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‘We are not an ungracious, unhelpful bunch of people’

SINGAPORE — Undergraduate Elson Soh, who is also an up-and-coming singer with an album under his belt, will tell anyone who is willing to listen that Singaporeans are not apathetic. And he has the numbers to prove it.

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SINGAPORE — Undergraduate Elson Soh, who is also an up-and-coming singer with an album under his belt, will tell anyone who is willing to listen that Singaporeans are not apathetic. And he has the numbers to prove it.

In only six months, he has gathered more than 500 volunteers — undoubtedly thanks to his drawing power as a mini celebrity — to regularly visit the needy living in one-room flats, and provide them with food, goodie bags, basic furniture and even money for their electricity bills, in some cases.

“Singaporeans are not an ungracious and unhelpful bunch of people — in contrast to what we are often labelled as,” says Mr Soh, 25, an economics and business management undergraduate at the Singapore Institute of Management.

In February, he set up Project Awareness with two friends — media consultant William Soh, 37, and social media consultant Ng Yong Kang, 26.

He was moved by the needy elderly he met at his performances and community events and, after a family did not qualify for assistance from an association he had referred them to, Mr Soh decided he “needed to do something on his own”.

“There are charity organisations, old folks’ homes and children’s homes — these are meaningful, but they mostly already have the kind of support they require,” says Mr Soh, who wants to reach out to those less fortunate but who do not actively seek help.

Project Awareness aims to highlight the plight of and provide support for those who “fall through the cracks of Government assistance schemes” or people going through “tough periods in their lives”. Under the project, help comes in three stages: Immediate assistance, then longer-term support and, finally, encouraging those who were helped to give back to society as volunteers themselves. For example, his project hired a man — who had difficulty finding a job to support his family — as a deliveryman to transport food rations to needy households.

Mr Soh reiterates that he hopes to foster the spirit of giving back to society. “This Hari Raya, one Muslim household I had previously helped came to me and volunteered to cook for the families living in the one-room flats in the same estate,” he says. “It is touching to see other individuals who once received aid from Project Awareness becoming volunteers, too.”

The singer has also roped in design company Darwin Interior and poultry supplier Kee Song Group as major sponsors for the project to do home renovations and provide food supplies, respectively. The project has also referred needy individuals to free legal services. Mr Soh hopes more corporate sponsors can aid his cause.

“I want to use the position I am in now as a public figure to bring about positive contributions in the lives of other people in any way I can — not just in terms of my music but my acts of compassion,” he says.

Some detractors have suggested that he is using the project as a public relations vehicle, to which he responds: “It is not fair for people to doubt my kind intentions ... I can gain publicity if I want to via other simpler, less time-consuming and less costly means.”

Mr Soh has put in about S$60,000 of his income from music sales and endorsements to fund Project Awareness. On whether the project will be sustainable, he says it will be, so long as he and the volunteers are committed to ensure that “no Singaporean gets left behind”.

Mr Soh is sure that, without social media, his project would not have taken off the way it has. Apart from its Facebook page, he uses his personal Facebook profile and blog to publicise activities and recruit volunteers. “Youths are good with social media, so why not put our strengths to good use? By creating awareness through social media, help can be gathered and dispatched quickly every time,” he says.

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