Local banks ring in the Year of the Snake in style
DBS
In the spirit of Chinese New Year, DBS People of Purpose (the bank’s employee volunteerism movement) organised a range of activities to spread joy among seniors and vulnerable groups in Singapore.
They befriended and accompanied seniors from NTUC Health Active Ageing Centres on shopping trips to buy Chinese New Year goodies, and organised activities such as lohei and bingo for seniors from Allkin Singapore and Lions Befrienders.
About 365 volunteers were involved in the initiatives, which benefited some 1,160 seniors.
DBS Foundation also added a festive touch to its community pop-up markets by providing items such as mushrooms, chestnuts and mandarin oranges. First piloted in 2023, these markets provide low-income seniors and households with some relief by enabling them to choose up to S$100 worth of food and household essentials for free.
Separately, the bank hosted over 1,100 corporate and wealth clients at the Ritz-Carlton Millenia Singapore on Monday (Feb 10) and Feb 11 for a two-day Spring Festival celebration. The menu had a sustainable twist, featuring ingredients sourced from DBS Foundation-supported Edible Garden City (EGC), a social enterprise that enables food security and resilience through urban farming and food innovation.
OCBC
OCBC welcomed the Year of the Snake with some 1,000 SMEs from Singapore and the region on Feb 3 and 4 at The Singapore Edition.
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Some of the bank’s clients also contributed to the celebrations. Among them was Paper Carpenter, which conceptualised and sustainably produced the stage backdrop.
Separately, various giving-back activities were conducted throughout the month of January. The bank partnered Uniqlo and gave 30 beneficiaries from Minds up to S$100 each to shop for new clothes.
More than 20 staff volunteers acted as personal shoppers to the beneficiaries and taught them how to budget the money they received.
In preparation for the festive season, OCBC volunteers also spring cleaned 20 homes of seniors who live alone and are under the care of Care Corner Singapore. Two to three volunteers were assigned to each household, and the group spent close to 65 hours to help get the homes ready for Chinese New Year.
Each household also received an #OCBCCares hamper consisting of essential household and personal care items to ring in the new year.
UOB
UOB, together with about 1,200 business clients, raised more than S$2.6 million for charity. This initiative was also part of the bank’s annual Chinese New Year festive celebrations.
As part of the fundraising efforts, UOB auctioned two pieces of artwork. The winning bids were made by Low Kok Ann, CEO of Hafary, and Neo Kah Kiat, founder, chairman and CEO of Neo Group, who bid S$250,888 and S$238,000, respectively, at a fundraising gala dinner on Feb 6.
The funds, raised through a series of art workshops and the fundraising gala dinner with clients, will be donated to various charities to support the arts, children and educational causes.
These charities include The Business Times Budding Artists Fund, The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund, Central Singapore CDC, Lakeside Family Services and Ren Ci Hospital. The proceeds will also go towards assisting local enterprises in their innovation efforts under the UOB-Singapore Management University Asian Enterprise Institute.
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