On the Home Front
Cultivating a Grateful and Gracious Society (CGGS) campaign
“If we can care for strangers, then caring wouldn’t be strange.”
While Mercy Relief (MR) focuses on poverty alleviation abroad, we recognise the importance of developing a caring and gracious society at home. To this end, MR partnered with the Northeast Community Development Council (CDC), South West CDC, the Singapore Soka Association (SSA) and the Hyperbaric & Occupational Medince (HOM) Pte Ltd to launch the Cultivating a Grateful and Gracious Society (CGGS) campaign in August 2008.
The objectives are to advocate greater awareness of poverty in the region and to develop an interest in community service in Singapore. Through this, MR hopes to cultivate a greater appreciation for the peace, stability, security and prosperity that we so often take for granted in Singapore. CGGS therefore advocates a civic life of compassion, care and volunteerism to the wider public, locally and globally, to encourage Singaporeans to be active and effective members of the global village.
The campaign included a series of four concerts and photo exhibitions held around the heartlands, with Budak Pantai (a local a cappella group) and Hady Mirza (Asian Idol) as MR’s Campaign Ambassadors. The finale concert held in December 2008 was also graced by Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong, who pressed upon the need for Singapore to become a caring and gracious society.
To effectively convey the message of the campaign, MR and SSA put together an animated booklet to depict examples of gracious behaviours. The 12-page booklet provided insights on how Singaporeans can encourage each other to look beyond their own needs and comfort zones, and to search within themselves for their responsibilities towards society.
Road shows and school talks
Following the CGGS finale concert, MR started a 16-day road show at Tampines, which included a bazaar and kiddie fun rides while promoting humanitarian issues through our photo exhibitions. Concurrently, MR is conducting school talks and photo exhibitions at 15 schools to create awareness and interest in humanitarian work.
In 2009, MR is extending the road show to five new locations – Jurong East, Woodlands, Chua Chu Kang, Toa Payoh and Yew Tee. We are also engaging more than 10 schools for talks and photo exhibitions.
Upcoming projects:
Woundcare for the Sick and Elderly (WISE)
MR is planning to launch Woundcare for the Sick and Elderly (WISE), an initiative to provide free monthly mobile clinics at Community Clubs or Resident Committee (RC) Centres on the weekends. MR will collaborate with a network of welfare and grassroots organisations to identify ‘high-risk’ cases in the area and assist in the coordination of medical treatment and consultation. Through WISE, MR also seeks to provide a more permanent platform for our medical volunteers to provide their services actively on a more regular basis.
