Lakeside-News - Lakeside Family Services

Lakeside-News
Feb 2014
Contents
p1. Starting Anew
p2. Far East Organization Brings Holiday Cheer to
Low Income Families
p3. Paint For The Better
p4. Shell Shares Lean Tips With Lakeside Family Services
p5. AmCham Hosts Lakeside Families At The Science Centre
Singapore As Part Of Corporate Community Day Initiative
p6. Breaking Away And Starting Anew
“Because of the LORD’s great love we are
not consumed, for His compassions never
fail. They are new every morning; great is
your faithfulness.”
~ Lamentations 3:22-23
From the desk of the executive director
Starting Anew
N
ew beginnings are always exciting and give a sense of hope. After
winter, the early signs of spring bring joy - ice melting into gentle
streams, birds chirping and singing to welcome a new season. Spring
is the time when plants begin to sprout and bloom’ and hibernating
animals, hidden away in their dens during the long winter, now
reappear, lumbering around happily and foraging for food.
After a time of tragedy
and sorrow, the heart finds comfort and repair
through the support of family, friends, and a caring
community. We see many examples around us- An ex-offender
So it is with the human heart.
who has been released from prison, having a second chance at life;
a person after the loss of a spouse through divorce or death, finding
new friendships and support.
Each of us is given a choice in how we use the
“second chances” given to us. We can squander them by
continuing to be bitter, going back to harmful behaviour and lifestyles.
Or, we can make the best of the opportunity to start afresh- to make
amends, to change bad habits, to forgive, to reconcile; to learn a
better way to live; to let go and move on. The
choice is ours.
At Lakeside Family Services, our focus is on helping others to start
anew by making the right choices. We help hurting people find hope
and forgiveness for themselves and others; we help homeless families
rebuild their lives, find work, place their children back in school, and
eventually, find a permanent home. We teach disadvantaged children
Lakeside Family Services:
Office Hours: 9.00am to 5.30pm (Monday to Friday)
Website: www.lakeside.org.sg
Jurong West Centre
Blk 516, Jurong West St 52,
#01-73, Singapore 640516
Tel: 6567-1908 Fax: 6565-6435
Email: [email protected]
that their worth is inestimable, and their potential limitless. We
teach them to read, to play a musical instrument, to be dignified,
disciplined, self-controlled. And when they are ready, we teach them
to serve. We impart to youths-at-risk respect and empathy. We help
them realise that life is not about gangs, fights, and oppression, but
about love, care and service. We give ex-offenders hope, acceptance
and support, and help their families to accept and receive them back
after their release.
In this issue of eNews, you will read about the various new things that
have been happening at Lakeside, including - A new coat of paint for
the BASC by Shell Jurong Island; a new approach to energy saving
with Lean coach Blu; a new corporate partner with AmCham at the
Corporate Community Day; a new life for a former gang member, 17
year old Ben (not his real name); a new experience for many who were
blessed at the “staycation” last December, by Far East Organisation. I
hope you will enjoy reading all about these “new” things.
Lakeside’s mission is to change lives and transform communities in
Jurong and beyond, giving individuals and families the help and hope
they need to start anew. Thank you for your kind support in making
this a reality.
Wishing you a Happy Lunar New Year and Blessings for 2014!
God bless
Teo Tee Loon
Executive Director
Taman Jurong Centre Jurong East Centre
21 Yung Ho Road, #03-01
The Agape, Singapore 618593
Tel: 6265-6522
Fax: 6265-6523
Email: [email protected]
Blk 302, Jurong East St 32,
#01-22, Singapore 600302
Tel: 6564-9722
Fax: 6564-9422
Email: [email protected]
BASC Jurong West
BASC Jurong East,
Blk 514 Jurong West St 52
Blk 302 Jurong East St 32
#01-18, Singapore 640514
#01-22, Singapore 600302
Tel: 6567-7270 Fax: 6896-0516 Tel: 6564-9677 Fax: 6564-9876
Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected]
BASC Hours: 7am – 7pm (Mon-Fri), 7:30am – 1:30pm (Sat)
Lakeside-News
February 2014
Far East Organization Brings
Holiday Cheer To Low Income Families
L
akeside Family Services, with the kind sponsorship and support of Far East
Organization, held another Staycation this year for low income families in our
Families-in-Progress (FiP) programme. Held from 7 – 8 Dec 2013 at the scenic Village
Hotel Changi, 162 beneficiaries enjoyed a rare time of family bonding away from
the hustle and bustle of the city. Far East Organization sponsored 70 hotel rooms
for the families.
Trying to figure out the challenging
puzzles together as a family
On the first day, the families had fun playing “Team Excellence” activities organised
Family members young
and old had fun playing games and working together on
challenging obstacles with participants from other families,
both indoors and outdoors. Far East Organization’s staff volunteers (some
by ten Trainers from Camp Challenge Sembawang.
of them volunteering together with their own family members!), were teamed up
with the groups. They were actively participating as well as assisting their teams to
complete the challenging obstacles.
In the evening, sessions on how to improve family relationships were conducted in
an interactive and engaging manner. Anakku Sayang Forum Theatre conducted the
Malay-speaking session, while Expedition Agape conducted the Mandarin-speaking
session.
When asked what is the one thing they are thankful
for, Anton (not his real name), aged 7, said without
Indeed, we are
very grateful to the Far East volunteers
for making this 2-day Staycation so
memorable and enjoyable! They helped
facilitate the discussions, engaged in
meaningful interactions with the families,
and helped make the families’ stay very
comfortable.
hesitation: “The volunteers!”
Far East staff volunteers interacting with the families
“Thank you, Lakeside Family Services, for the
opportunity to work closely with the families. It
was heart warming to see families from different
walks of life come together and bond over
activities such as Camp Challenge. I got to bond
with families I wouldn’t have had the opportunity
to otherwise. A real eye-opener and humbling
experience.” Muneera Shah, 29, FEO Volunteer
“Thank you, Far East Organization and Lakeside,
for organising this wonderful and pleasant event
for families to bond together. Many families
like ours don’t ever have a chance to go on a
holiday, and this staycation at a hotel actually
feels like a holiday overseas! It was so enjoyable!”
Mdm T, aged 20
Diana Low
Counsellor
Group Photo
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Lakeside-News
February 2014
Paint For The Better
Shell Jurong Island staff painted the walls of Jurong West
Before and After School Care on 12 October 2013.
P
eeling paint. Water leakage. These are the problems the Jurong
West Before and After School Care Centre faced. Alerted to the
problem by Lakeside Family Services, which manages the centre, staff
from Shell Jurong Island (SJI) sprang into action.
“Painting the centre’s walls was something the team could help out
with,” said Tan Guowei, a Shell staff. “We have the expertise and
could work with our contractors for equipment and support.”
The team got in touch with Bobby Tan, the site manager for New
West Coast, an SJI contractor. He was keen to support the effort and
fully sponsored the paint and the right tools for the job. New West
Coast even delivered the equipment directly to the centre.
On 12 October 2013, seven SJI volunteers assembled at Block 514
Jurong West, ready for action. Some started scraping the walls, while
others taped up the edges of the wall for a clean finish. Within a few
hours, the job was done!
While working, the team also had the chance to interact with
some of the children who are cared for by the centre. One curious
onlooker even decided to help out after learning how to use the
“It was a morning filled with fun and a
perfect opportunity for the Shell volunteers to bond
with the children and other volunteers,” said Huang
Qiyuan, another Shell volunteer.
paint rollers.
A child from the centre lending
a helping hand
Centre Head Violet Sim was happy with Shell’s contribution and
thanked the volunteers for helping to improve the centre environment.
The Jurong West Before and After School Care Centre provides
holistic care and learning opportunities for children, especially those
from single-parent and low income families.
Ca-Mie De Souza
Manufacturing Communications and Social Performance Manager
Shell Companies in Singapore
Shell volunteers hard at work
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Lakeside-News
February 2014
Shell Shares Lean Tips With
Lakeside Family Services
F
or Shell, Lean and Continuous Improvement (CI) are important topics that drive
standardisation and optimisation and improve its way of working. As a partner of
Lakeside Family Services (LFS), Shell Jurong Island (SJI) held a session to introduce to LFS
staff the Lean tools used in Shell.
On 22 October 2013, at LFS’s Taman Jurong office, SJI Lean Coach Rozainie Dimyati
(Blu) facilitated a cosy session with seven LFS staff, who are currently working on a
project to save energy and water. This project was chosen as it is a topic that all staff
can relate to, and is easy to define and measure.
With his many years of experience as a Lean coach, Blu was able to offer insights
on useful tools. For example, he recommended that they could use visual aids, such as
charts tracking electricity consumption data in recent months. This should then be placed
beside the air-conditioner control panel, for instance, since air-conditioning constitutes
a large component of the energy bill.
Blu also encouraged the LFS staff that good
communication is key, because
as change agents, they would likely face resistance from their
colleagues. Lastly, he shared that they should tap on their management as an
important communication agent to drive the message of energy and water savings to
the rest of the organization.
Feedback from the LFS staff was very positive and
they welcomed these Lean tools to help them
improve processes. “The Analysis and Proposal
parts are very useful,” said LFS staff Philip Chia. “It
helps the team to analyse the problem and to come
out with a proposal in a systematic way. It enables
lively discussion.”
On another Lean tip that he found useful,
“The formation of teams
to resolve different issues allows
interdepartment discussions, team
bonding and demonstrates the power
of teamwork to resolve issues.”
Philip said:
“It was good that staff from LFS offices in Taman
Jurong, Jurong East and Jurong West were able to
share best practices,” said SJI process technologist
Tan Guowei. “I was quite impressed by the effort
they put into this project and to see how they were
excited to be able to present the results of their
hard work to their management.”
Sonia Meyer
Communications Advisor,
Shell Companies in Singapore
Discussing ways to save energy and water
About the SJI-LFS partnership
Shell Jurong Island has adopted Lakeside Family Services as one
of its Social Performance activities, with the twin objectives
of motivating children from disadvantaged backgrounds and
for employees to be best ambassadors in interacting with and
contributing to the community in which they operate.
Blu sharing Lean tips and change management
tools with LFS staff
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Lakeside-News
February 2014
AmCham Hosts Lakeside Families At
The Science Centre Singapore As Part Of
Corporate Community Day Initiative
T
he American Chamber of Commerce recently hosted 17 families from Lakeside
Family Services at the Science Centre Singapore for a day of learning and fun. In
addition to AmCham staff, representatives from 10 small businesses volunteered at the
event. Volunteers and beneficiaries participated in a treasure hunt, carried out science
experiments, and played in Snow City. Afterwards the group enjoyed lunch together,
followed by awards, karaoke, and face painting. The U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission to
Singapore, Blair Hall, made an appearance during which he addressed the group and
participated in some of the activities with the beneficiaries.
U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission to
Singapore, Mr Blair Hall, helped
hand out awards to participants.
AmCham partnered with Lakeside Family Services through the Yellow Ribbon Fund, which
is AmCham’s adopted charity for 2013. The Chamber has raised money and increased
awareness for the Yellow Ribbon Fund’s cause through various avenues throughout the
year. The Science Centre event provided a unique opportunity for AmCham staff to
interact with beneficiaries of the Yellow Ribbon Fund, and our volunteers appreciated
having a chance to get to know those whose lives they have touched.
AmCham Staff and company
volunteers posing with Lakeside
Family Services beneficiaries.
“Not only was the day a great chance
for our staff and volunteers to get to
serve members of our community, it
was also just plain fun,” said AmCham
Acting Executive Director Greg Tirrell.
“We had a great time doing our part
to help several Lakeside families enjoy
a relaxing day out as a family.”
Zulkarnain blew everyone away with his
singing skills. He was later invited by AmCham
to sing at their Thank You Reception.
The event hosted at the Science Centre was part of
the AmCham’s largest ever Corporate Community
Day, an annual corporate social responsibility
initiative in which employees of U.S. organisations
based in Singapore volunteer to give back to the
community . This year 2,000 volunteers and 9,000
beneficiaries were involved in 57 distinct events
held across Singapore. AmCham was very happy to
have a record of 82 organisations participate in our
11th annual CCD.
AmCham looks forward to working with the
Lakeside Family Services more in the future as
our organisation continues to give back to the
Singapore community.
Samantha Power
Government Relations Executive,
The American Chamber of Commerce
in Singapore
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Lakeside-News
February 2014
Bre a k in g Aw a y a nd
Starting Anew
17
-year-old Ben (not his real name) was placed in the Streetwise
Programme (SWP) run by our Lakeside’s youth workers due
to gang involvement. The SWP seeks to help youths break away
from gang involvement, and to impart to them skills to cope with
life’s challenges. This is done through groupwork sessions as well as
individual and family counselling. Ben’s parents are divorced. He lives
with his mother, his stepfather, and 4 other siblings.
At the initial commencement of SWP, Ben was very reluctant and
resistant to attend the sessions. He was insistent that he had not
done anything wrong in relation to the offence; he had merely been
at the wrong place at the wrong time. In
time, after attending
several sessions, he eventually realised that it is
against the law to be an associate member of a
gang. He also realised that “hanging out” with the
wrong company, those whom were his friends from
gangs, may gradually lead him to commit other
offences in future.
After attending several groupwork sessions together with the
other participants of SWP, Ben’s resistance towards the programme
gradually dissipated. He started to enjoy himself more in the
groupwork discussions, enrichment activities and excursions with
the other participants. Over the 6-month period of SWP, Ben learnt
several useful lifeskills such as effective communication skills and
setting ‘S.M.A.R.T’ goals. Under the guidance and encouragement
of our youth workers, he gradually became more comfortable with
designed by Grafiq Space
the group, opening up to the sharing and participating more actively
in discussions.
The individual and family counselling sessions also helped improve
Ben’s relationship and interactions with his mother. Ben used to often
be rude and disrespectful towards his mother. He would disobey and
There were also several
misunderstandings between mother and son which
were never cleared, thus leading to a rather distant
relationship between them. The counselling sessions
helped him to process through and address these
issues. Over time, Ben and his mother were able
to understand each other’s feelings and points of
view better through talking things out during the
counselling sessions. In addition, they were able to
share with each other their expectations and hopes
for the future.
challenge her instructions to him.
Ben is moving forward well following his completion of the SWP.
Although relational issues between Ben and his mother still need
continuous work, there have been some positive and significant
improvements in Ben’s overall attitude and the way he communicates
and relates to his family and peers.
James Yew
Associate Senior Social Worker
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