What’s on the menu for vulnerable families this Christmas?

SINGAPORE – Fairy lights have been strung up, wreaths affixed to the walls and trees draped with gleaming baubles. The signs are clear: Christmas has come to Bukit Merah. 

There is more than a week to go before the actual day, but My Saviour’s Church in Alexandra has made a head start, hosting some 140 people for a festive dinner on Dec 13. 

The difference between this and most other holiday gatherings? Most of its attendees have never met before.

This was a deliberate choice by the organisers, who invited only low-income families and seniors living alone or with roommates in nearby rental flats for their inaugural Christmas dinner.

It is one of the ways charity organisations are helping to light up the faces of those in need during this period, with others organising a carnival and putting a festive touch on meal deliveries.     

Reverend Charles Tewer, 45, senior pastor at My Saviour’s Church, says: “We’re doing this dinner because we understand that Christmas can be good and bad for various people.”

It is a day of love and joy for some, but reminds others of how lonely they are, he adds.

“We thought this dinner would be a good time for the people we normally don’t interact with to come and meet.” 

He hopes this births a community the seniors can rely on for support and companionship. 

Guests were ferried to the church by Henderson Community Club and ushered to tables arranged Chinese banquet-style. As Christmas carols wafted across the hall, they made a beeline for the buffet of local delights, served by Rev Tewer and other volunteers. 

One diner, Madam Doh Dong Kiok, was especially fond of the curry chicken and mee goreng. 

The 78-year-old has lived alone in her Bukit Merah flat since her husband died in 2022. She tells The Straits Times that going out and mingling like this makes her feel less lonely. 

“It’s a chance for us to make new friends too,” she adds.  

Christmas carnival

New friendships were being forged at Woodlands too, where a more frenzied type of holiday revelry was unfolding at Care Corner’s Christmas Family Carnival at Woods Square on Dec 9.

Put together for the first time with the help of Far East Organization and five churches, the event hosted invitees from more than 80 low-income families, many of them with children in tow. 

There were carnival staples like cotton candy and ice cream, as well as bento sets from fried chicken chain Chic-A-Boo. Those looking for healthier options dug into spaghetti with chicken chop and corn, or rice with fish fillet, eggs and stir-fried vegetables. 

Kindergarten teacher Huang Bi Qin, 42, watched indulgently as her two children flocked to a perennial favourite – the Happy Meal from McDonald’s. 

“I don’t always have time to take them out, so my children don’t always have the chance to eat at McDonald’s,” she says.

One of the organisers, Mr Ian Peterson, 50, director of Care Corner’s family and community services, hopes participants had the chance to savour more than just the food. 

“At the heart of our Christmas celebration is the belief that it’s not just about the food on the table, but also the cherished moments created together as a family,” he says.

“Because when you recall a meal, it’s not just the taste that lingers. It is the warmth of shared moments that truly makes an occasion unforgettable.”

There were also magic performances and aerial light shows, as well as carnival games and a gift-giving segment, which allowed parents to give their children a present from their wish list, sponsored by the organisers.

For housewife Nadirah Sudin and her six children, this was a welcome reprieve from the monotony of staying at home. 

“My children are always asking if we can go out. They are on social media, so they tell me things like, ‘Mama, my friends are in Hong Kong or Australia.’ Maybe next time I can take them overseas, but not now, because it’s too expensive,” says the 35-year-old single mum.

So this was the next best thing. She gestured at her brood, wandering wide-eyed about the stalls, arms full of prizes. “I can see from their faces that they’re very happy.” 

Memories of home

While some long for a break away from home, others yearn to return home.

For Ms Janelyn Dupingay, 33, who has worked here as a domestic helper for the past eight years, Christmas is a particularly important occasion, as she is Roman Catholic.

With homesickness cutting especially deep this time of year, she usually calls her family in Diadi, the Philippines, on Christmas Day. But most of all, the single mother-of-one craves physical companionship during this season as her employer does not celebrate it. 

The natural solution, she realised, was to celebrate with others – an echo of the large family gatherings she would attend back home.

So Ms Dupingay – who published a poetry collection, Language Of My Heart, in 2022 – called up her friends from the community group Migrant Writers of Singapore and threw a party at Sing Lit Station in Jalan Besar on Dec 10.

“We usually meet for art or writing-related activities, but this time, we thought of meeting just for fun to close the year with positive vibes,” she says.  

For a taste of home, she prepared a couple of Filipino dishes, such as pinakbet – vegetables fried with fish sauce. Other guests contributed familiar favourites too – biko (sugary, sticky rice cakes), puto (steamed buns) and ginisang munggo (savoury mung bean soup).

Ms Dupingay says this group of 15, which meets almost every Sunday to attend workshops and book fairs, has shared more than just food. Over the years, they have swopped stories and ideas and supported one another too. 

“Last night, I was crying because I watched a video and remembered my father. The next time I go home, it will be the first year that I won’t see him anymore because he passed away in 2019,” says the second-youngest child of two farmers. Her father died from health complications.

Her home visit is still half a year away. In the meantime, she is grateful for the friends she has found here.  

“I feel like this community is a family for me,” she says. “They open themselves up to me, which is very important, because in this country, it’s not often you find people who can share your joy and sadness.”

Home delivery

However, not everyone is able to head out to join in the festivities. 

At a rental block in Pipit Road in MacPherson, 12 seniors live alone or with a roommate under the care of Thye Hua Kwan Moral Charities (THKMC).

With many of them too frail to step out of their flats, the charity has been delivering lunch and dinner to them every day through a Meals-on-Wheels programme since 1999.

This usually consists of rice, a protein like chicken or fish, and vegetables. But this December, THKMC is adding some festive flourishes for the first time.

Beneficiaries will get roast turkey breast with cauliflower and broccoli on Christmas Day. Come New Year, they can look forward to teriyaki salmon with potato wedges. 

“We wanted to offer the seniors a more diverse selection of dishes,” says Ms Eloise Tay, 25, a senior social work associate at THKMC. “This is our way of involving them in the Christmas celebrations, since not all of them receive visits from family members.” 

Madam Foo Moey Eng, 84, is one of the lucky few who spends the holidays with family. She is not married and has no children, so her cousins take her to their place for a meal. This year, however, her plans hang in the balance. 

“I don’t know if they are celebrating with me or going to their in-laws’ place. Of late, their work takes them out of the country quite a bit, so they are not in Singapore often,” she says.

She is looking forward to receiving the special treats this Christmas. It is not quite the roast duck and Hokkien mee her family would whip up when she was a child, but all the same, it is wonderful, she proclaims, beaming.