Vi – Page 5 – Goducate … Go And Educate!

2014-12-122014-12-16

Goducate’s Happy Happy English program is featured in newspapers on anniversary of Little India riot

Monday Dec 8 was the first anniversary of the riot in Little India that prompted Goducate to set up the Happy Happy English program in foreign workers’ dormitories in Singapore. Little India is a district in Singapore where Indian shops are concentrated and where foreign workers from the Indian subcontinent congregate on their days off.

Over the weekend and on Monday itself, Singapore newspapers commemorated the anniversary with reports on how the riot developed, the repercussions of the riot (such as the restrictions on sale and consumption of liquor in the area, and the restrictions on movement of foreign workers into the area), the findings of the committee of inquiry, and how foreign workers and locals have responded to the riot.

Two newspapers reported on Goducate’s Happy Happy English program. They reported on how the volunteers teach the workers functional English, but more importantly, as the name of the program implies, bring some happiness to these people by becoming their friends. These foreign workers have to leave home to live here in quarters that are generally in isolated parts of the island, and to work here for very long hours just to pay off debts and make ends meet at home. An equally important point made in the reports is how the program has helped to dispel some of the misconceptions that Singaporeans have about foreign workers—namely, that they are a group to be feared, when in fact they are very normal people like any of us.

Happy Happy English has so far been operating in three dormitories. We hope to bring happiness to workers in other dormitories as well.

2014-10-312014-11-17

Happy Happy English students in two dormitories celebrate end of term

October saw Happy Happy English students in two foreign-worker dormitories in Singapore celebrate their end of term. For the dormitory in Tuas, at the western tip of Singapore, it was the second end-of-term celebration. Here, Goducate’s Happy Happy English program had started in January. The program had started at the other dormitory, in Jurong, in the middle of the year. The program has recently started at a third dormitory.

This program is intended to teach foreign workers functional English, as well as to extend to them a hand of friendship. A 12-term is broken into two 6 week sessions, with a 4-week break in between. During this break friendship is maintained with the students through various events.

At both dormitories students had fun with the ice-breaker games, singing, eating (food kindly provided by the dormitory management), and, for some, receiving their certificates of attendance. The larger space available at the Tuas dormitory enabled the event to start with a volleyball match against a team from Goducate’s Connectayo program (which caters for Filipino workers through sports), and for the students to put on a dance/mime item.

Some students went on stage to tell of their experience with the Happy Happy English program. For instance, one said, “I like Happy Happy English because it’s different. They not only teach English, they teach me how to live”. Another said, “Happy Happy English is very good. I like the Chinese men, the Bangla men and the Indian men all coming together and study. It’s very good”. Yet another said, “All of you must come to Happy Happy English. I like it very much. The teachers are good. Everything is good. You must come”.

2014-10-172018-10-24

MHC Asia celebrates its 20th anniversary with $200,000 gift to Goducate

MHC Asia is Goducate’s main corporate sponsor and, true to form, one of the highlights of its 20th anniversary celebrations on Oct 13 was the presentation of a $200,000 cheque to Goducate.

MHC Asia adopted Goducate as its corporate social responsibility (CSR) in 2009, and has been allocating up to 10% of its profits to sponsor Goducate needs as and when they arise. The items sponsored have ranged widely and include office space and support for Goducate headquarters, vehicles for our work in various countries, learning centres, staff costs and staff travel, and even a carabao (a water buffalo) for the Model Farm in Laguna, Philippines. It has also helped others raise funds for Goducate by matching amounts raised—for example, for the dinner organised by Dr Leslie Tay of ieatishootipost at Fukuichi Restaurant.

Dr Low Lee Yong, MHC Asia’s chief executive officer, is in effect Goducate’s chief public relations officer in the way he brings up the subject of Goducate into the many talks and interviews that he gives. Other members of the staff, too, have always willingly promoted Goducate in the course of their work, and have cheerfully helped us with office chores and as volunteers for Goducate projects.

MHC Asia is a third-party administrator linking medical clinics, insurance companies, and human-resource departments. It tracks and processes outpatient visits for corporate clients, matching employees’ medical entitlements with their actual claims, and it processes payments for these visits, thus making things hassle-free for the entities that it links.

Goducate is naturally very grateful to MHC Asia for its support. But others too have acknowledged the value of MHC’s efforts for Goducate. In 2011 MHC Asia was among big-industry players (ie, HSBC, Body Shop, and Suntec Singapore) as finalists for Extraordinary CSR Practices category during the 12th Annual Business Awards given by the British Chamber of Commerce (Singapore).

Cheque presented by MHC Asia to Goducate --- holding cheque, from left, are Dr Low, Mrs Cecilia Tan (chairman of MHC Asia and patron of Goducate), Mr Victor Yeo (Goducate director), Dr Paul Choo (Goducate director). — Cheque presented by MHC Asia to Goducate. Holding cheque, from left, are Dr Low and Mrs Cecilia Tan from MHC, and Mr Victor Yeo and Dr Paul Choo from Goducate.

A van transporting trainees from the Goducate Training Center in Iloilo to help out in the surrounding villages.