A gracious society helps the needy prove their worth

I came across the report “Residents of special-needs home winning hearts through lion dance” (January 31) tied to the ongoing TODAY Enable Fund, and would like to commend the THK Home for the Disabled @ Eunos for providing professional lion dance training to its residents.

This initiative, done in partnership with Nam Sieng Dragon and Lion Dance Activity Centre, exposes the residents to a unique cultural experience and enables them to take up an active lifestyle.

Being a strenuous group activity, the training likely serves to build up residents’ mental resilience and encourages teamwork, boosting their confidence and self-esteem, and preparing them for further integration into the community.

More importantly, the achievements of the troupe’s members stand as a strong testament to their immense potential as individuals.

As Singapore strives to build an inclusive society and improve social equity, big dollars have been pledged to provide material welfare and to educate the public on caring for the needy. However, we must not forget that full empowerment can never be achieved with these alone.

We must be mindful, too, that an overly “caring” environment may risk imposing social labels on people with special needs, leading to self-esteem issues or breeding a mentality that stands in the way of personal development.

Perhaps, a truly gracious society is one that provides the needy with more opportunities to showcase their strengths and stretch their potential.

Both the public and private sectors can work together to establish and support enabling platforms for the special-needs community.

Keppel Corporation and Singapore Power led the way by hiring the lion dance troupe for their corporate events, and more of such gestures could follow.