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Nee Soon community and welfare programmes
The Nee Soon community runs myriad programmes to build up community spirit and help the needy.
For example, animal-lovers flock to Nee Soon for the annual Pets Fiesta and Nee Soon Public Forum on Animal Protection Policies (formerly the Chong Pang Animal Welfare Forum) which have become national events. Here are some of our other signature programmes.
We have also worked with myriad organisations to bring useful, innovative social and welfare services to the Nee Soon community. For example, Vibrance@Yishun is the first centre to bring the four ethnic self-help groups- CDAC, SINDA, MENDAKI and ECF together. It will provide courses and activities for Singaporeans of all races.
Chong Pang
The Chong Pang community, led by Minister K Shanmugam, started the Nee Soon Football and Study Programme. It provides weekly mentorship, tuition and football training to needy young residents. Started with the support of Fandi Ahmad and other local football legends, the programme has touched the lives of many young residents in the past three years.
With the help of the Law Society, Chong Pang also organises a free legal clinic on the second and third Tuesdays of every month to provide some basic pro-bono legal advice. To support a national push towards emergency preparedness, Chong Pang also started monthly free first-aid and CPR+AED courses for residents.
Chong Pang helps needy residents in myriad ways, the newest of which is Food from the Heart, a weekly food distribution to needy residents started in Oct 2016.
In 2017, Chong Pang PAP branch also launched a series of activities, like offering free haircuts and health check-ups for needy residents and children, as well as, legal talks.
Nee Soon Central
While taking care of all residents, Nee Soon Central community volunteers, led by Assoc Prof Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim, has reached out to the Malay Nee Soon community.
Under Jumpa Mesra, community leaders, including Malays and those from other races, visit Malay households and organise gatherings for them. This way, Malay residents and community leaders get to know each other better.
Malay residents are also invited to intimate dialogues in Malay with Assoc Prof Faishal in the Sembang Bersama Prof Faishal programme.
Nee Soon South
Nee Soon South constituency is known for its monthly litter-picking programmes. Er. Dr. Lee Bee Wah recounts, “When I wanted to start this, no-one else in Singapore was doing it. People told me, ‘You’re crazy! What if the residents don’t turn up? You’ll be picking litter alone!’”
Nee Soon South residents shared her passion for cleanliness and the environment. Five years on, the litter-picking activities are still going strong. Every month, they add a new element to improve the environment like dog poo bag stations, water saving contests, designated smoking points, and so on. Nee Soon South has completed nearly 50 Designated Smoking Points, the only constituency in Singapore to do so. Read here for more health-related initiatives by the Nee Soon community.
To help needy residents, Nee Soon South gives out transport subsidies and tuition subsidies. Click here to read why Er. Dr. Lee Bee Wah believes that every child should have a chance at education. Nee Soon South has just started a community fridge at Blk 508B. Residents gladly put groceries in there to share with other residents, including those in rental flats.
Nee Soon South PAP branch maintains a mini job bank to help residents find jobs. Read here for more details.
Kebun Baru
Kebun Baru constituency, part of the Nee Soon community under MP Kwek Hian Chuan Henry, has pioneered a new approach to social work.
Rather than piecemeal help, they started Kebun Baru Cares, a ten-month-long intensive mentoring programme for low-income young families. They helped the families plan their finances and nutrition better, arrange quality childcare and tuition for their children, and find more sources of income. Many Kebun Baru Cares “graduates” have stabilised their lives and even become mentors to other needy families.
To reduce duplication and maximise impact, the Kebun Baru volunteers pair up with charities to give meals, household items and even health check-ups to needy residents. Kebun Baru has also started a free legal clinic.
Kebun Baru puts social work at the centre of its volunteer network. With this new approach, they have attracted many new volunteers with a heart for service. All new volunteers go on a “tour” around Kebun Baru with MP Kwek, so they understand the constituency better. Some volunteers are also building The Hope Collective, a platform where volunteers can take charge of their changemaking journey and connect with other changemakers.
Kebun Baru also seeks to engage residents more meaningfully, through longer house visits and small-scale activities like breakfast gatherings. They have started innovative sports and arts activities like live music at the hawker centre, creating art together, regular workouts for seniors and an Inter-Generational Sports Day.
Kebun Baru’s activities will get even more exciting in their new CC.
Nee Soon East
Nee Soon East MP Louis Ng believes in listening with the heart. He has revamped constituency activities to be more interactive, and holds monthly wide-ranging townhall dialogues with residents.
He is also known for experiencing different jobs, so that he can speak up for different communities. To date, he has been a cleaner, coffeeshop assistant, healthcare worker, private hire car driver and many more.
The Nee Soon community has started many programmes to help vulnerable sections of society, for example seniors living alone and children from lower-income families. Louis Ng wants to break the stigma children from lower-income families and rental flats face, and give them the confidence that they can do anything in life.
His PAP branch has revamped their décor to be more welcoming to residents.