House Visit on 25 April 2015 (Elias Road)

This week, the SDA Team, consisting of members William and Aloysius, shadow town councillors Kim Soon and Derrick, as well as members from the DLs' Caring Community, Thomas, were present for the blocks visit session. The targeted block was 614, Elias Road, and visiting commenced at 10.00am sharp.

 As standard protocol, the group combed the block from the highest floor (18th) in descending order, touching base and reaching out with familiar faces as well as new residents here.

While some of the doors remained shut (should be no one at home), most of the residents were very polite and welcoming towards the friendly approach of the SDA team in their signature lime green polo shirts.

 

 

The SDA members reached out by re-introducing themselves and the purpose of the visit, before gathering feedback from the residents and also sharing their joys and grievances of living in this area. Some of them were so comfortable with the members and shadow town councillors that they even began to feedback about issues at their relatives' estates in the nearby vicinity, hoping that these warm-hearted gentlemen could be of assistance over at more areas.

Other residents who were rather reticent at first felt themselves warming up to the members and shadow town councillors gradually, and ended up chatting them up for more than 15 minutes, engaging in discussions on general issues and sharing their own views. There were also those who expressed keenness to see more of the SDA team and offered suggestions on what they would like to see SDA do for them.

Besides feedback about the lack of amenities and dining choices here, some of the residents also touched on issues such as unlevelled employment opportunities between local and foreign applicants.

"The foreign applicants may have the academic qualifications, but do they really understand the nature of the jobs they are applying for, and what it entails?" quips a concerned *Mrs Wong (name changed to protect privacy). "Our company interviewed some of them and all we got were blank faces when we described the jobscope! How are they able to do the job like that?"

Another resident, *Mr. Tham, shared something rather valuable as well. "While we do not condone those who keep shouting 'return our CPF monies' with no better strategies in mind, we appreciate that you guys (SDA) have come up with the idea of reverting CPF back to its original purpose of pure retirement funding!"

In the meantime, the members of DLs' Caring Community, Thomas and Elle, came to understand the deeper and more pressing concerns of other families who'd shared their problems in confidence. They also managed to identify the needs of some other individuals through the chit-chat session, such as neglected elderly citizens and (illegally) harassed units. The DLs' Caring Community will be taking these cases under their caring wings because this is what they were set out to do.

Finally, the visits concluded at 12.14pm, where the members sincerely thanked the residents for their welcome, their feedback and suggestions. This sums up another meaningful session for the SDA members, shadow town councillors as well as DLs' Caring Community members, who not only got to connect with the people they'll potentially serve, but also, learn a lot from these interactive sessions.

Today's block visit is covered by SDA's field journalist, Elle Chen.




If you have any feedback, suggestions or would like to be a part of SDA or DLs' Caring Community, please feel free to get in touch via email or our Facebook page here or leave your comments on this blog itself. If you would like to be a part of this meaningful initiative, please feel free to get in touch too.

House Visit on 18 April 2015 (Elias Road)

This morning at 10.00am sharp, the SDA team led by Desmond Lim and anchored by Aloysius Chan arrived promptly at their designated Block 613, Elias Road, to kickstart another meaningful morning of interacting with the residents.  Desmond educated and shared information with the Members and Shadow Town Councillors about certain structural providence of necessities around the estates, and what to keep a lookout for, such as the correct locations to place the incense burners, why certain blocks have more CCTVs etc.

Having been briefed, the Members, together with Shadow Town Councillors Lim Kim Soon and Derrick Tan as well as DLs' Caring Community members Thomas Tan etc took the elevator up to level 18, the highest floor of this HDB block where the house visits began.

The team approached each and every individual household to re-introduce themselves, explained the purpose of the visits, pass the residents copies of the SDA pamphlets, to gather feedback and find out if they are currently facing any issues at all.

Other than that, the members of DLs' Caring Community, which is a registered charity organisation, were on standby to identify families that required assistance. The DLs' members then undertook to chat with the families in-depth on their problems and offered assistance in any way possible. Reaching out to the elderly members, especially those residing alone, has been the forte of the DLs' Caring Community, but on this visit they also undertook other tasks targeted at helping a couple of individual families addressing their concerns directly.

Residents of the block, regardless of race or religion, from those residing in 5-room flats to those residing in 4-room flats, spanning across very varied demographics, were relatively receptive in receiving the visits of the friendly SDA team. Many of them came over to offer their handshakes, halting their meals to do so; others opened their doors in wide welcome so that they could chat more comfortably with the Members and Shadow Town Councillors. Even the families or individuals who had reservations initially began to warm up and open up to the interaction session once they saw that it was the familiar SDA team.

Besides addressing their issues, the residents were also happy to share their thoughts and feelings on certain policies being implemented recently. A general concern from most of the residents centred around the influx of non-locals into the country, posing threats against them or their children in terms of career opportunities, education opportunities etc.

"Sometimes it is important to just do one's best and not over-promise," quips a *Mr. Andrew (name changed to protect privacy), "Otherwise, it would be like a toothpaste commercial, where everything is 100% shiny perfect!"

Some residents have also expressed displeasure that they were not informed when there were changes or additions of amenities around the estates. As residents here, they feel that they have a right to know, for instance, why there were suddenly so many CCTVs around the blocks, etc.

By 12noon the SDA team and DLs' Caring Community members have accomplished their tasks and touched base with all 18 floors of residents, offering warm-hearted listening ears as well as a hand or shoulder to the residents, and noted down all their concerns.

They continued their mission towards Elias Mall, about 7 minutes' walk from Blk 613 Elias Road, where they continued to spread the care by chatting the people up, understanding their concerns and disseminating more copies of the informative pamphlets.

A debrief and brain-storming session over tea concluded yet another meaningful interaction / outreach program by the SDA today.

The event is covered by SDA's field reporter Elle Chen.


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