pacific and Japan) and dedicated father of two, one may be surprised to learn that 53-year-old Dennis Mark is also an avid volunteer who has travelled to Myanmar as part of a medical response team.
Speaking to The New Paper, he recalled being sent to the site of a traffic accident on a highway there, saying: “I realised that when a local community has few resources, the Red Cross can make a difference.”
“While volunteering often involves long nights and work on weekends, it is an enjoyable journey.”
In July, Mark was one of 28 individuals who were recognised at the 5th Singapore Red Cross Awards for their dedication to humanitarian service. Encouragingly, the homegrown humanitarian organisation has seen the proportion of skills-based volunteers among its ranks more than double to 40 per cent, compared to two years ago.
This includes eight organisations which have partnered the Singapore Red Cross (SRC) to roll out corporate social responsibility initiatives that serve the community in a manner that aligns with their business interests. Surely, a win-win for both the corporate and charity sectors.
SRC secretary general and CEO Benjamin William observed: “We are seeing more people volunteer their professional skills or personal passions…. Channeling their skills and talents into volunteer work gives them an additional sense of purpose, and the impact on the lives of the people they serve is immense and manifold.”
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Honesty really is the best policy
July was a great month for honesty and integrity in Singapore, with a number of those who experienced the kindness of others coming forward to commend them.
First, Grab driver Lindy Sim lost her wallet at Geylang Serai and had no idea she had misplaced it until a young man named Farhad contacted her. As it turned out, Farhad had found the wallet and discovered a Toyota workshop receipt in it that he used to seek out her contact information. In a Facebook post, Sim thanked him and said: “Without his kindness by returning my wallet, all my important cards would have needed to be replaced.”
Writing in to The Straits Times, reader Jonathan Yap shared that he had accidentally left behind a watch at Leisure Park Kallang’s Koufu foodcourt while dining there. Rushing back an hour later, he was told that cleaner Madam Lim Yok had found the watch and passed it to a supervisor for safekeeping. Without her honest gesture, he would have lost an item that was not only expensive, but also one that held great sentimental value for him and his wife.
Drivers from Uber and Grab were also praised for returning a wallet and a winning lottery ticket respectively to their passengers, who wrote in to Lianhe Zaobao and Shin Min Daily to share about their good deeds.
Now who needs civics and moral education textbooks, when we have these real-life role models to look up to?