Minister Lawrence Wong, then Minister for Education (second from right) with (from left) Mr Mohamed Wahed Sawpi, Chairman of Limbang Community Centre Malay Activity Executive Committee, and Mr S. Gulam, Chairman of the Singapore Statutory Boards Employees' Co-operative on April 24, 2021

On 24 and 25 April, 550 low-income households in Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC received food hampers comprising essential items such as rice, oil, biscuits, and sugar to mark Ramadan and Hari Raya this year.

Advisers to Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC, Mr Lawrence Wong, then Minister for Education; Mr Zaqy Mohamad, Senior Minister of State for the Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Manpower; Mr Alex Yam, Mayor of North West District and Ms Hany Soh, Member of Parliament, joined about 20 volunteers comprising the Committee of Management and staff of SSBEC, SNCF staff and the Residents’ Committees over the two-day event.

This event is SSBEC’s second initiative to deliver food essentials to low-income households in 2021. It kicked off in February this year when SSBEC gave out food items and red packets to 170 households in Jalan Kukoh, an estate made up mostly of rental units, for Chinese New Year.

Touching on the initiative, SSBEC Chairman Mr S. Gulam said: “It is in our co-operative DNA to do well and do good. Beyond serving our members’ needs, we also give back to the community at large in various ways. During this difficult time with the pandemic still ongoing, we hope this initiative will bring more cheer to residents for the festive period.”

To support the community amidst the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, SSBEC and other co-operatives have been coming together in various ways. NTUC LearningHub Co-operative has been offering training support and free online courses, Runninghour Co-operative took their Zumba and running sessions online for people with special needs, while TCC Credit Co-operative delivered food essentials and interacted with residents of Kim Tian Place in December last year. SSBEC also worked with GP+ Co-operative to donate masks to migrant workers.

Underscoring the social role of co-operatives, SNCF Chief Executive Officer Mr Ang Hin Kee said: “Co-operatives are driven by a strong social mission to improve lives, not just affecting their members but also other communities in Singapore. I am truly heartened to see our co-operatives such as SSBEC embody the co-operative principles of mutual assistance and care for the community so that we can be more caring, more cohesive, and more inclusive as a society.”