North West Community Development Council (CDC) inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) to kick-start a longer-term strategic partnership to provide funding support of up to $300,000 under the North West WeCare Fund.
The MoU constitutes a 3-year collaboration to see about 600 staff and student volunteers spearheading a variety of projects to benefit over 2,000 beneficiaries. The staff and students are welcome to develop ground-up projects ranging from mentoring needy students, caring for the environment to engaging seniors through smart devices or even co-create programme with North West CDC to put their expertise and knowledge into good use in engaging the community.
The MoU was signed by North West District Mayor, Dr Teo Ho Pin with President Professor Cheong Hee Kiat at one of the ground-up projects, titled “BACH Campus Tour @ North West”. 60 beneficiaries aged 10 to 12, were invited to witness the MOU signing on Friday, 16 March 2018, at Singapore University of Social Sciences.
Dr Teo Ho Pin, Mayor of North West District said, “Youths are the future of tomorrow and we hope to empower the youths with the resources and support to benefit the community at large. Be it organising events to assist the needy, bond the people or even putting what they have learnt to give back to the society, the North West CDC welcomes all of these ideas. We hope to develop the students holistically, not just in classroom, but also develop their creativities to engage the North West Community through these service learning opportunities.”
Professor Cheong Hee Kiat, President of SUSS said, “For us at SUSS, this is the type of partnership we embrace because it is about building community. It is also about combining two groups of people passionate about common goals. It is about SUSS being relevant to the community. Together, we can build a strong social infrastructure and environment for students and community to work alongside and help and serve others for the larger social good.”
BACH Campus Tour @ North West is one of the ground-up initiated projects by SUSS since 2015. The Befriending and Coaching Humanitarian (BACH) programme provides weekly tuition to the Woodlands and Admiralty Care Corner children while the campus tour provides 60 children aged 10 to 12 a glimpse into university life, inspire them to work towards higher education and foster closer bonding between the student volunteers and the children to enhance their learning experience.
22-year-old Ms Tan Kai Zhao is one of the leaders of BACH Campus Tour @ North West, who has found a sense of fulfilment and satisfaction from the programme. During an interview, she said, “I have always wanted to work with youths and children as they are high energy individuals and future generation with potential for great aspirations. We are also learning as we give, gaining a better understanding about the community, especially the youths at risk and the prevalent social issues in the society.” With this MoU, more students like Ms Tan can step forward to develop ground-up initiatives to reach out to the wider community.
The MoU signing with SUSS is the second MoU that North West CDC has with an Institute of Higher Learning (IHL). The first MoU was signed with Republic Polytechnic on 18 November 2016. The North West CDC aims to widen their outreach to IHLs to encourage more youths to come forward to spearhead more community projects.
For more information, please contact:
North West Community Development Council
Wong Swee Fong (Ms)
Team Leader
Corporate Communications
Telephone: 6248 5541
Email: wong_swee_fong@pa.gov.sg
Singapore University of Social Sciences
Valerie Ng (Ms)
Senior PR Manager
Communications & Marketing
Telephone: 6248 0364
Email: valeriengww@suss.edu.sg
About North West Community Development Council
The Community Development Councils (CDCs) were established to build a tightly-knit, compassionate and self-reliant community. North West CDC works closely with various community and corporate partners to strengthen Singapore’s social fabric; and encourages the more able and successful to come forward to help the lesssuccessful, and to foster a greater sense of community ownership and self-help among the residents.
We strive to align our activities and efforts with our mission:
(a) Assisting the needy: To help the less fortunate through local assistance programmes.
(b) Bonding the people: To bond the community through projects & programmes to bring them closer to one another. (c) Connecting the community: To develop strategic partnerships with corporate and community partners to better serve our residents.
The North West District comprises of Holland-Bukit Timah GRC, Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC, Nee Soon GRC, Sembawang GRC and Bukit Panjang SMC.
About the Singapore University of Social Sciences
Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) is one of Singapore's six autonomous universities and its mission is to provide lifelong education that equips learners to serve society. Home to more than 15,000 students, SUSS provides an applied education that targets both fresh school leavers and adult learners, with a focus on the social sciences. It adopts a flexible and practice-focused learning approach and offers more than 70 degree programmes in various disciplines. Eligible students taking SUSS undergraduate programmes enjoy government subsidies and access to government bursaries, tuition fee loans and study loans. For more information on Singapore University of Social Sciences, please visit www.suss.edu.sg.