Making Singapore a better place for all

Singapore

NATIONAL Day is that time of the year where people and companies come together to do good for the nation.

The Fullerton Heritage has been celebrating the nation's birthday with underprivileged children at the One Fullerton rooftop.

This year, they are working with Singapore's classic car enthusiasts' community and the Tanjong Pagar-Tiong Bahru Citizens' Consultative Committee (CCC)'s Social Programme Committee to give 45 children and families from underprivileged backgrounds in the Spooner precinct a special National Day experience.

The children and their families will be chauffered to The Fullerton Hotel Singapore in 15 classic cars.

Cavaliere Giovanni Viterale, general manager of The Fullerton Hotels and Resorts, said: "As custodians of Singapore's heritage, it is our honour to be part of the National Day celebrations. As a company, it is our way of giving back to the community. Year on year, we work on National Day initiatives that let our guests and the public celebrate this special occasion in memorable ways."

Also playing its part is Golden Sunland whose employees are rice growers (see amendment note), or as Peng Jingkai, its chief financial officer, likes to describe it, "seed to farm to table".

Founded in 2016, its brown rice started to hit the shelves in mid-year.

Mr Peng said: "Whilst we are not in time to sponsor items in the goodie bags, we are giving our rice out to this year's NDP sponsors as an appreciation for their contribution. Separately, our brown rice was also given out as gifts to foreign dignitaries attending this year's Asean Sectoral Work on Crops summit."

He added that the company is constantly striving to better itself and put Singapore on the map.

"Through years of research, we have developed our proprietary non-GMO rice seeds which doubles our farmers' paddy yield," he said.

For Marc Goh, chief executive officer and founder of digital marketing agency Design Prodigy, his journey of giving started when he was on the Company of Good Fellowship Programme organised by the National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre (NVPC).

At the Enabling Village, one of Singapore's latest integrated community spaces, as part of the programme, he met the Speaker of Parliament, Tan Chuan-Jin.

Over dinner, where they were seated next to each other, Mr Goh and Mr Tan reminisced about their shared experience during National Day Parade (NDP) 2009, under the latter's leadership.

Mr Goh said: "I then had this light bulb moment. Imagine NVPC's network of givers, both big and small, coming together to bring the National Day spirit right into the heart of heartlands. Conversely, imagine the platform the NDP can provide to help spotlight causes."

He added: "It was honestly a pretty audacious idea and I was not even sure if this could qualify as an action project for the Company of Good."

But, the idea bore fruit, and "18 Days of Giving" was created with the aim of getting more Singaporeans to volunteer. More than 200 activities were held over the course of 18 days, between July 14 and Aug 26 last year.

Mr Goh was a consultant on the NDP outreach committee for both 2018 and 2019.

This year, Design Prodigy came up with the "A Little More" campaign, to encourage active giving and caring towards those in need, in particular, vulnerable and disadvantaged members of society.

The programme will see corporate companies, public agencies, and community groups pledging their support for the SG Cares movement and organising activities, such as volunteer events and fundraisers, to give back to the society in July and August 2019. These include bringing the joy of National Day celebrations to elderly residents at more than 20 nursing homes and community hospitals, contributing to a community mural alongside artists with special needs, and the Inclusive Sports Festival.

Both initiatives did not have specific goals as the committee did not want companies to see it as an obligation.

With a shared goal of wanting to make Singapore a better place for all, these companies, big and small, are taking steps to make the country an ideal place to live, work, and play.