2005
The YWCA celebrated her 130th anniversary in 2005 with a gala anniversary dinner graced by the then President of Singapore, Mr S R Nathan and Mrs Nathan. During the dinner, five outstanding women who served the YWCA for more than 20 years were honoured – Mrs Catherine Chan, Mrs Margaret Chew, Mrs Jennifer Ng, Mrs Helen Hwang and Ms Tan Kee Leng.
One major event in celebration of the 130th anniversary was a Charity Golf event with Dr Lee Boon Yang, then Minister of Information as guest of honour.
As part of the 130th anniversary celebration, the milestones in the Association’s history were showcased in the Gallery of Faith, Work and Deed, a heritage corner of posters which is located in the lobby of the Fort Canning Lodge. This Gallery was officially opened by Mrs Yu Foo Yee Shoon, then Minister of State, Ministry of Community Development, Youth & Sports to celebrate International Women’s Day 2005.
The World YWCA held its Asia Regional Training meeting in Fort Canning Lodge, which was attended by then World YWCA President, Monica Zetzsche and participants from the region.
The “Yes-U-Can….be Included” Integration Programme which was initiated in partnership with the Lien Foundation, was launched by the guest of honour, Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, then Minister of Education. This was an initiative to provide early intervention and learning support for children with mild special needs. With early intervention during their pre-school years, children can be equipped with skills to adjust and adapt to mainstream schools.
A Peranakan Experience was held in April 2005. This was an event showcasing Peranakan cuisine and historical artefacts, organised by a committee headed by Mrs Catherine Chan. Some members and staff put up a comedy musical titled Tunggu-Tunggu Buah Jatuh Tak.
Under the purview of the Social Enterprise Committee (SEC), a kitchen at Outram Centre was turned into a cooking studio to conduct cooking classes for adults and children. Led by Mrs Dancy Thong, many women came to learn how to cook. The SEC also collaborated with the Singapore Management University to provide its students with the opportunity to serve the community and develop their entrepreneurial skills.
2006
The YWCA launched the Meals-On-Wheels for Children programme on 31 July 2006. The first of its kind in Singapore, the programme provides free nutritious dinners to children from low-income families at their schools, social service centres or homes from Mondays to Fridays.
Subsequently, the YWCA Kids’ Club, a mentorship and tutoring programme, was started on 31 March to provide a more holistic approach to help the children on the Meals-On-Wheels for Children programme. The club aims to enrich the minds and lives of the children by imparting essential skills, moral values and character-building through interactive and creative activities planned by staff and volunteers. Volunteers for the Kids’ Club are youths from secondary schools and tertiary institutions.
The Social Enterprise Committee organised a series of cooking classes and a Craft Circle for Charity for volunteers to hand make items for sale at the Fun Fair.
The community services provided by the YWCA continued to grow and expand, and activities were conducted for the beneficiaries of our community projects.
A Fun Fair was held at Outram Road Centre with Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon, then Minister of State Community Development, Youth and Sports as the Guest of Honour. With the many stalls of food and games, it was a time for family fun and entertainment.
Cyclical maintenance was carried out at the Bukit Gombak, Bishan and Pasir Ris Child Development Centres, which resulted in a more spacious and brighter environment in those centres.
The principals of Marine Drive, Outram and Pasir Ris Child Development Centres, which are designated ICCP (Integrated Child Care Programme) Centres, successfully completed the Effective Management and Administration of Integrated Childcare Programme, which equipped them with the skills and knowledge to manage their centres’ integration programme for children with mild special needs.
A Gala Concert by all centres and the kindergarten was held in November at the HDB Hub Auditorium with the theme “We are Wonderfully Made”.
A special committee “Programmes (Seniors)” was set up to organise programmes, and activities to serve the needs of senior members. Throughout 2006, activities were organised by the senior volunteers for these older members.
In 2006, the YWCA received the MCYS Volunteer Long Service Award (5 years).
2007
There was a budget surplus reported for this year with improved performance of the Fort Canning Lodge. With the better financial position, the Association was able to reduce its debt liability and pay off its building loan.
Beside the Flag Day, another fund raising project was the publication of a cookbook titled “Sharing From Our Hearts”. It was a collection of recipes from members and friends. It also captured YWCA’s heritage of cooking by re-printing several recipes from the 1932 Cookbook.
A family support scheme was started in June to help the mothers of the Meals-On-Wheels children to enhance their knowledge and skills to improve their employment prospects and financial situation. Talks and workshops on financial management, parenting skills and other topics to help in their personal growth as well as provide support for their families, were also organised.
The Children’s Befriending Scheme was started on 1 August for Meals-On-Wheels Children who were unable to attend the YWCA Kids’ Club. The Scheme provided an opportunity for the staff to recognise strengths and issues amongst the children in small group outings so that encouragement and counseling could be provided accordingly. It also gave the children learning, leisure and play opportunities with new friends.
World YWCA Day had the theme “Honouring women’s leaders” in 2007. The YWCA of Singapore also paid a tribute to her past and present leaders who had given their services. Mrs Jennifer Ng, Mrs Helen Hwang, Mrs Margaret Chew, Ms Vachila Marimuthu, Mrs Wee Kung Ling, Mrs Catherine Chan, Mrs Marie Victor, Mrs Lucy Tan, Dr Anamah Tan, Mrs Patricia Leung, Ms Florence Lim, Ms Mavis Tsoi, Mrs Heng-Lim Gaik Kee and Ms Tan Kee Leng were recognised and given a token of appreciation.
In 2007, working partnerships were established with Focus on the Family and the Young Women Muslim Association (YWMA). A Parent Education in Preschool Programme for parents and children was organised with Focus on the Family and with the YWMA. Joint training sessions in early childhood education was also held with the support of the Lien Foundation.
The children at our child development centres had a change of uniform and excursion outfits designed by our childcare principals.
In December, the YWCA started the practice of giving Christmas cakes personally baked by Board members to key donors in appreciation of their donations.
2008
Fort Canning Lodge and our child development centres both improved in their performance in 2008 with stronger demand for guest rooms and increased enrolment. With the surplus from our two social enterprises, the YWCA was able to continue to run quality programmes and services to benefit of the community.
In the childcare sector, a ‘Joy of Reading’ programme spearheaded by Mrs Ma Kheng Min was launched in October. The programme aimed to cultivate a love for reading and books amongst the children in our child development centres. Throughout the year, our teachers attended workshops on various topics to update their knowledge and skills in the field of early childhood education.
To raise funds and create awareness of the YWCA, a 14-month calendar featuring many desserts was published for the year 2009. Other fundraising activities included the Christmas Bazaar and Muzikalthon event. There were programmes for members throughout the year in the form of computer classes and cooking demonstrations.
In order to identify and address the needs and interest of women of all ages, a new committee called Y-Gems was set up under the chairmanship of Mavis Tsoi. This committee planned to provide a platform for women to network and attain economic achievement, and sought to partner community and commercial organisations interested in the cause. One project that was initiated and passed over to the Community Outreach Committee was a collaboration with a group of volunteers to provide weekend meals to the beneficiaries of our Meals-on-Wheels Elderly programme.
An educational and cultural exchange with YWCA Bangkok was held. The purpose of this exchange was to gain awareness and appreciation of the social and cultural differences between the two countries as well as strengthen collaborative ties between Singapore and Thailand.
2009
As a special fundraising initiative to commemorate the YWCA’s 135th Anniversary of serving the community, the Association collaborated with the prestigious TWG Tea Company, known for its fine quality and exclusive collection of tea blends, to create an exquisite YWCA tea blend for sale.
A 2009 Food Diary with “Celebrations” as the theme was published.
The second Christmas Bazaar was held to provide a platform for budding entrepreneurs and small enterprises to promote and sell their products.
The then President of the World YWCA, Ms Susan Brennan and the World YWCA Programme Director for Asia Pacific, Ms Juli Dugdale visited Singapore.
The YWCA partnered with the Lien Foundation to launch the Ingot Preschool, otherwise known as IngoT, meaning “IT stretches NGOs”. Under Ingot, every teacher and principal was equipped with a mobile device to help them better manage their daily administrative tasks. The teachers were given an iPhone-driven Learning Management System to continually record and evaluate the children’s performance as well as manage their routine administrative work.
A digital learning hub was set up at the Outram Centre, which provided cutting edge e-learning facilities to provide our children with the opportunity to explore and experiment with new technologies in the main laboratory and three sub-laboratories. There was also a digital resource centre for the kindergarten and each of the child development centres. These labs were fitted with high-tech state of the art equipment such as an interactive whiteboard, projector, laptops and Touchsmart computers for the children to explore, learn and enjoy.
Four of our child development centres were renovated and upgraded – Bedok, West Coast, Outram and Marine Drive.
Home visits to elderly members were started as part of our efforts to reach out to the YWCA’s elderly members.
The senior members were also treated to a sumptuous lunch at the annual Senior Citizens’ Lunch, where they were entertained with a talk on “Creating a Happy Mind in your Golden Years” by Mr Roland Cheong from the Tsao Foundation.
In 2009, over 70 youth between 16 and 28 years volunteered in various activities – giving tuition to children in the Kids Club and participating in the Batam Build, a project in partnership with Habitat for Humanity Singapore.