I’d like to share with you a short story. I was brought up by a black and white amah jie (her name was Kum Jie). I don’t recall much of her except that she lived around the Chinatown area. She retired when I was still quite young, so I know little of her personal life, whether she had a family or not. However, I have very fond memories of this much older woman – I watched many Cantonese soap operas with her, and she often took time to play with me and being kind to this naughty and chubby girl. She was a significant adult in my childhood when my parents were busy earning a living to support the family. I never had the chance to tell Kum Jie how much I loved and appreciated the little things she did for me, so helping the elderly in Chinatown has a special significance for me. Now I can only “pay it forward”, so to speak - to do some acts of kindness, offer a helping hand or just lend a listening ear to some elderly in Chinatown.Yong-en Care Centre, please keep up the wonderful work in Chinatown! — Nicolette

While waiting for my O level results, I was looking for something to pass time and was asked to become a volunteer tutor at Yong-en Care Centre. During my volunteering, I was deeply touched when I saw the perseverance of the elderly and others in Chinatown. There was also a group of dedicated volunteers who continue to serve the Chinatown community against many odds because of their sense of belief and mission. I’m so proud to be a part of the team! — Suffi

We helped getting the place ready for the children’s programme, assist the children with assessments, bringing them on outings and providing inputs for the children’s programme. We are blessed with much goodness and we want to share our blessings. While there are some challenges for us to volunteer together as a family, we are able to spend meaningful time together. Our children learn to care and help others at a young age. The most rewarding part about being a volunteer is to see smiles on the faces of the children we helped and knowing that we made some impact in their lives.

– Mrs Fong

The cooperation between YCC and Raison D’etre has also been great. Mr Chan and Ms Ng had been a big help and been excellent advisors to the team. Ms Ong, her staff and the clients were also very cooperative. Communication with YCC went well…the PR campaign was also quite a success…We received some positive feedback regarding the blog.  We had invaluable experience gleaned from throughout the process of this project despite certain hiccups along the way.    — Raison D’etra