Embargoed for publication till 13 July 2017, 9.30pm media release 10 Eunos Road 8 Post Centre #12-01 Singapore 408600 Tel: (65) 6590 3000 Fax: (65) 6319 8755 Website: www.cdc.org.sg/SouthEast

To: News Editors

13 July 2017

RECOGNISING PASSION TO SERVE THE COMMUNITY 47 District Councillors Appointed in the South East Community Development Council Appointment Ceremony to Continue Serving the Community

Singapore, 13 July 2017 – The South East Community Development Council (CDC) held its South East Community Development Council Appointment Ceremony on the evening of 13 July 2017, where 47 South East District Councillors were appointed. Joining them were Dr , Mayor of the South East District, as well as Mr , Minister for Manpower, and Grassroots Advisers Mr , Ms , Associate Professor , Mr and Ms .

Dr Maliki Osman, Mayor of South East District, commented, “My heartiest congratulations to our District Councillors who have been appointed today. They come from various sectors, and it has always been exciting to hear ideas from them. Because of the diversity in backgrounds, we see ground needs clearer and we get opinions from different experiences, enabling the CDC to stay relevant. I am heartened to see the spirit of the District Councillors who volunteer their time and expertise selflessly and put in tremendous efforts, and resources to the community, and be an inspiration to others. I look forward to working with them in the new Council Term.”

Below are four compelling background and contribution of District Councillors to share with the media.

Mr Adam Abdur Rahman, BBM & Miss

Mr Adam Abdur Rahman, BBM, has been a passionate District Councillor (DC) since joining the South East CDC family in 2001. Despite his busy schedule as the Managing Director, Head of Corporate Affairs of Citi Singapore & ASEAN, Adam steadfastly held on to the belief that youths are the pillars of Singapore’s tomorrow, and dedicated much of his time to the Youth Committee. As a Chairman of the Youth Committee, Adam led discussions and offered valuable advice and ideas to develop and implement programmes to engage the youths. Under his leadership, an EXCO structure is set up for two of the programmes in South East CDC, the Racial Harmony Youth Ambassador (RHYA) and Youth-to-Youth (Y2Y) Network programmes, to empower the youth volunteers to take up leadership roles to within the programmes. He also set up the alumni structure which provided a platform to continually engage the programme participants. He proposed a Mentorship programme whereby each Youth committee member will mentor one RHYA and one CommLab youth.

It was through the Mentorship programme when Adam met Miss Nadia Ahmad Samdin, currently a South East DC as well. But Nadia did not start her journey with South East CDC as a DC. In 2005, at the age of 15, Nadia became a youth volunteer under the Y2Y Network. As an active volunteer, Nadia displayed outstanding leadership qualities, effective organisational and people’s skills, and a strong passion for the community and public sector work. She quickly took on leadership roles and headed several youth community projects such as the inter-school debates, Y2Y Aspiration Camp and SKINs production.

Adam’s role as a mentor greatly impacted Nadia. Nadia affectionately remembers how Adam would always make time to attend many of the youths’ events, and always made the effort to ask each youth volunteer how their programs had taken off, and also how they were doing in our personal lives, such as with their studies, families, and interests. He was personable and genuine, and many of the youths respected him immensely. As Nadia grew older, he was also aware of shifting life priorities and kept in touch to see if volunteering opportunities at South East CDC were still applicable and attractive to young people. For all his efforts and work with the youths, Nadia knew then that Adam's heart was rooted in the community and in youth development.

In the eight years that Nadia was a youth volunteer, Adam became a mentor and friend. He imparted advice whenever Nadia asked for it, be it in her career or personal life, and often provided a listening ear. During youth committee meetings, he would always encourage the other DCs, Nadia included, to speak up and share their experiences. Adam has also never dismissed any idea. He would often encourage Nadia and fellow DCs to speak up and have a considered response to various issues and projects that were discussed. His mentorship and leadership was encouraging for Nadia and played a vital part of her community journey, and eventually, Nadia took on the role as the youngest DC.

District Councillors for My First Break Programme: Mr Stephen Leong, BBM & Mr David Ngoh Tai Wee, PBM

In its 13th year, My First Break (MFB) programme is possible only with the help of DCs who feel passionate about improving the lives of youths from low income families. First initiated in 2005 by Mr Stephen Leong, BBM, MFB is a motivational programme for youths who are academically striving, community minded but do not have the financial means to go overseas. It trains the youths on basic entrepreneurial skills and knowledge while giving them the opportunity to conduct their own short micro businesses as they broaden their horizons with the overseas learning trip to understand the impact of globalisation and its effects on Singapore, instil self-esteem and confidence.

The programme was made possible by the generous donations and resources from South East CDC’s District Councillors to foster camaraderie and bondage in offering a break for youths from less privileged homes. Stephen played an instrumental role in initiating and driving the MFB programme and has always been very involved in the conceptualising, planning and execution of the programme. Together with fellow DCs, such as Mr David Ngoh Tai Wee, PBM, and other District Councillors in the Adult Interactive Committee, the DCs also roped in their business associates to donate towards the programme and raised funds to fully sponsor the overseas component of the programme.

David’s passion and resources has been greatly valued in the eight years that he has been a DC with South East CDC. As the Chairman of the Adults Interactive Committee (AIC) and the MFB Committees, David continuously show interest to uplift the lives of youth from challenging backgrounds. He actively contributed his time and expertise, as well as donation, to help these youth through MFB and My First Break Alumni (MFBA) programme.

Besides providing suggestions to enhance the programme content of MFB & MFBA, he sits in the interview panel of MFB to select suitable participants for the programme, and attended several MFB overseas trips out of his own expenses and initiative, to observe how the programme was run and its impact on the participants. He was also heavily involved in conceptualising the MFBA programme. He actively participated in activities organised by MFB and MFBA which included MFB graduation ceremony, teambuilding and informal gathering with the participants and alumni. He also hosted MFBA youths at his home for dinner. Through these engagements, he built strong rapport with the youths and understood their challenges, needs and aspirations.

For more information, you may reach:

Ms Claire Koh Manager (Corporate Communications) DID: 6319 8712 Mobile: 9695 7630 Email: [email protected]

Ms Vidya Vijaian Manager (Corporate Communications) DID: 6319 8727 Mobile: 9145 4269 Email: [email protected]

About South East Community Development Council South East CDC was set up on 24 November 2001. It oversees the Marine Parade Group Representative Constituency (GRC), East Coast GRC, Fengshan Single Member Constituency (SMC), Mountbatten SMC and MacPherson SMC, and serves a population of about half a million residents. At the helm of South East CDC is Mayor Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman, who steers efforts in achieving the three strategic thrusts that guide the work of the CDCs. Termed the “ABCs of Community Bonding‟ — Assisting the Needy, Bonding the People and Connecting the Community — South East CDC initiates and manages programmes in collaboration with both community and corporate partners along these three strategic thrusts, so as to nurture a vibrant and self-reliant community.

More information on South East CDC at www.cdc.org.sg/southeast or be our Facebook fan at www.facebook.com/secdc.

About Racial Harmony Youth Ambassador

Racial Harmony Youth Ambassador (RHYA) is a flagship programme which was launched by South East CDC in 2002. The programme aims to nurture a dynamic and cohesive generation of youth volunteers aged 13 to 25 from different races to actively participate in the development of a harmonious community.

One of the projects under RHYA is the RHYA youth initiated community outreach project, Pass the Balloon Movement, which aims to pass messages of peace and harmony to the masses, through a simple act of writing the goodwill messages on balloons and passing it on to another to write before giving it away.

About South East Youth-to-Youth Network

Since 2004, the South East Youth-to-Youth (Y2Y) Network has empowered youths beyond the school curriculum through capability building and community projects to reach out to other youths and the community. It creates a perception in youths that community service can be interesting, meaningful and also serves as a channel for the youths to express their ideas.

Some of the activities carried out include Youth Community Leader Awards and School Networking Sessions.