You can make a difference too: Community heroes show that joining forces helps more S’poreans in need

It was a rainy, humid afternoon in March during the fasting month of Ramadan, but neither the downpour nor the lingering heat dampened Madam Sarimah Amat’s resolve.

At Block 749 in Yishun, the 58-year-old homemaker moved swiftly – directing volunteers as they unloaded groceries from a truck and prepared them for distribution under the void deck, overseeing the process down to the last detail.

A few essential items like bread and milk may not seem like much, but to the 120 beneficiary families, Madam Sarimah knows they make all the difference.

Once, she rang an elderly neighbour to inform her about an upcoming grocery distribution.

“She didn’t hang the phone up properly, and I overheard her husband sounding relieved as they had only $10 left in the bank,” she says. “You never know when help comes at the right time.”

That help, Madam Sarimah points out, is only possible because she does not work alone.

Alongside a team of 30 regular volunteers, she leans on the strength of a wider community of support – from neighbours and residents to local merchants and public agencies.

For instance, the March distribution event was made possible with support from the Yishun Central Merchant Association, which sponsored the groceries, and a Community Volunteer grant from the People’s Association, which helped fund the event.

It is just one example of how partnerships have enabled Madam Sarimah and her grassroots initiative,

Project Pencil

, to grow their impact.

At Nee Soon Central Community Club (CC), she runs the Champs programme, which offers free weekly tuition sessions for more than 50 children with the help of volunteers from Malay/Muslim self-help group Yayasan Mendaki. These were initially run under the void deck.

The CC also provides space for the programme’s silat training – a meaningful way that keeps children active and grounded outside school.

“If I didn’t have help from these agencies, I don’t think I could reach so many children,” she says. “My tuition classes would probably still be under the void deck, without proper desks or chairs for the children to use.”

Madam Sarimah has been delivering help for over a decade. It all began as a simple act of kindness when a friend approached her in 2014 to help collect pencils for 30 children living in a Thai orphanage.

This one-time donation soon grew into Project Pencil Singapore, a ground-up initiative providing stationery and learning materials to children in orphanages overseas.

It later evolved to incorporate Yishun Seventy One, a community initiative started by Yishun Street 71 residents to support their neighbours’ needs and social well-being.

Watch the video to find out how you can turn your concerns for the community into social good.

As a lifelong Yishun resident, Madam Sarimah understands the community’s needs, including for good role models who use what they have to help others.

“I was just the makcik at the void deck. For me, it started with sharing and giving to my neighbours, and then I just became ‘infected’ with kindness,” she laughs.

Youths building intergenerational relationships

Unlike Madam Sarimah, a homemaker, Ms P Keerthana balances full-time work as an educator with her community engagement.

Since 2021, the 30-year-old’s non-profit ground-up organisation

GenLab Collective

has been bridging generation gaps, particularly strengthening senior-youth connections.

Together with a core team of seven youths in their 20s and 30s, she designs and runs intergenerational programmes – from guided storytelling sessions to dialogue-based workshops – that create space for conversations, understanding and shared experiences.

“What we see through our programmes is that seniors are very interested in connecting with the youth, but they claim that young people usually don’t have time to talk to them,” she says.

To bridge that gap, GenLab works with organisations that help create opportunities for seniors and youths to come together despite their busy lives.

Since 2023, it has worked with 15 to 20 organisations to expand its reach – its earliest being NTUC Health through a storytelling initiative, GenNarrates, one of its core programmes.

Working with students from the Singapore University of Social Sciences, Ms Keerthana and her team engaged female seniors and youths in guided sessions.

Participants co-created written narratives based on the seniors’ life stories – preserving personal histories while helping young people practise empathy and communication skills.

Most recently, in March this year, the National Library Board (NLB) invited them to hold GenDate at the National Library Building.

GenDate connects people across different age groups for shared activities designed to spark meaningful conversations based on the workshop’s theme. At the NLB session, participants engaged in conversations about technology – how it connects, challenges and shapes their lives.

To build on this effort, GenLab has since collaborated with NLB to run a quarterly GenDate series, with the library providing venue space and marketing support.

Such partnerships will allow GenLab to scale up efforts and create more impactful conversations across age groups, Ms Keerthana says.

These programmes grew from GenLab’s very first initiative, GenChat Series, launched in March 2022.

The online event comprised three segments, and brought together 45 seniors and youths. They heard from expert speakers how different generations can better connect, and share skills and experiences with one another across different topics. The idea to spark such conversations had come from home.

Ms Keerthana was personally attuned to seniors’ needs, having seen the challenges her grandmother faced while living with dementia before her passing in 2020. The pandemic further highlighted to her the importance of helping older adults living alone age with dignity.

Inspired to take action, she participated in the National Youth Council’s Youth Action Challenge in 2021, where she pitched a concept to build an online skills marketplace for seniors. However, with feedback from seniors in the community, she realised many would need significant help to navigate digital platforms.

Watch the video to find out how you can turn your concerns for the community into social good.

At the same time, there was growing interest among community organisations to pilot innovative activities involving both youths and seniors. Together, these factors led her to change course and focus on intergenerational connections.

“From a youth’s perspective, we need to raise awareness among the younger generations of building strong relationships with our seniors,” says Ms Keerthana.

Encouraged by the positive responses and increasing demand for its programmes, the GenLab team is seeking more suitable partners to scale up its activities.

It is currently looking to collaborate with active ageing centres with the help of the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth.

Starting on a strong foundation

While Ms Keerthana’s GenLab Collective is still a nascent set-up,

Kampung Senang

is on the other end of the social organisation spectrum.

The brainchild of former banker Joyce Lye, Kampung Senang was registered as a society in 1999, and earned the Institution of a Public Character (IPC) status in 2004. Organisations with an IPC status are allowed by law to collect tax-deductible donations.

For the past 26 years, its programmes have benefited around 60,000 people, notes the 73-year-old.

Much of its impact is made possible through long-standing partnerships with other organisations, which have helped Kampung Senang pool resources and reach a broader base of volunteers.

For instance, it has been delivering courses for active seniors – under the National Silver Academy – since 2019.

In 2017, it partnered with the Agency for Integrated Care to train seniors in basic wheelchair repair. This enabled Kampung Senang to expand its Mobility Aids Services and Training Centre – first set up in Tampines in 2006 – with a second facility at Jurong East in 2020.

Today, staff and volunteers from various age groups at both centres repair various mobility aids for individuals who rely on them daily. The team also refurbishes old ones to donate to those in need.

Since its establishment, the charity has also received support from the town council to grow local vegetables and herbs. These are used to prepare free vegetarian meals for children and seniors under its care.

It also delivers fresh fruits and vegetables to its beneficiaries – including the underprivileged, the elderly and those with serious medical conditions.

The scale of its work today stands in contrast to its quiet beginnings.

Madam Lye left her banking job in 1999 to focus completely on community work. Together with 10 like-minded friends, she set up the first Kampung Senang centre – a modest senior activity space tucked under a block at Tampines Street 82.

At that time, organic urban farming and holistic health and wellness were still niche concepts. Setting up its first organic farm in 2000 proved to be a challenge.

“We had to go door-to-door to consult residents, securing more than 80 per cent support, before we appealed to and convinced the town council,” Madam Lye recalls the arduous process then.

Watch the video to find out how you can turn your concerns for the community into social good.

Today, Kampung Senang operates with a team of 49 staff, supported by a pool of around 300 active volunteers who help drive its various programmes.

“We now have three inclusive community gardens and four centres, with each centre running different activities, so we are very busy,” Madam Lye proudly shares.

Typical activities across the centres include creative sewing, meditation, and weekly fitness sessions, such as Nordic walking – a full-body exercise using specialised poles – and chair Zumba classes.

The charity also conducts workshops on plant-based nutrition, as well as classes on wellness kitchen management. The latter teaches participants how to read nutritional labels on food items, and prepare healthy meals at home using nutritious ingredients, select oils, and minimal sugar or additives.

It also runs at least four fundraising events each year, and these can range from charity concerts and gala dinners to yoga workshops.

“We are very grateful for the collaboration opportunities, and hope to continue working with partners to reach more seniors across the four communities we serve,” says Madam Lye.

As of January 2024, Kampung Senang transitioned to a company limited by guarantee, a move that allows it to operate with greater governance and efficiency while continuing its charitable work.

The formula for impactful community work is simple, according to the three changemakers: The impetus may come from one person, but it takes like-hearted teammates and partners to make it all work.

Although officially retired from the charity, Madam Lye remains involved.

“You ask me what my inspiration is? It’s teamwork. One can’t do it all,” she says. “I can come up with the idea, but it takes a team of volunteers and partners to put everything together.”

Madam Sarimah agrees: “If I were to do it alone, I can only do so much, but together, we can do more.”

In partnership with the Singapore Government Partnerships Office