FOR Mr Tan Tai Ho, 53, helping out at the Singapore Buddhist Lodge has given him fresh purpose.

In exchange for the meals given out by the charitable organisation, he does menial duties.

Mr Tan, who lost his job as a dishwasher at a hawker centre six months ago, said: 'Here, no one thinks I'm too old to work. I can help carry things, sweep the floor, and get free food and coffee in return.'

For 20 years now, the institution at Kim Yam Road has kept to its tradition of dishing out four free vegetarian meals a day, through good times and bad.

Beneficiaries my paper spoke to include cleaners and foreigners who worked near the place.

Mr Nie Long, 26, a construction worker from China, said he eats there nearly every day as it helps him to save what little he earns.

'The environment is very peaceful, and that makes me happy,' he said in Mandarin.

Mr Khoo Toh Chai, 55, a cleaner, has been taking his lunch there five days a week for the last three years. 'It's free food, which helps me to save money,' he said. -- MYPAPER