18 January 2004 - (Shin Min Daily News) - Private non-profit counseling and community development agency, SPACES, organized a community event yesterday at Tanglin Halt estate, to help to spring clean 27 elderly homes.

The event, in Chinese: “Spring Cleaning and Reunion”, has more than 100 volunteers including 45 pupils from Chinese High School. These volunteers helped to clean the homes of elderly in preparation for the coming Lunar New Year.

This event aimed to bring the joy of the festivity to the elderly by helping them to clean their homes and dining with them in the reunion dinner.

“Apart from offering diverse people groups with an opportunity for social service, it was also an excellent exercise in community building.” said Mr. Jerry Siah, who helped to organize the event.

With growing number of elderly living alone, and without friends and relatives to celebrate the traditional family reunion dinner, the organizers hoped to bring warm and cheers to the elderly by having volunteers to join the elderly in a reunion dinner. Furthermore, a many of Malay families were invited for the reunion dinner. This event gave the residences of Tanglin Halt an opportunity for inter-racial interaction and helped to strengthen social bonding.