New S$25 million fund to support community projects
SINGAPORE — A chance encounter with a wheelchair-bound man looking for a toilet at Bukit Merah town centre in 2010 became an eye-opening experience for Mr Dennis Quek, co-founder of Wheels @ Ubin. The simple task of locating the nearest toilet, helping the man relieve himself and bringing him back to his original spot took nearly one-and-a-half hours.
SINGAPORE — A chance encounter with a wheelchair-bound man looking for a toilet at Bukit Merah town centre in 2010 became an eye-opening experience for Mr Dennis Quek, co-founder of Wheels @ Ubin. The simple task of locating the nearest toilet, helping the man relieve himself and bringing him back to his original spot took nearly one-and-a-half hours.
The incident compelled Mr Quek, 54, to share his reflections on Facebook, which caught the attention of another woman who was garnering support to organise events for the physically disabled community. This led to the avid sportsman eventually championing for the community through sports outreach events, together with a “core group” of twelve others. Initiatives ranged from raising funds at a pool race involving 300 swimmers when the Buona Vista community pool closed, to organising a Wheel-A-Thon, where wheelchair users raced against able-bodied sportsmen.
Community initiatives like these are set to get more support from the new Our Singapore Fund, which will have up to S$25 million to support projects that promote caring and resilience. Announced in the Budget statement yesterday, it will be launched by the second half of the year.
Welcoming the new fund, Mr Quek shared how it was an uphill challenge initially garnering support for Wheels @ Ubin. “We can’t just write in to companies and ask for some support for this group of friends and myself … I feel the biggest advantage of Our Singapore Fund is that it can help open doors,” said Mr Quek, who is a director at the Republic Polytechnic’s Centre of Innovation for Supply Chain Management.
Last year, with support from the SG50 Celebration Fund, Mr Quek and his friend Wilson Ang drew attention to the issue of accessible travel by taking 100 wheelchair users to the island on June 26, as part of their Wheels @Ubin initiative.
Next, the team is looking to organise a second edition of the project — this time at Bukit Timah, noting that the steep hills might make it even more of a challenge for wheelchair users.
The aim of such projects is to make such places more “accessible”, he said, adding: “Accessibility doesn’t just comprise physical accessibility … It could mean many things — to those who are hearing impaired, or vision impaired … It’s much, much more than that and we hope to encourage more of such initiatives.” TOH EE MING