Being Kinder in 2020

on this last day of the year, completed 8 CNY theme colouring sheets for the homes residents for the month of February 2021... =D 

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The Purple Parade went online this year with 4 recommended ways to show our support. 

(1) Record the purple pledge (29 Oct)

too shy to do a self-filming as recommended so i did the recording in my own manner... 

in a purple blouse + using sign language on the 2nd sentence in the pledge that resonates with me the most...

"We will embrace our differences and celebrate the uniqueness of each individual."

(2) Leave a message of inclusion (29 Oct)

"Let's be gracious. Let's be kind.

Let us accept one and all.

We are one humankind..."

(3) Shop for official merchandises (29 Oct)

nah... the official merchandises; t-shirt, mask & iron on patches didnt make economical & environmental sense to me cos i wont use any of them... 

Since all proceeds from the sale of official merchandises will be distributed to participating Social Service Agencies, Charities, Charities with IPCs and Co-operatives, i think it still make sense that i support any one of them directly... 

browse, browse, browse through all of them and eventually ordered 50 test-tubes of bath salt from MIJ Special Education Hub. 

received on 14 Nov to be distributed to friends and family this xmas...=) 

(4) Watch the livestream concert (31 Oct)

Team Tiramisu watching the Purple Parade Online concert on 蔡妈咪's ipad as we experimented with making our first tiramisu halloween cake... =D

emo 蔡妈咪

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7 September

made 50 of the 220 appreciation cards that were packed into a care pack with mixed nuts packs, coffee capsules and tea wands to appreciate the staff at MINDS on 8 October. 

pics from BeKindSG

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Cakes in September

ordered from Crunchy Teeth, $19.80 with delivery... =) 

same same but different... =P 

the above for mabe, laurice, joyce and me

and the bottom one for lene's hatchday... =) 

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Teachers' Day

there are 2 types of gifts this year...

hama beads brooches from MINDS Social Enterprise for colleagues who share calories in school together... heee 

gem cookies for other colleagues that i like too... 

these cookies are baked by autistic baker, Judd from Crunchy Teeth. 

(text & pics from crunchy teeth)

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21 August

helped to make the 15 cards, packed together with mini dried flower bouquets and biscuits, given to patients receiving dialysis at Bukit Batok Dialysis Centre on September 7. 

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15 August

more info: SG Gratitude Pack initiative

Bag 1

Bag 2: Yes, can also use any other non NDP tote bag ... i gave up my "Drawing from the Right Side of the Brain" bag...

did double good cos the biscuits were bought from Kindness Mart, an online supermarket social enterprise which uses its proceeds to aid the vulnerable and needy in Singapore... while the rest of the items were re-gifts... =P 

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1 August

one of Zhuan's birthday wishes this year was to donate 25% of her home-baking business (@ohmyappetite) revenue in July & August to Rainbow Centre & SPCA clinic... 

so to show some friend friend support, i ordered her yuzu lime cake as the birthday cake for the Chuas' August babies... =) 

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22 July

made 400 mini thank you cards with MX 

it was part of the 1000 care packs which the members of Autoimmune Diseases Singapore have prepared to thank the healthcare staff that have been supporting them since they were first diagnosed... 

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20 June - 26 July

Updates (6 December 2020): scored 70%

#1. Thank you Nat, MX & Partner for donating to the cause... =D

#2. receive a reply from APSN that they are closed till end July due to covid-19 situation, so purchase (5 x 20) packs of cookies baked by special needs youth from Metta Cafe instead... cookies arrived on 1 July... =D

 attached a 'promotion' note to the packs of cookies so that i can just give them out without having to verbally promote the event to the recipients one by one... heee...

Gifting cookies to #3 (friends & family), #4 (colleagues) & #5 (non-teaching staff) was super easy.... in fact, i gave more than the 60 packs targeted for these 3 groups collectively... 

Gifting cookies to #6 (unsung heroes) 

i did step out of my comfort zone a little and managed to gift out a total of 10 packs of cookies ... 1 to SMRT staff @ Farrer Park station, 4 to nurses @ Yishun Community Hospital, 1 to Grab food delivery staff and 4 to the estate cleaners... =D

Gifting cookies to #7 (neighbours) 

 i gave 4 packs to the little kiddos living next door... =) 

#8. only happened once... cos i'm upset that i bought GRAB vouchers which only help me to save $0.80 per trip on 5 GRAB taxi rides within 6 weeks, only to reintroduce GRAB HITCH a day later where i can save $3 per trip... 

#9. Finally completed 20 + 10 (6 Dec) 

these cards will be giving to the residents at the homes during their birthday months... also roped in Mdm Zakiah, Aster & Ain to help with the birthday messages... =) 

#10. only did four... gave 2 masks to a grab driver who forgot his, shared an umbrella with a stranger, picked up a floating plastic bag at the train platform and gave up my kopitiam table to an uncle when i had wanted to nua there for a while more... 

well, i aimed for the sky during target setting and i think i managed to reach the top of a skyscraper.... heee 

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20 June

is captured by the fun element and self-set-goals manner in which this giving project "A Very Special Walk Challenge 2020" is built on... 

to make it more fun for myself, i decided to make it into a 名副其实 20 special challenges; 10 kindness challenges & 10 personal challenges, for myself to conquer... =D

ten kindness challenges from now till 26 July:

#1. Sign up for “A Very Special Walk Challenge 2020”  

#2. Purchase $200 worth of (100 pack x $2 classic) cookies baked by special needs youth from APSN bakery

#3. Gift 20 packs to friends & family

#4. Gift 20 packs to colleagues

#5. Gift 20 packs to non teaching staff (P, VPs, AM, CSOs, OM, CSOs, security staff, IT staff, AEDs)  

#6. Gift 20 packs to unsung heros (SMRT  staff, Hospital staff, Town Council staff) 

#7. Gift 20 packs to neighbours

#8. Tip $20 (10 x $2) to Grab delivery staff and drivers

#9. Make 20 birthday cards for the residents at a welfare home for the monthly birthday celebration

#10. Do 20 random kind acts

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17 to 18 May

15 sponsors responded to this project championed by #BeKindSG and i contributed by making the cards that went along with a box of muffins by Crunchy Teeth and a storybook "Loving Mum Forever"... 

[7 designs, total 15 cards]

awww... brownie looked so adorable and ready to be in the photo that i couldn't let her not be in the photo ... 

also helped to gather encouragement messages written into the cards for the Super Parents... =) 

was very happy when MX informed me that this message in the card, together with the muffins and storybook, received by Jules of Singapore did make her day... =) 

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14 to 16 May

made [15 designs x 2 cards / design = total 30 cards] and with super duper great help from lene, gathered 30 well-wishes to be included in the care packages for covid-19 recovered migrant patients that #BeKindSG championed. 

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15 May

ordered these from Metta Cafe for my neighbour.... was never a neighboury gifting kind of person but my neighbour bought us an expensive box of kueh lapis for CNY this year so decided to return the favour.... but then, the power of my procrastination and the lack of enthusiasm of approaching strangers to offer kind acts face to face changed the whole intention... i gave one to the delivery guy, one to Jannah, finished two bottles myself... =P 

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10 May

sponsored 1 of 32 cakes for BeKindSG's [Special Treats for Super Mums] project to show appreciation and encouragement to the super mums of children and youths with special needs who are adapting to their disrupted routines during this circuit breaker.

The cakes are baked by the apprentices from Metta Cafe, a cafe that trains youths aged 18 years and above with mild intellectual disability and/or autism with vocational training in baking, meal preparation, kitchen and customer service.  

a message by me, written in MX's signature handwriting... =D

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14 to 24 April

received the $600 cash payout from the Solitary Budget today... did double good with it by funding 230 packs of cookies for all the day shift staff @ Bright Vision Hospital. 

The cookies are baked by the apprentices at Metta Cafe, a cafe that trains youths aged 18 years and above with mild intellectual disability and/or autism with vocational training in baking, meal preparation, kitchen and customer service.  

my kiddos made 31 and i made 350 of the mini Thank You cards that were packed into the care packages for this project too... 

The staff at BVH took really good care of mum during her 6 weeks stay last Oct-Nov and even till now when mum goes for her outpatient consultation and medication collection so I am really happy to chance upon this "Kind Packages" Project that BeKindSG prepared for them... =) 

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7 April

doing my mini part to support our local F&B social enterprises, Crunchy Teeth. It is formed by a group of parents whose aim is to equip autistic youth with baking skills so that they can gain employment and be active participants in society.

Order 30 individually packed Easter Egg Sea Salt Butter Cookies and had them delivered to school. 

along came a handmade Easter card created by one of their crew member ... Thank You!

all so cute.... fyi, the 'slippers' look alike designs are actually bunnies with their faces covered by the stickers.... wahahaha...

distributed the cookies to colleagues and kept one for the mrt uncle @ farrer park station who is ever so friendly and smiley ... brightens my every morning on my way to school.. =P 

Thank you pic from Sylvia... =) 

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7 March

Does sharing an umbrella during a sudden downpour with a stranger at the traffic light crossing counts as a mini kind act??? of cos it does... =P 

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5 to 19 February

thank you MX for the opportunity to rally the whole school to do VIA via art.... design and write Appreciation cards for the staff of TTSH & NCID for their selfless contribution during the Covid-19 nation emergency ... 

above are by some of the kiddos in school

below are from me.... took the opportunity to practice a little calligraphy... 

got bored soon after so started adding simple drawings to it... =)

collated a total of 500+ handmade cards designed and written by moi, kiddos and staff... =) 

of which 300 were given out together with a pack of herbal sweets to the staff at TTSH on Valentine's Day

by the founder and volunteer from BeKindSG and Grace Fu, Minister for Culture, Community & Youth was also in attendance... =) 

the event caught the attention of the media and our school name was highlighted... =) 

news interview by 联合早报

write-up by The Pride

video interview with 95.8

write-up & slide show by 95.8

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18 January

in my effort to go greener, today marked the first time that i brought my own containers to tabao our sat's lunch.... save $0.60, 3 plastic bags, 2 plastic straws, 2 paper bowls with 2 plastic lids... =D

now that i am more conscious about going green, this many pieces of single-use plastic in just one meal for two take-aways do 'shout' that i need to be even more hardworking in bringing my own food containers out...

but the mr commented he would very much preferred his kopi siew dai in the usual plastic bag with a straw.... =S