Aging is a part of life. We believe each older person deserves to live life to the fullest with dignity and respect as they age in place and in the community. However, in our midst, there are seniors in the community, who are frail and vulnerable; and some facing daily life challenges such as mobility difficulties, isolation, and lack of adequate support due to family circumstances.
By working with our community partners in Singapore, we have identified the needs of vulnerable seniors and strive to improve their quality of life through the #LoveOurSeniors initiative in the following ways:
- Better nutrition
- Enhanced well-being
- Improved living conditions
Because we love our seniors, we want to care for them. We hope to rally the community to join us in this effort, and together we can bring warmth and joy to the seniors.
Click the tabs below for more information and check out the Community Stories tab to hear about #LoveOurSeniors from our staff volunteers and others in the community!
Ms Margaret Heng, Chief Executive, SHATEC, shares why they encourage their students to be part of this meaningful initiative.
She says, “In Singapore, we are blessed with a supportive government where there are subsidy schemes in place for the less fortunate. However, this does not absolve us of our social responsibility towards the society, of which we are a part of. We believe that individuals who are sensitive towards the needs of others and who have the heart to serve will grow into exceptional hospitality professionals.”
SHATEC (Community Supporter)
SHATEC has been a partner for ‘CapitaLand #LoveOurSeniors’ initiative since March 2021. The partnership is a continuation of Love-in-a-Bento @ South West programme, a collaboration between CapitaLand’s philanthropic arm, CapitaLand Hope Foundation, and South West Community Development Council. The meals provided under this programme differ from regular meal deliveries as they are specially curated and prepared by students from the SHATECare Movement.
When preparing these meals, the students from the culinary and pastry teams will take into account the following dietary considerations:
- Low salt, low sugar, less oil, non-spicy
- Balanced diet comprising starch, protein, fruits and vegetables
- Brown rice is used for higher fibre
- Fish/Meat to be soft to chew and boneless
In addition, extra effort has been put in to provide variety to the meals by using different ingredients and cooking methods to avoid repetitions. Dishes from various cuisines have also been incorporated into the menus.
Some of the meals provided previously include:
- Essence Steamed Fish with Wolfberries
- Thai-style Basil Chicken
The students have also found a lot of meaning in preparing the meals for the seniors. Here’s what they have to say!
“I believe that food can connect people, which is why I cook for my family at home. #LoveOurSeniors was able to give food preparation another level of meaning as I was able to use it to show care and love for seniors in the community as well!”
- Han Hucheng, WSQ Diploma in Food Services (Culinary Arts), DFC 10-20-A
“Preparing meals for #LoveOurSeniors not only allows me to be exposed to new dishes, it also provides me with insight into how we can combine nutrition and taste to create healthy meals that people would enjoy.”
- Albert Chong, WSQ Diploma in Food Services (Culinary Arts), DFC 10-20-A
“It was a fun and meaningful process to be able to use our culinary skills to spread cheer to the seniors through healthy and tasty meals!”
-Aik Wei Hian, WSQ Diploma in Food Services (Culinary Arts), DFC 10-20-A
“I would like to make a healthy multigrain wholemeal soft pumpkin bun that is soft to the bite, which includes lots of healthy nuts and oats! Our house-made multigrain bread will have higher fibre content and would be kept safe and unprocessed without use of food additives or stabilisers.”
- Christina Foo Keat Thong, WSQ Diploma in Food Services (Pastry and Baking) – Supervised Field Trainee, DFP 01-20-A
“Being part of #LoveOurSeniors was a good opportunity to learn new recipes and baking techniques while giving back to the community during this pandemic.”
- Max Ang Wei Jie, WSQ Diploma in Food Services (Pastry and Baking), DFP 01-21-A
“The pandemic has posed many challenges, especially for seniors in isolation. We hope these special meals can bring some cheer to the them and give them something to look forward to.”
- Britney Boh Wen Xin and Karen Lum Chee Kwan, WSQ Diploma in Food Services (Pastry and Baking), DFP 08-20-B
We were featured also featured on 8World. Click here to watch the video!
Montfort Care (Community Partner)
Since 10 September 2021, we have been partnering Montfont Care to provide monthly special lunch prepared by CapitaLand's F&B tenants to 50 socially isolated elderly living in Marina Parade area.
"Due to Covid-19 developments, Montfort Care's GoodLife! Makan stay-alone seniors have become mostly homebound since last year. We are thus grateful to partner CapitaLand Hope Foundation to provide specially curated monthly meals for the seniors and we believe that the food will bring much-needed cheer to them!"
- Lin Aiting, Director of GoodLife! Marine Parade, Montfort Care
Minor Food Singapore (Community Supporter)
With support from Retail & Workspace Team, we are happy to have our F&B tenants onboard #LoveOurSeniors initiative. Minor Food Singapore, who is known for their outlets such as Sanook Kitchen, ThaiExpress, etc. at our malls, provided 100 specially curated meals for the elderly at Montfont Care on 10 Sep and 8 Oct. Looking forward to other retail tenants partnering us in their CSR journey!
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DORCAS Home Care Services (Community Partner)
Since 22 September 2021, we have expanded outreach to 126 more elderly living in Queenstown and Buona Vista supported under DORCAS Home Care Services through the special meal delivery initiative to provide better nutrition for the seniors. A total of 115 beneficiaries also received a loaf of wholemeal bread monthly to supplement their dietary needs.
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Stories from our volunteers
Daniel Ng
Vice President, Community Engagement (Retail & Workspace)
The CapitaLand Community Engagement (Retail & Workspace) team has been working with the CapitaLand Group CSR team and social service agencies to curate a series of activities for their Workspace tenants as part of the #GivingAsOne initiative. In September, 33 tenants joined in the #LoveOurSeniors bread delivery. Accompanying one of the tenant volunteers is Daniel Ng, Vice President of Community Engagement (Retail & Workspace) at CapitaLand.
“The Community Engagement team recognises that some organisations might not have the resources to organise employee engagement activities regularly. As such, we are happy to work with the CapitaLand CSR team to offer volunteering opportunities such as the #LoveOurSeniors bread delivery, as a meaningful value-add to them. Through their participation in such activities, we hope to also raise awareness of the needs of our beneficiaries within our tenant community, and inspire their family and friends to do good as well.”
Daniel and his team are organising a series of virtual workshops and volunteering sessions in addition to two bread delivery and care pack delivery sessions for their Workspace tenants, as part of the #GivingAsOne campaign in from September to November
Jeremy Lee
General Manager, Moog Singapore
Moog Singapore, a tenant of CapitaLand, heeded the call for volunteers by sending the largest group of nine volunteers for the #LoveOurSeniors bread delivery. Jeremy shares that since the pandemic, their employees have been working from home and rarely get to meet each other or carry out any bonding or volunteering activities.
“Moog Singapore may not be a big organisation, but we have a big heart for the community. As a tenant of CapitaLand, we see great value in joining their activities such as the bread delivery as it eases the logistical burden from our staff to organise it. It has been a great experience for all of us as we come together to do good as one, and it gives us pride to be part of this great cause.”
Moving forward, he hopes that his team will be inspired to participate in such activities more often, and do their part for the community in need.
Jonathan Hsu
Director, Fund Management, M&G Real Estate
Although it was Jonathan’s first time participating in the #LoveOurSeniors bread delivery, he is not new to volunteering. As the director of Fund Management at M&G Real Estate, a tenant of CapitaLand, he likes volunteering and feels that it is especially important during the current pandemic that we reach out to those in need around us, like the seniors, to show that we care for them.
“Today, I came to a very different district in Jurong and it was an eyeopener to see the number of people living by themselves that need a helping hand. We are as strong as the most vulnerable part of society and I believe that when we pull everybody up, we can all do better as one. The event was very well-organised and it was a wonderful experience. I will definitely recommend this to my colleagues.”
Volunteering also keeps Jonathan grounded, as he learns more about himself and the community around him with each new volunteering experience. He believes that we should all do our part to help others if we have the ability to, as that will make the community a better place. He also signed up for the next edition of the #LoveOurSeniors bread delivery.
Susanna Quek
Country Head, Singapore, Tokio Marine Kiln
On 22 August, 19 volunteers from Tokio Marine Kiln, a tenant of CapitaLand, came together to deliver nutritious loaves of love to vulnerable seniors under TOUCH Community Services in the Jurong area. Familiar with CapitaLand's corporate social responsibility activities, Susanna shares her experience volunteering and her company’s passion for doing good for the community:
"Volunteering is always a humbling experience. It is important that we give back to the community and especially extend support to the vulnerable seniors. During the activity, some of us also interacted with the seniors who gave us their appreciation and a big smile. We even bonded as a team while engaging in the hard and heart work.
As a company we are keen to play our part in doing good. When we saw the #LoveOurSeniors bread delivery activity organised by CapitaLand, we thought it was a good idea for us to support the good cause. We’ve also previously participated in the Gifts of Joy programme organised by CapitaLand and are keen to partner them again for future events!"
Beh Siew Kim
Chief Financial and Sustainability Officer, Lodging/ Managing Director-Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Japan & Korea, Ascott
"Volunteering as a team for #LoveOurSeniors is meaningful as it allows us to bond together and have a common purpose of helping the seniors. It is also good to get out of our usual routine, focus on helping others and learn to appreciate each other and what we have."
Siew Kim (middle in photo) and her team also volunteered for the #MealOnMe initiative during the Circuit Breaker in 2020 to deliver meals to those in need.
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Chew Hock Chye
General Manager, IMM / JCube / Westgate / Junction 8
A familiar face to many of our mall colleagues in Suburban Cluster 2, Hock Chye is a regular volunteer for many of CapitaLand’s events. He believes greater impact can be achieved when more people come along so he has rallied staff from IMM, JCube, Junction 8 and Westgate to volunteer for three #LoveOurSeniors meal deliveries and offered IMM as a collection point. To him, it is important to give back to the residents in the South West area who have also supported our malls throughout the years.
“IMM, Westgate and JCube have been operating in the Jurong area for years and we have received the support from the residents in the area. #LoveOurSeniors is a good platform for the team to give back to the community where we operate and strengthen our ties with them. I am glad that my colleagues have been very enthusiastic about lending their support as well!”
Prior to participating in #LoveOurSeniors, the Suburban Cluster 2 malls have also reached out to the vulnerable communities in 2017 to refurbish four homes. They not only sponsored furniture, but also had 20 staff volunteers help to clean up and reorganize the homes. Mr Chew and his family have also been volunteering for the Singapore Swimming Association in their own free time.
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Tan Ai-Ling
Deputy Head, Retail Leasing, Singapore
On top of volunteering with her family and friends, Ai-Ling actively participates in meal deliveries organised by CapitaLand since 2020. She feels that we should all give back if we have the ability to do so, and the feeling of fulfilment after giving and serving is what spurs her to continue volunteering.
“#LoveOurSeniors is a very practical way for us to fulfil the basic needs of vulnerable seniors – by delivering warm and nutritious meals to their doorstep. It is also a platform for us to build a culture of giving within our workplace/ mall, as it is convenient and easy for us to volunteer as a team.”
Ai-Ling looks forward to doing more for the vulnerable seniors and hopes to participate in the packing and distribution of care packs for them in the upcoming months.
Read more about Jason here!
Jason Leow
CEO, CapitaLand Development
“While delivering meals for #LoveOurSeniors, a gentleman asked if I was paid to do what I was doing. I reflected on my experience and realised that I was rewarded with a great sense of purpose and satisfaction through the act of reaching out and helping others. Any act of kindness, no matter how small, is always rewarding.”
Read more about William here!
William Tay
CEO, CapitaLand Ascendas REIT's manager
The CapitaLand Ascendas REIT team has built a culture of giving among their employees, displaying a strong conviction and passion in giving back to the community. They had supported slum children in an orphanage and raised funds for refugees in Thailand, distributed free hand sanitisers to the community in Singapore under Temasek Foundation's #BYOBclean initiative, and provided bursaries to university students in Singapore since 2013. More recently, they volunteered to deliver meals to vulnerable seniors under the #LoveOurSeniors initiative in Singapore.
“Our team is proud to be in a company that is socially responsible and provides employees with opportunities to contribute to the community. Through volunteering, we learnt that even though Singapore is an advanced economy, there are groups of people who still need our support. We witnessed several beneficiaries living on their own who looked forward to the occasional volunteers checking in on them. We were glad to not only bring smiles to them but also facilitate team bonding as we volunteered together.”
William Tay, CEO of Ascendas Reit They would like to encourage other teams make use of their Volunteer Service Leave to volunteer together like they did, as helping others makes one feel good, especially when our actions and efforts have brightened up someone’s day. As the saying goes, “none of us can help everyone, but everyone can help someone”. Every effort is valuable, and every form of help creates an impact.
Read more about Gavin here!
Gavin Low
Assistant Manager, Design Management
First time meal delivery volunteer, Gavin, was usually hesitant to volunteer as he did not think he was good at interacting with beneficiaries. He joined his friends for the #LoveOurSeniors meal delivery in May, expecting minimal interaction with the seniors. However, during the deliveries, he felt a natural yearning to want to interact with them as he handed them their meals. He looks forward to having more interaction with them after the COVID-19 restrictions are being lifted.
"I am truly humbled by this experience volunteering for #LoveOurSeniors. Just two hours of my time was enough to brighten up the day for many of these vulnerable seniors. To those who are hesitant to volunteer like I once was – think no more, just do it! Let your heart lead the way."
Tiffany Tan
Management Executive, Group Human Resources
Tiffany is a familiar face to seniors at the Ren Ci Nursing Home, underprivileged primary school children living in rental flats in Dover and students with special needs at Pathlight School. The effort of her parents in raising her and the kindness received from others motivates her to volunteer and pay it forward. She recently rallied her GDP 2020 batchmates for the #LoveOurSeniors meal delivery to contribute to the community together and build friendships among themselves.
“I enjoy volunteering as it is an avenue where I can give back to society regardless of my family background. Through the process, I get to meet people from different walks of life and see the world through their lens as they share with me their life experiences. My inspiration for volunteering is simple – ‘If you can’t pay it back, pay it forward!’.”
Through volunteering, Tiffany developed empathy and patience, and learnt to look beyond the surface as different people may be experiencing different challenges. She also learnt to be adaptable in communicating with seniors through gestures, writing or drawing when she is unable to speak in dialect.
Read more about Jamie here!
Jamie Koh
Senior Executive, Business Development and Sales, Digital Platforms
Jamie has volunteered with a broad spectrum of beneficiaries including children and seniors. She wants to make a difference in the lives of others and finds it very meaningful and heartening to put a smile on someone’s face. She also enjoys interacting with people. To her, every little bit of kindness goes a long way so we should never hold back.
“Volunteering and chatting with seniors reminds me of my interactions with my grandparents. Through volunteering, I also learn from the beneficiaries and my fellow volunteers. It was great fun volunteering with my fellow GDPs as we were able to share information and tips before the activity and our thoughts and feelings after the experience. I would love to volunteer with my department one day!”
She understands that every volunteering experience is unique and may come with a different set of challenges. However, that has not deterred her to continue contributing to the community. She also sees these as opportunities to build up hard and soft skills such as event organization, interpersonal communication, adaptability, patience, and perseverance.
Chong Wai Mee
Manager, Project Management Office
As a mother of two young children, Wai Mee sets a good example for her children to follow after. She feels that she should volunteer while she is young, strong and capable of helping others. She also finds joy working with like-minded volunteers who work towards the same goal of supporting those in need.
To her, it is important to invest in the lives of children, as she believes that children who grow up with love will know how to love others. Likewise, she also believes that seniors need to feel love and care too. She has been a supporter of CapitaLand’s volunteering activities including past events like Gifts of Joy and My School Bag.
“I have been volunteering for CapitaLand’s initiatives since 2014 and #LoveOurSeniors was another great platform for me to do my part for vulnerable seniors in our community by delivering meals to them. It was also heartening to know that the meals were specially curated for the seniors to provide them with something to look forward to."