CareLight Wellness Centre was opened on 7th May 2019 by our Guest-of-Honour (GOH), Mr Chua Eng Leong, Adviser to Aljunied GRC Grassroots organisations. The programme commenced with an introduction to the Singapore Malayalee Association and its 100-year heritage in Singapore.
Mr. Prem, President of the SMA, highlighted the various initiatives implemented to benefit the community here, including the $1m bursary for needy NUS students. He expressed his joy at finally starting the wellness centre, which had been a dream for the last 2 years. Mrs. Sunu, Vice-president of the SMA, highlighted the goal of the SMA to give back to the community here through the wellness centre. She elaborated on the vision and mission of this wellness centre, which is essentially a drop-in centre that provides activities for residents of all races and ages to participate and interact with their peers.
Mrs. Sunu also highlighted the numerous collaborators that CareLight is working with to conduct programmes – including the National Library Board, The Singapore Indian Development Association, Changi General Hospital and Montfort Care, just to name a few.
Following this, representatives from some of our collaborators shared about their planned programmes at CareLight. A Khoo Teck Puat Hospital representative gave us details on the ‘Share a Pot’ programme, a MontfortCare representative explained the ‘Happy Kopitiam’ programme, Changi General Hospital representative spoke about the free medical check-up programme; a Diabetic Society of Singapore representative shared more on diabetes management and finally, a SINDA representative presented Project Guide that helps lower-income students with schoolwork.
We also had some volunteers share about their programmes. Mrs. Vijaya Mohan, a community artist and art therapist, will be conducting various art sessions at CareLight. Ms. Suchi, the laughter coach, energized the crowd with some quick laughter therapy.
Mr. Chua Eng Leong then addressed the audience. He reiterated the importance of giving back to the community here, and expressed his gratitude to the SMA and the collaborators for setting up CareLight. The event ended with a mingling session over dinner.
We are confident that CareLight will encourage seniors to connect, support each other, and look out for each other through the many physical, social and educational activities at the centre.
We hope to have you all there for the official launch on 14th July 2019, Sunday. More details will be made known in due course.
