十全十美

六六大顺

九九同心

一帆风顺

顺理成章

万事胜意

龙马精神

八方来财

合家幸福万

事如意

年年有余

三羊开泰

新年快乐

四季平安

七星高照

二龙腾飞

五福临门

恭喜发财

人强马壮

心想事成

步步高升

y o u r C o m m u n i t y b u l l e t i n o f K e m b a n g a n - C h a i C h e e

January - march 2014friend us at www.facebook.com/kembangan.chaichee

Noble VoicesVolunteers share their experiences

Brothers In Arms

Initiatives to enhance the

community and environmenthappy

new year 2014

Play a Part, join us

advisor’s note

Dear friends,It has been an encouraging year in terms of seeing people come forward to volunteer and help out in the community. From our daily lunch distribution to the cleaning of flats for our older residents, there has been a range of activities where residents and volunteers were able to reach out and make a difference. Some have also come to help us out at the Meet the People’s session every Monday night at Blk 35 Chai Chee Road. Many have also made new friends. In some ways, I believe that those who give may receive even more in turn. I hope that more of our residents will come forward in 2014 and be involved.

We are also continuing to improve our neighbourhood. Work to alleviate flooding in the various affected areas is underway. We hope that residents in Lengkong Tiga will vote in support of the effort to improve the estate. We are also upgrading the shopping and market area in Chai Chee. We will also improve Geylang Serai Market to address issues identified through ongoing feedback. A major upgrade effort will take place there in the near future. We will also be extending the covered walkways from the various MRT stations. Bedok Mall has opened and facilities in the area will serve our residents as well. With your various feedback, we will also continue to improve the physical environment where we can, to make it safer and more practical.

A community is really about people in our physical space and how we interact and become friends, and how we appreciate what we have. Being involved helps. Efforts like the Photowalk where we went round to photograph the places we live in can also help us look at our environment through different lenses. And again, we make friends in the process.

I look forward to meeting more of you in 2014 at our various outreach efforts and activities, as well as online too! Happy New Year to all!

Tan Chuan-Jin

全心全意

把爱传递

Chief Editor PROF. TEO CHENG SWEE, JP PBMEditors MR RAHUL KUMAR JANAK SHAHMS NORAMI ALIZA HARONCreative DirectorMR LEE NGEE CHEWEditorial Coordinator RAINE LEEBusiness Relations MR TyLER LIMChief Photographer MR SHENG yEE ZHERPhotographerMR TAN WAN LEE MemberMR NEO CHEE yONGMemberMS EdLyN TANMemberMS SAMANTHA LAU LIxIADeputy Constituency Director TAN CHIN TECK

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A PUBLICATION OF K-CCNo part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without the prior written consent of the Publisher. Every effort has been made to ensure that the contents of this publication are corect and up-to-date at the time of printing. Some details are liable to change. The publisher cannot be held responsible for any consequences arising from errors or omissions in this publication.

January - March 2014

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ContentS3 Advisor’s Note

5 Volunteer Experience

8 Kaleidoscope Events and happenings in K-CC

11 Our Learning Journey Wine appreciation guide and K-CC cooking class

12 Know Your Neighbourhood I Love Kembangan-Chai Chee Photowalk

14 Loudhailer Milestones of the year 2013

16 Brothers in Arms Acknowledging our community partners for their dedication and commitment to our neighbourhood

18 What’s New

19 Glimpse into the Future & Social Commentary Calendar of events from Jan – Mar 2014 & Engaging with your community

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Volunteer experience

noble VoicesThe success of the many exciting events in 2013 could not have been possible without the selfless contribution of the resident volunteers. They share with us the reasons for giving their time to the community.

Volunteering here allows me to do meaningful work. I am happy to make new friends especially with the elderly.- Toh Chuan Kor

There is incredible value in being of service to others. - Prabahar

It is a meaningful experience to serve as a volunteer; especially so for bread distribution which I am part of. It is giving back to society in a simple way.

It is meaningful and worthwhile to help the community, especially those who are in need like the elderly and lower income families. - Toh Swee Koon

- Noeline Gomes

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I have been a volunteer since I retired 15 years ago. My passion has been and will always be contributing to the community.

Volunteer experience

I have a passion to serve the community and it is very meaningful for me to do my part to help the people in need to live in a better environment and have a better life.- Helen Yong Nyuk Kuin

With every helping hand I extend, my hope is to ease our residents’ worries and make their lives better. The smiles on their faces will always be my best takeaway.- Pearl

To me, life is about deriving meaning through an accumulation of rich and diverse experiences. Volunteering opened up my world to the stories and life experiences of others which in turn contributed to my own identity and development as a person. - Jay Woo

- Elsie Tan

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I volunteer to help our residents and understand their needs. In addition, I got to understand how the community works.- Koh Hock Kian

For the past 30 years, I’m a proud volunteer. It has brought me joy, new friends and the opportunity to remain active by helping neighbours.- Mdm Sim

It’s never easy to cope with work, three kids and volunteering efforts. But when we see their smiles and how they benefit from our help, we know it’s all worth it.- Krissy and Benjamin

As a retiree, volunteering for a good cause makes me feel that I am still useful in society.- Teresa Lee

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THe kaleidoscope

Community leaders of K-CC express their care for residents via various means

Reaching Out tO Residents

K-CC and several public agencies work tirelessly to organise and structure projects that enhance the lives of residents and that allow residents to showcase their various talents. These outreach programmes come in the form of estate upgrades and of community events, an example of which is the recent K-CC Family Night, and altogether foster a strong sense of belonging among the people.

PUB (ABC) WAters ProgrAmme As part of the PUB’s Active, Beautiful, Clean (ABC) Waters Programme, Siglap Canal, which snakes through estates like Kembangan, Telok Kurau, and Marine Parade, will have a 150m deck built over it to improve accessibility to Kampong Kembangan Community Centre and to create a space for residents to engage in activities like line dancing and taiji. Singapore’s

national water agency will also be collaborating with Telok Kurau Primary School to design a rain garden, a roof garden, and a water detention tank that will decrease the flow of stormwater running into the drainage system. The renovation is expected to be completed in 2015 and is expected the make the landscape greener and more attractive.

K-CC FAmily NightK-CC GROs organised the K-CC Family Night carnival at the area around the Kembangan field

K-CC Family Night

PUB (ABC) Waters Programme

Events and happenings in Kembangan-Chai Chee

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on 19th October for residents of all ages to strengthen the relationships with their families and with their neighbours and to foster new ones. Several food stalls serving up local delights were on site to keep guests satiated, while bouncy castles and various kinds of activities were made available to keep children excited and entertained.

The presence of esteemed guests like Grassroots Advisers Tan Chuan-Jin, Lim Biow

Chuan, and Tin Pei Ling, as well as Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong, was met with great warmth and welcome from residents. These special guests got themselves involved by interacting with residents, touring booths exhibiting upcoming and ongoing governmental and

A listeNiNg eArA resident who met with Adviser Tan had this to say about their encounter:

“I was in my pajamas, all ready for bed when an RC member knocked on our door and asked if we would like to meet the MP. It was past 9pm, I thought that he must be tired — did he really want to listen

K-CC Family Night

K-CC Family Night

residential projects, and visiting the

Community Mural Painting at Block 114 Lengkong Tiga.

to our trivial complaints? I observed that there was quite an entourage down the corridor at the neighbour’s doorstep. The neighbour did not even open the gates of their door grille! We decided to invite them in for a drink. The MP was an attentive man. He listened patiently to our complaints about the dog poo at the staircase landing, the outdated, yellowed notices left pinned on the notice boards at the void deck. A volunteer was diligently nothing down the issues my eldest sister said. When I asked my second sister to get them packet drinks in Hainanese, the MP declared that he is Hainanese too! Not a ‘*black chicken.’

* The Hainanese saying “Black chicken not acknowledging his own kind” refers to someone

who does not acknowledge his Hainanese heritage.

Events and happenings in Kembangan-Chai Chee

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Sept 2013 - Mid Autumn Festival

Sep 2013 - LTRC Hari Raya Celebration Sept 2013 - Salam Aidil Fitri Celebration @ PGSM

Sept 2013 - AAC Seniors Health Screening

Oct 2013 - Display of Photowalk images at Katong I12

Nov 2013 - AAC Bone Health Talk Nov 2013 - PYGdn RC Blk Party 23Nov13

Oct 2013 - TKNNC - O3@Telok Kurau Park

THe kaleidoscope

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Self-development and self-improvement

Unlike any other beverage, wine needs to be consumed with some skill and precision in order for it to fulfil its potential. Between uncorking the bottle and swallowing the wine, a series of steps has to be taken if you want to coax the best taste out of the wine. And most of the time, its best taste lasts within a short window of opportunity. But if you get it right, you will understand why wine is held in high esteem.

Step 1: ServeUncorking a bottle of wine exposes the wine to the surrounding air. This creates a reaction which usually allows the wine’s aroma to heighten and its flavour to improve. This is especially true for red wines. Depending on the type and age of wine, it might take a different amount of time for the wine to breathe adequately. The easiest way to achieve this is by pouring it into a wine glass. Make sure you aim for the centre of the glass and let the wine fall between 6-10 inches from the bottle to the glass. Stop pouring when the glass is a quarter full.

Step 2: AnticipateNow the fun begins. Hold the glass by the stem, tilt it and observe the wine against a bright, white background if

We take you through a step-by-step crash course on wine tasting

OUR leaRning jOURney

possible. Experienced wine lovers might be able to appraise the quality of the wine by evaluating it colour, clarity and viscosity. Don’t worry if you can’t, furrowed eyebrows and a little head nodding should bring you some admiration.

Step 3: SmellThe aroma of a wine is as important as its taste. Bring your nose close to the glass and take a deep breath. If there is a vinegar-like smell, the wine is probably past its best and could also possibly be suffering from cork contamination. Swirl the glass and immediately take another sniff. The smell provides a strong hint of whether the wine is good or not. Young wines usually smell of flowers and fruits while older wines smell of spices and wood.

Step 4: SipTake a small sip of wine, maybe a tablespoon full. Move the wine around the inside of your mouth and if you want to, you can suck in some air with your lips. Keep the wine in your mouth before

Wine appReciatiOn: a gUide

swallowing (or spitting). While tasting the wine, you should try to detect its sweetness with the tip of your tongue, its sourness, and after the wine has been in your mouth for a while, its bitterness.

Step 5: RepeatYou have tasted the wine, now you can decide whether you like it or not. If you didn’t, you can give it a second chance. Many experts judge the quality of wine over a whole glass and not just a sip!

Our resident chef Mdm Sim will be leading a cooking class on a weekend in February 2014 at Kampong Kembangan CC. Participants of the class will be taken through the process of cooking two of Mdm Sim’s specialties – Red Wine Chicken and Basmati Rice. The course fee will be $2.

K-cc cOOKing classsign Up nOW!

Please call Hieng Howe from Kampong Kembangan CC at 64496022 for more details.

Know Your neighbourhood

They say a single photo speaks a thousand words. How many stories then does a collection of photos tell? During the ‘I Love Kembangan-Chai Chee Photowalk’, residents morphed into scribes with DSLRs as they journeyed through the neighbourhood and immortalised the lives of those they captured.

The Photowalk was held over two days – a night walk was organised on September 27 and a day walk took place two days later. The sessions, which lasted for three hours each, were

MoMents PreservedThe ‘I Love Kembangan-Chai Chee Photowalk’ event let residents present their view of life in the neighbourhood

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Selected photos on display for the public to enjoy

Discover interesting hangouts and activities at Kembangan-Chai Chee

attended by professional photographers who were on hand to guide the participants. Many of the budding shutterbugs might have been novices, but were wildly successful in capturing the spirit of the community through images of fellow residents, landmarks, and everyday activities.

After the Photowalk, a few of the photos taken during the event were shortlisted and from these, two winners were chosen. Congratulations to Goh Wenmei Abigail, for her warm and beautifully composed photograph, and to Vincent Fong, whose use of a slow shutter speed created an arresting picture that seems to be constantly moving. Both Abigail and Vincent walked away with prosumer cameras as their prizes. The selected photos were displayed at Katong I12 Shopping Mall on October 26-27.

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Photo by Janice Ong

Photo by Goh Wenmei Abigail

Katong I12 was the venue of the photowalk exhibition

Photo by Tan Chuan-Jin

Photo by Vincent Fong

loudhailer

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attention all residents!

MilestonesIn a blink of an eye, yet another fruitful year has come and gone. We look back at some snapshots from our favourite events of 2013.

Jan 13 - K-CC Community Day 2013

Mar 23 - Kg Ubi CC Open House

Apr 6 - Launch of K-CC Wellness Centre

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The latest news and feedback from our Neighbourhood

Jul 13 - Hygiene Maintenance Project Part 2 Jul 24 - One Singapore Conversation

Oct 19 - K-CC Family Night

Aug 9 - K-CC National Observance Ceremony

Sep 27 & 29 - K-CC Divisional Heritage Photowalk

Working For The PeoPle

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A quick look at Kembangan-Chai Chee’s approach to improve community health, and results of environmental works around the neighbourhood.

Community HealtH issuesKembangan –Chai Chee has two taskforces which focus on mental well-being: Social Taskforce and Employment Taskforce. Both taskforces work closely with external and local parties to render support to residents who require assistance. The Social Taskforce holds monthly meetings with external partners (AIC, IMH and Filos

Community Services) as well as our local FSCs, VWOs and agencies (Sunlove, SAC, PPIS, Town Council, HDB, NEA) to better understand residents and to integrate them into the community. The taskforce is currently exploring solutions based on resident feedback to localise mental healthcare follow up within K-CC. The Employment Taskforce looks specifically into helping

residents gain employment.Kembangan-Chai Chee holds

workshops/training sessions organised by AIC to train their grassroots leaders to better manage situations when engaging residents with special needs. They focus on training volunteers and to increase mental well-being awareness, so that residents can manage expectations and accept them as part of our community.

broThers in arms

environmenTal UPgrading

Drainage Improvement at Everitt Road / Lorong 106 Changi (completed in 2013)

Estate upgrading at Jalan Senang (completed in 2009)

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Acknowledging our community partners for their dedication and commitment to our neighbourhood

Road raising and drainage improvement at Jalan Turi (Completed in 2013), Jalan Turi

Estate Upgrading at Lorong Melayu (Started 4th Quarter 2011; Expected completion in 2nd Quarter 2014), Lorong Marican

Improvement to Joo Chiat Estate roadside drains (Started 2nd Quarter 2013; Expected completion in 1st Quarter 2016)

Road Raising at Chai Chee Road (Started 4th Quarter 2013; Expected completion in 4th Quarter 2013)

Before

Before

After

After

What’s neW

AwAsh with ColoursIn a display of national pride and community spirit, Kembangan-Chai Chee residents came together to paint a 360-metre long batik art piece – Singapore’s largest batik painting ever! This massive work of art will be used for the Chingay parade in 2014, we look forward to seeing it in its full glory!

The K-CC Family Night in October 2013 was a night of fun and games. It was also an opportunity for residents to showcase their artistic talents by painting murals at Lengkong Tiga. These are the latest additions to the existing murals at Kampong Ubi CC and Chai Chee Blk 803. See if you can spot them!

PAintings on the wAll

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The following lisT is a snapshoT of evenTs from JanUarY To marCh 2014

Date/Day Time name of activity venue organiser Details

3 Jan 2014 (Fri)

9.00 am to 2.00 pm Seniors Befriending Tour Various location K-CC AAC Require pre-event

registration for seniors

4 Jan 2014 (Sat)

2.00 pm to 4.00 pm

Garden in A Bottle (Terrarium) Kg Ubi CC Kg Ubi CC $15 (M)/ $25 (NM)

5-26 Jan 2014 (Sun)

12.30 pm to 2.00 pm

Sports Chanbara (Japanese Martial Arts) Kg Ubi CC Kg Ubi CC $40 (M)/ $45 (NM) for

4 sessions

6 Jan 2014 (Mon)

8.15 pm to 9.15 pm Spiral Pilates Kg Kembangan

CC Kg Kembangan CC $80 (M)/ $85 (NM) for 8 sessions

11 Jan 2014 ( Sat)

8.45 am to 4.00 pm CNY Shopping cum Cultural Tour Various location Ping Yi Gdn RC Require pre-event

registration

12 Jan 2014 (Sun)

10.00 am to 4.00 pm

Caregiving For Infants For Foreign Domestic Workers Kg Ubi CC Kg Ubi CC Registration:$10

Material fee:$10

19 Jan 2014 (Sun)

7.30 am to 5.30 pm One Community Day 2014 Blk 22 SAC K-CC GROs Pre registration required

for volunteering

21 Jan 2014 (Tues)

10.45 am to 12.15 pm Yoga for Seniors Kg Kembangan

CC Kg Kembangan CC $80 (M)/ $85 (NM) for 8 sessions

26 Jan 2014 (Sun)

9.00 am to 12.00 pm LNY Mandarin Oranges Distribution Shops @ Chai

CheeK-CC GROs & Merchants

AssocFor Chai Cheeshop owners

26 Jan 2014 (Sun)

7.30 pm to 9.00 pm

LNY Ang Pow cum Goodie bags Give-away 2014

Blk 25 A & 26 Chai Chee Ave

K-CC LNY Working Committee & CDWF Based on nomination

4 Feb - 8 Apr 2014

(Tues)

8.30 pm to 10.00 pm

Korean Language (Elementary) Stage I

Kg Kembangan CC Kg Kembangan CC

$130(M)/$135(NM) $20(Material Fee) for

10 sessions

8 Feb 2014 ( Sat)

8.15 am to 6.00 pm K-CC LNY Temple Visit 2014 Kg Ubi CC K-CC GROs Based on nomination

9 Feb 2014 (Sun)

12.00 pm to 1.30 pm Starville Condo CNY Gathering Starville Condo

Lengkong Empat Jalan Senang NC For Starville Condo residents

9 Feb 2014 (Sun)

7.45 pm to 10.00 pm K-CC LNY Dinner 2014 Roland

Restaurant K-CC GROs Require pre-event registration

16 Feb - 6 Apr 2014

(Sun)

10.00 am to 4.00 pm

Caregiving For Infants For Foreign Domestic Workers Kg Ubi CC Kg Ubi CC Registration:$10

Material fee:$10

9 Feb 2014 (Sun)

10.00 am to 11.00am Zumba Fitness Kg Ubi CC Kg Ubi CC $85 (M)/$90 (NM) for

8 sessions

9 Feb 2014 (Sun)

3.00 pm to 4.30 pm

Modern Living - The Art Of Muay Thai Kg Ubi CC Kg Ubi CC Please call kg ubi cc for

more details

2 Mar 2014 (Sun)

10.00 am to 4.00 pm

Caregiving For Infants For Foreign Domestic Workers Kg Ubi CC Kg Ubi CC Registration:$10

Material fee:$10

23 Mar 2014 (Sun)

2.00 pm to 6.00 pm

Dikir Barat Championship “Piala Mahkota Raja” 2014

Paya Lebar Methodist Girls’

SchoolK-CC MAEC Require pre-event

registration

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Upcoming News and Events in Kembangan-Chai Chee

please contact our staff for registration and enquiry:Kampong Ubi Community Centre – 67459919, Kampong Kembangan Community Club – 64496022

*Details updated according to time of print. Residents are strongly encouraged to confirm event details nearer to date.

Glimpse into the future

Be a volunteerJoin Kembangan-Chai Chee

Please call Kampong Kembangan CC (Tel: 64496022)Kampong Ubi CC (Tel: 67427281)

or email: PA_KGKEMBANGANCC@pa.gov.sg

Play a part, join us in giving back to Our Community!- Tan Chuan-Jin