SINGAPORE: Volunteers Clean Up Homes of Elderly Folk

SINGAPORE (Channel News Asia), September 23, 2006: A group of Singaporeans embarked on Operation Homeworks on Saturday to clean up the homes of 25 elderly folk living alone in two blocks. Some 100 volunteers, armed with mops and pails, went to the one-room homes of elderly residents living at Jalan Bukit Merah. The project was undertaken by Habitat for Humanity, a non-governmental organisation. This was the NGO's first Singapore project. The volunteers were led by Habitat for Humanity's patron, S Dhanabalan, together with Central CDC Mayor Zainudin Nordin and Tanjong Pagar GRC MP Koo Tsai Kee. Yong Teck Meng, National Director of Habitat for Humanity (Singapore), said: "There are many who live with a lot of rubbish, leftover food. They pose unacceptable health risk to themselves and also a safety risk to their neighbours. So we think we should lend them a helping hand and help them clean up their place." Copyright © 2006 MCN International Pte Ltd.