CDCs see 40% increase in households seeking help

By Hoe Yeen Nie, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 29 June 2009 2001 hrs

Teo Ser Luck (file pic)

SINGAPORE: Singapore's Community Development Councils (CDCs) have seen a 40 per cent increase in the number of people seeking help as a result of the current economic downturn.

As Singapore's five mayors begin a new term, their focus will be on helping the needy.

In these tough times, mayors said "business" has gone up.

In the first quarter of this year, the number of families seeking help went up by 40 percent, while those looking for work doubled.

Between January and March 2009, the five CDCs received 5,540 applications for social assistance, compared to 3,934 a year ago.

The number of people seeking help in finding jobs went up from 5,844 in the first quarter of 2008 to 11,790 in the first quarter of this year.

Community Development Councils (CDCs) were first created in 1997 to bring back a sense of community spirit among residents. Since then they've taken on additional functions, including the delivery of a wide range of social services, such as financial assistance schemes and help in finding a job.

Speaking at the swearing-in ceremony for the five mayors on Monday, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, said: “The CDCs play a crucial role because they're close to the ground and therefore more attuned to ground needs and the constraints and circumstances in your areas.

“You can deliver assistance to where it's most needed, where it's most deserved, and you can help Singaporeans get back on their feet and be more self-reliant."

New mayor Teo Ser Luck, who takes over from Zainul Abidin Rasheed, said his first task is to examine how resources are managed.

Mr Teo is also the Senior Parliamentary Secretary for the Community Development, Youth and Sports, and Transport ministries.

He said: "We have plenty of programmes and I'm not sure if every single one is effective. And the other thing is I'm not sure if it's well-served for the residents. We need to look through all the programmes and see which ones meet the targets and which don't so that funds are better allocated."

Mr Zainul steps down as mayor after 10 years.

But the rest of the mayoral line-up remains unchanged - Dr Amy Khor at South West district; Dr Teo Ho Pin at North West district; Mr Zainudin Nordin at Central district and Mr Matthias Yao at South East district.

The mayors also plan to better coordinate efforts between grassroots organisations so that help can be better delivered. - CNA/vm

From ChannelNewsAsia.com; see the source article here.

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Find time to pause and reflect, especially on MRT escalators

That is why I will always prefer the nipa hut… very cool, placid, relaxing… very much at home in an unhurried environment…

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EVERY morning, while standing on the left side of the upward-riding escalator at Raffles Place MRT station, so as to make way for those who are in a hurry on the right, I would wonder: "Who on Earth will walk up, instead of standing still, on this stunningly long and steep escalator?"

From my observation, there are, in fact, many commuters who do that.

Regardless of the time of the day, there is always a long line of men and women on the right of the escalator moving upward orderly and with haste.

Not only that, commuters are often in a "fighting" mode – they fight their way out of packed train carriages and crowded stations.

Some even run at track-and-field speeds, hoping to get an early start. The scene is like a race.

It strikes me, then, why people try to save some seconds by walking briskly up the escalator: They are constantly in a race.

But are they really in such a hurry?

Indeed, we are sometimes too busy to know why we are so busy, and we just keep ourselves always occupied, like a machine gone wild.

As a result, we can't afford to "waste time" by standing still and doing nothing on the escalator – we have to move forward all the time.

And we repeat the same rushing routine day in, day out.

Perhaps we should make use of the few seconds on the escalator to think about our life and ask ourselves: "Are we really in such a hurry?"

We should find time to pause and reflect. If we could do that, our lives would be less tiring.

Mr Charles Chen Jiacheng

From myPaper, My Say – Thursday, 28-May-2009

Pacquiao knocks out Hatton for historic triumph

From the record, here is the article from Yahoo! News

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AFP - Sunday, May 3

LAS VEGAS, Nevada (AFP) - - Filipino southpaw Manny Pacquiao knocked out Britain's Ricky Hatton just before the end of the second round to match a boxing record with a title in a sixth career weight class.

Pacquiao slammed a powerful left hand into Hatton's chin to buckle the Englishman's knees and send him down to the canvas on his back unconscious.

Referee Kenny Bayless knelt over the unmoving Hatton and halted the fight after two minutes and 59 seconds of the second round, giving the Filipino star a victory and the International Boxing Organization junior welterweight title.

"Everybody is surprised. Me too. I didn't expect this would be so easy," Pacquiao said. "But I have worked hard in training camp. Nothing personal. I was just doing my job."

Hatton was awakened and walked back to the locker room but was taken to a nearby hospital as a precaution without any public comments.

"Ricky is desperately sorry to all his fans. He got caught with a great shot," said Gareth Williams, Hatton's manager. "We want to congratulate Manny Pacquiao. He demonstrated why he is the greatest pound-for-pound fighter in the world today and maybe of all time."

Pacquiao, widely considered the world pound-for-pound champion, won his 10th fight in a row, improving to 49-3 with two drawn with his 37th early stoppage. Hatton fell to 45-2, losing at junior welterweight for the first time in his career.

Pacquiao was coming off a victory last December over Oscar de la Hoya that cemented his place as boxing's "pound-for-pound" champion, even though a newly unretired Floyd Mayweather Jnr might one day make him prove the point again.

"This was as big for me as the De la Hoya fight," Pacquiao said.

Pacquiao knocked Hatton down twice in an electrifying first round, the first time with a left to the chin 30 seconds into the fight and the next with a combination near the end of the round.

"It was open for the right hook," Pacquiao said. "I knew he would be looking for my left. That's what we worked on in training camp. We expected to knock him down with the right hand. I surprised him with that too."

In round two, Hatton caught Pacquiao with a left to the head but Pacquiao answered by pressing the attack, cornering Hatton before settling matters with a devastating punch in the center of the ring just ahead of the bell.

"This was no surprise," Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach said. "Hatton pops his hand before he throws a punch. He's a sucker for the right hook and that's what we worked on the whole camp. He fights the same way over and over."

According to computer statistics, "Pacman" landed 73 of 127 punches in just under six minutes, including 34 of 53 power punches in the second round, while "Hitman" Hatton connected on only 18 of 78.

"I really thought Ricky would get him," Hatton trainer Floyd Mayweather Snr said. "I dont want to get into it more than that."

Pacquiao secured his place among boxing's all-time greats, adding the junior welterweight crown to past world titles at lightweight, super featherweight, junior featherweight, featherweight and flyweight.

Hatton's only prior loss came in December of 2007 when he was stopped in the 10th round by Mayweather in a welterweight bout in the same ring where he was hammered again by the Asian superstar.

Both 30-year-old fighters had strong, vocal, flag-waving support from a celebrity-enhanced crowd of 15,000 at sold-out Grand Garden Arena.

Hatton's singing, chanting backers were challenged by screaming Pacquiao fans in an atmosphere more familiar to English football than boxing.

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The source article is here…