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Central Singapore CDC to study job creation for seniors

SINGAPORE — The Central Singapore Community Development Council (CDC) will be setting up a think-tank to look at creating job opportunities for its seniors, especially those who are lower-skilled.

SINGAPORE — The Central Singapore Community Development Council (CDC) will be setting up a think-tank to look at creating job opportunities for its seniors, especially those who are lower-skilled.

This is one of the 30 projects it has lined up for the next 12 to 15 months. Other initiatives targeting the silver community in the district include a project for seniors to train and showcase arts performances, outings for those with mobility issues and befriending programmes, said Central Singapore District Mayor Denise Phua, who gave an update yesterday on the first 100 days of her term.

Meaningful employment for seniors, she said, is an issue close to her heart — she has raised it in Parliament on a few occasions — and more needs to be done to offer them additional job options.

One in five people in Singapore are expected to be aged 65 and above by 2020 and Ms Phua’s district has already showed signs of becoming an ageing community.

“In Central (Singapore CDC), we’ve already reached there — 22 per cent are already in that age group. We cannot wait. We need to do something,” said Ms Phua, who is also a Member of Parliament for Moulmein-Kallang GRC.

Besides seniors, she is also targeting other groups, namely children, youth and adults. For instance, projects such as flea markets or themed walks for a cause will aim to get them more involved in community activities.

The 30 projects will support four causes: Arts and culture, a healthy lifestyle, the environment and special needs.

Social Service Offices and job assistance programmes by the Singapore Workforce Development Agency already play a bigger role in providing assistance to the community, but Ms Phua noted that there remain gaps in services that CDCs can cover.

She hopes to expand the reach of the council’s assistance. For instance, two funds — the Rainy Day Umbrella Fund and the Do-good Fund — could help provide immediate financial relief for residents in emergency situations and support meaningful community projects, respectively.

The CDC will support projects at three levels. Some projects will be supported by the CDC for the whole district, such as the upcoming Purple Parade, a special needs movement to be held on Nov 15.

The second tier of projects being supported will be smaller in scale, such as a literacy programme for children that will now include arts and music programmes. It can be adopted by the district’s 23 divisions.

The last tier of projects will see the CDC sponsor, fund or collaborate with smaller community-led initiatives.

More details on these projects will be released at a later date.

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