SINDA gave me all-round support in different areas of my life. SINDA’s Back to School Festival and STEP programme provided much-needed financial and educational assistance for me to do better in my studies. After finding out about SINDA’s diverse range of youth programmes, I joined the SINDA Football Club, where I not only improved my football abilities but also developed essential life and leadership skills.
My journey with SINDA has inspired me to positively impact others. Today, I am paying it forward as a Peer Leader with the SINDA Youth Club.
Armed with the firm belief that books are a vital gateway to broadening horizons and imparting worldly knowledge, Preethi is on a quest to cultivate a reading habit in young children. Every week for the last five years, she has been setting aside time from her busy schedule to conduct reading sessions in English and Tamil under SINDA’s Book Wizards programme. Through weekly sessions at the library as well as house visits, she gently nurtures a love for reading in children and helps them enhance their reading abilities. Her dedication and care have not gone unnoticed, and she is now a Volunteer Leader for Book Wizards.
Preethi also volunteers at other SINDA events including BTSF to help secure the financial well-being of students. For her efforts, she was awarded a Five-Year Appreciation Certificate at the SINDA Appreciation Ceremony 2023.
In addition to being a Lead Tamil Teacher at Bendemeer Primary School, Mdm Serene has been juggling her role as a SINDA Liaison Officer the past 14 years.
In her many years of teaching, Mdm Serene has met hundreds of children. Among them, the ones she remembers are those who overcame their difficult family backgrounds to make it through to Secondary School, with help from Project Teach. It’s what inspires her to keep going as a SINDA Liaison Officer (SLO).
“When we see that a student isn’t getting enough support at home, we teachers in school come together to help the student. It’s good that SINDA has a platform for us to tap on,” Mdm Serene shares. Despite the extra effort needed to ensure that the Project Teach programme runs smoothly and successfully, she says it is all worth it.
Many Indian organisations like SINDA and share a common purpose to assist and uplift the community through their social assistance programmes and events. Partnering with organisations like SKML, SINDA is able to serve the Indian community better. Over the years SKML has partnered SINDA in the distribution of Festive Gift Packs during the festive seasons as well as an annual donation for SINDA’s Project Give. Furthermore, both organisations can tap on each other’s expertise to ensure that those in need are reached out to effectively.
“Moving forward, SKML remains eager and committed in making a difference to the lives of needy and deserving members of the Indian community, together with SINDA.”
Mr Naseer Bin Ghani, 58
SINDA Partner and Donor
President, Singapore Kadayanallur Muslim League (SKML)
Shaul Hameed s/o Mohamed Shariff, currently an Architecture student at Singapore Polytechnic, was part of the pioneer batch of students from ITELP in 2015. The programme had just been introduced specially for ITE students to develop and groom them into effective leaders. Shaul enjoyed the five-month long programme thoroughly and learnt a lot from it. As a participant of ITELP in 2015, Shaul broadened his knowledge about leading and implementing projects. In 2016, he challenged himself to be a mentor for the new batch of ITELP students as he believes strongly in contributing back to the very programme that played a significant role in shaping him to be who he is today.
“First-hand knowledge as a previous participant meant I was better able to guide the students in their projects. Also, being a mentor required us to evaluate participants’ projects and this allowed me to improve my decision-making skills and be a better leader.”
After spending 26 years in the banking sector, Ms Prema Subramaniam quit her job to teach kindergarten children English and literacy. She says this move of hers was inspired by the work she did as a Project Read volunteer with SINDA. Ms Prema became a Project Read volunteer back in 2005 and besides the weekly reading sessions, she would spend time with the children to get to know them better and bring them to the library as well. She strongly believes that being a volunteer isn’t just about reading to the child but it’s also about providing a holistic support system for each child.
“When I was in the bank, I was always dressed in nice suits and heels. But doing this brought me closer to the heartland, and made me realise that I could use my skills to do a little bit more for the community.” At 64, Ms Prema is still an active SINDA volunteer and received the ‘10 Year Gold Award’ at the Volunteers’ Recognition Ceremony last year, in recognition of all her contributions as a volunteer for the past 10 years.
“Being a SINDA Liaison Officer (SLO) has allowed me to reach out to students who struggle in their studies but are unable to afford private tuition, with SINDA’s Project Teach programme held in my school. It is indeed rewarding when I see the grades of my students improve after being part of Project Teach. It may be a small contribution on my part but the change and impact it can make to a student’s life is extremely big!” - Megalai d/o Thangavelu, SLO, Senior Teacher, Ngee Ann Primary School