Lakeside-News

Starting Anew

From the desk of the executive director

“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

Contentsp1. Starting Anewp2. Far East Organization Brings Holiday Cheer to

Low Income Familiesp3. Paint For The Betterp4. Shell Shares Lean Tips With Lakeside Family Servicesp5. AmCham Hosts Lakeside Families At The Science Centre

Singapore As Part Of Corporate Community Day Initiativep6. Breaking Away And Starting Anew

Lakeside Family Services: BASC Jurong WestBlk 514 Jurong West St 52#01-18, Singapore 640514 Tel: 6567-7270 Fax: 6896-0516 Email: bascjw@lakeside.org.sg

BASC Jurong East, Blk 302 Jurong East St 32#01-22, Singapore 600302 Tel: 6564-9677 Fax: 6564-9876 Email: bascje@lakeside.org.sg

BASC Hours: 7am – 7pm (Mon-Fri), 7:30am – 1:30pm (Sat)

Office Hours: 9.00am to 5.30pm (Monday to Friday)Website: www.lakeside.org.sg

Jurong West CentreBlk 516, Jurong West St 52,#01-73, Singapore 640516Tel: 6567-1908 Fax: 6565-6435Email: lfcjw@lakeside.org.sg

Taman Jurong Centre21 Yung Ho Road, #03-01The Agape, Singapore 618593Tel: 6265-6522 Fax: 6265-6523Email: lfctj@lakeside.org.sg

Jurong East CentreBlk 302, Jurong East St 32,#01-22, Singapore 600302Tel: 6564-9722Fax: 6564-9422Email: lfcje@lakeside.org.sg

New 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.

So it is with the human heart. 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-offenderwho 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 bycontinuing 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

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 LoonExecutive Director

Feb 2014

Lakeside-NewsFebruary 2014

Lakeside 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.

On the first day, the families had fun playing “Team Excellence” activities organised

by ten Trainers from Camp Challenge Sembawang. 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 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.

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When asked what is the one thing they are thankful for, Anton (not his real name), aged 7, said without

hesitation: “The volunteers!” 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.

“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

Far East Organization Brings Holiday Cheer To Low Income Families

Group Photo

Far East staff volunteers interacting with the families

Trying to figure out the challenging puzzles together as a family

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Lakeside-NewsFebruary 2014

Paint For The Better

Peeling 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

paint rollers. “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.

A child from the centre lending a helping hand

Shell Jurong Island staff painted the walls of Jurong West Before and After School Care on 12 October 2013.

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 ManagerShell Companies in Singapore

Shell volunteers hard at work

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Lakeside-NewsFebruary 2014

Shell Shares Lean Tips With Lakeside Family Services

About the SJI-LFS partnershipShell 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.

For 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,

Philip said: “The formation of teams to resolve different issues allows interdepartment discussions, team bonding and demonstrates the power of teamwork to resolve issues.” “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

Blu sharing Lean tips and change management tools with LFS staff

Discussing ways to save energy and water

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Lakeside-NewsFebruary 2014

The 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.

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 Hosts Lakeside Families At The Science Centre Singapore As Part Of

Corporate Community Day Initiative

“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.”

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

U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission to Singapore, Mr Blair Hall, helped hand out awards to participants.

AmCham Staff and company volunteers posing with Lakeside Family Services beneficiaries.

Zulkarnain blew everyone away with his singing skills. He was later invited by AmCham to sing at their Thank You Reception.

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B r e a k i n g A w a y a n d Starting Anew

Lakeside-News

designed by Grafiq Space

February 2014

-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

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

challenge her instructions to him. 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.

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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