CLUTCHING a bag packed with groceries such as rice and canned food, bellhop Mohamad Misnon Kamok gives the thumbs up to the care package.

The food helps stretch the dollar for the 49-year-old who helps support his elderly mother and two siblings.

'It's the first time I've applied for any kind of aid. Times are bad.

'I have a job but this package helps me save a little each month that I don't have to spend on groceries,' said Mr Mohamad Misnon, who earns about $1,000 a month.

His family is among 110 Jalan Kayu households to receive the monthly food aid from a new scheme for the ward's needy.

Called Heart Strings, it was launched on Sunday by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong for households with a per capita income of less than $450 a month.

He said the added layer of recession help will further bolster the various government aid programmes.

'We need to do it at different levels - in our constituencies, in our communities and in our families.'

The Heart Strings project, he added, 'is a good way to bring the community together... to give help to families and to encourage them to look after themselves and their family members and not just depend on what they can get from the Government'.

Mr Lee, who heads the six-MP team in Ang Mo Kio GRC that includes Jalan Kayu, was speaking at the ward's annual Family Day.

Read the full report in Monday's edition of The Straits Times.