00:00I often wonder what the old people or the families who look out at the glitzy skyscrapers here think.
00:11So my name is Jerry. I volunteer with The Soup Kitchen and we are a group of volunteers who
00:17distribute food around the Jalan Besar area to rental families who either have a lot of children
00:23or are elderly and cannot help themselves. We first pack food from a vegetarian restaurant
00:29in the area and then we distribute it to various blocks in the area, namely about five or six
00:35blocks. We start from the top, then we go down and sometimes when we give out food,
00:43we also make sure that the welfare of the residents are okay. So The Soup Kitchen project
00:49is an ongoing project that has been around for a while. I've been doing this for 13 years but
00:56the founders themselves a few more years than that. In the past, they had a cafe at Rowell Road
01:02where they would buy tofu and vegetables and rice from Sheng Siong to cook and distribute.
01:09So every Tuesday, I would go to this vegetarian restaurant. After packing for about an hour,
01:15the aim is to pack about 400-ish packets of bee hoon to distribute to the six blocks. The
01:21volunteers would then go from door to door to make sure that the recipients of the bee hoon
01:28get their bee hoon and are okay.
01:30After packing the food from the vegetarian restaurant, the volunteers would then deliver
01:52the packets of bee hoon. We usually check in on them to make sure that their living conditions
01:56are fine or that health-wise it's fine and if they're not, then we would make a note about it
02:02and then maybe help report it to the family services centre nearby so that the social workers
02:10can follow up with the units and check in on them. By the time everything is distributed,
02:16it would be about 7-7.30pm. Sometimes there's not enough bee hoon so we would buy extra packets
02:21of bee hoon from the MRT station nearby to ensure that there's sufficient food for the
02:26recipients on the list. About 7-7.30pm, the volunteering would be done. Sometimes we hang out
02:33for a drink or if not, then we just go home because the volunteers come from
02:37work or school and have busy schedules so it's part of their weekly routine.
02:52Two packets. I'll take your time. Hello, hello, Glen. Two packets.
03:01One, three, four. Three packets, right?
03:11Two packets? Okay.
03:13Let's go to the sixth floor. I know it's very hot. No, no, sixth floor. So we have to go down two flights of stairs.
03:28Here.
03:43It's very hot today. It's hot?
03:45Where do you listen to Cantonese dramas?
03:47Do you have a radio?
03:49Auntie, take good care of yourself.
03:51Hello, Hafiz.
03:55Uncle, I'm sorry.
03:57Rice noodles, rice noodles.
03:59I like it.
04:01Thank you so much.
04:03Hello, Mr Rizran.
04:05Hi, sorry.
04:07Bee hoon.
04:09Sorry.
04:13I will put it on your door.
04:15Because it says
04:17difficulty walking, hang on door.
04:19Hello, Auntie, Uncle.
04:21Auntie, rice noodles.
04:23Do you want rice noodles?
04:25How many packets? Three packets, right?
04:27Take your time.
04:29Rice noodles, sweet.
04:33I'm sorry.
04:37Thank you, sorry.
04:39Okay.
04:55Yeah, we'll come back with one more packet.
04:57Okay.
04:59Sorry, we'll come back, we'll come back.
05:01We're short of one packet, so we're going to go pick up one packet
05:03and then bring it back.
05:05So I guess
05:07all of us have a very personal
05:09and vested interest in the people receiving the bee hoon
05:11because we have formed personal relationships
05:13with them after being here for so long.
05:15But at the same time, it's also
05:17really nice to
05:19help alleviate the cost of living
05:21in Singapore a little bit.
05:23I met an old lady and she picks up
05:25cans and cardboard boxes for a living
05:27because I think the standard
05:29of living in Singapore is getting to be a little bit
05:31more expensive for the elderly people who don't
05:33earn so much, right, or they don't
05:35really make an income. I was a bit surprised
05:37to hear that
05:39she understands political trends
05:41in the world because of the price of
05:43metal, for instance, but
05:45that also makes me feel
05:47sad because the old lady has a
05:49hand-to-mouth subsistence, so
05:51if she doesn't go out and pick up
05:53cans, she will not be able to maybe
05:55buy herself a pack of food
05:57at the coffee shop today. For me,
05:59I feel very heartened
06:01when I maybe go back to the
06:03same unit and see the same person, but they're getting better.
06:05But there are some recipients
06:07who are a bit older,
06:09such as this Madam Ong from
06:11Block 7 in the area.
06:13When I first started, she was very healthy
06:15but now she's got dementia, which
06:17is very heartening for me to
06:19go every week just to make sure that she's fine.
06:21Distributing food to
06:23them and talking to them
06:25sort of maybe alleviates
06:27that loneliness a little bit.
06:29Given how Singapore
06:31is progressing as a society
06:33so rapidly, we're modernising
06:35so quickly,
06:37I think there are still some people
06:39who are
06:41left behind a little because
06:43they're either older
06:45or they're unable to keep up with technology or they don't
06:47have the skills to do so because
06:49they're unable to do so.
06:51Very small, you know.
06:53Maybe I'll give you two more.
06:55These few blocks in the Jalan Besar area, they're surrounded
06:57by glitzy skyscrapers,
06:59high-rise buildings.
07:01You can actually see them from
07:03the buildings that we give out
07:05food to. I think in
07:07order to be a
07:09balanced human being,
07:11I am still in the process
07:13of trying to be a balanced person.
07:15Part of it is
07:17for me, is being of service to
07:19the society and the community at large
07:21regardless of other
07:23commitments that I may have.
07:25To me, volunteering means a lot
07:27and I enjoy it.
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