Singapore Government Press Release

Media Division, Ministry of Information and The Arts

36th Storey, PSA Building, 460 Alexandra Road, Singapore 119963.

Tel: 3757794/5

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Community leaders

Ladies and gentlemen

Good evening.

The Sembawang-Hong Kah CDC was officially launched last December to strengthen community spirit and social cohesion in Singaporeans. This is in line with the Prime Minister's call to further develop the heartware of Singaporeans.

This evening, we have come to witness the launch of a new initiative built on a partnership between the Home Team and our community. This initiative is the Community Focus Plan, or CFP in short. This plan will help address the safety and security concerns of our community. The CFP will include crime, fire and drug preventive education; road safety activities; community-based problem solving; and victim support programmes.

I understand that officers from Ang Mo Kio and Jurong Police Divisions have been working jointly with our Residents’ Committees (RCs) to draft the CFP and to create awareness of it. From what I hear, our grassroots leaders and residents have responded with enthusiasm. Mr Yong Siew Hua, Chairman of Nee Soon East Zone 8 RC, will later share with you his experience in pioneering the first CFP within the Sembawang-Hong Kah CDC community.

Today, as part of the CFP, Sembawang-Hong Kah CDC will be piloting two Care and Support Programmes together with the Home Team. The first programme offers care and support to traffic accident victims and their families. Through this programme, the CDC and residents of Sembawang-Hong Kah CDC will help traffic accident victims and their families by providing emotional support and financial assistance, and arranging for child care and job placement. The support given by the CDC and residents will be a source of great comfort for the victim and his family.

The second programme aims to assist families of offenders. When an offender is in prison or DRC, his family may have no one to turn to for support. And when the offender is a key member of the family, a host of other social problems may result. For example, his children, for lack of guidance, can mix with bad company or turn to crime. Under this CFP initiative, CDC volunteers will help the family by providing emotional support, counselling, childcare and financial assistance. The early involvement of CDC volunteers can help prevent the breakdown of an offender's family.

These two pilot Care and Support Programmes, for offenders’ families and for traffic accident victims and families, are concrete expressions of meeting felt needs. Sembawang-Hong Kah CDC will spearhead these two programmes in the pilot phase. The experience gained during this pilot phase will enable the Home Team to fine-tune the programmes before offering them to the other CDCs by January 1999 as part of the overall CFP programme.

An established component of the CFP is the Neighbourhood Watch Zone (NWZ) scheme. I am pleased that today we are also launching the NWZ scheme in Sembawang – Hong Kah CDC - for 92 RCs and the Lakepoint Neighbourhood Committee (NC).

The NWZ scheme involves the formation of a NWZ under each RC and NC. A grassroots leader is chosen to lead as the NWZ Liaison Officer (LO). He is assisted by Assistant Liaison Officers (ALOs) who may be block representatives or other long-standing residents. The LO and ALOs work with officers from the Neighbourhood Police Centre or Neighbourhood Police Post to promote crime prevention activities. The NWZ scheme gives residents a greater say in helping to ensure security in our neighbourhood.

The recent spate of home and car break-ins underscores the important role that NWZs can play. Residents should inculcate a mindset and be proactive in looking out for each other’s properties and physical well-being.

With the official launch of the CFP in Sembawang-Hong Kah CDC, and in particular, the Care & Support Programme for Traffic Accident Victims and Families, the Care & Support Programme for Offenders’ Families, and the Neighbourhood Watch Zone scheme, we have taken an important step towards nurturing an action-oriented community that has a heart and soul and takes pride in helping to look after itself.

It gives me great pleasure now to launch the Community Focus Plan for Sembawang-Hong Kah CDC. I urge all grassroots leaders and residents to do their part to make our CDC’s Community Focus Plan a success.

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