Mr Lee Shyong, MINDS Board EXCO Member and Chairman, School Management Committee,
Mr Seah Moon Ming, Chairman, SMRT Corporation Ltd; SMRT Trains Ltd,
Mr Ngien Hoon Ping, Group CEO, SMRT Corporation Ltd,
Mr Ng Cher Pong, CEO, National Library Board,
Mr Kelvin Koh, CEO, MINDS,
Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
- Good morning and thank you for making time on a Saturday morning to join me in launching the celebrations at the Colour Socks Parade 2024.
Theme: “Inspiring Creativity, Celebrating Inclusivity.”
- The theme for this year’s Colour Socks Parade, "Inspiring Creativity, Celebrating Inclusivity" exemplifies MINDS’s commitment and efforts to foster an inclusive society through the arts.
- The Colour Socks Parade, in its third year, showcases the remarkable talents of persons with intellectual disabilities, and reminds us that they too, can meaningfully contribute to and strengthen the fabric of our society through their talents and creativity.
- For more than 60 years, MINDS has been at the forefront of advocating and advancing the well-being of persons with intellectual disabilities and their integration into society. It has a network of comprehensive services and programmes comprising more than 30 schools, centres, and services islandwide, serving over 7,500 clients and caregivers.
Role of MINDS in achieving Enabling Masterplan 2030 vision
- MINDS has played a pivotal role in advancing various initiatives that reflect our commitment to realising the vision of Enabling Masterplan 2030, for a more caring and inclusive Singapore in 2030. These include the Reverse Job Fair and the Life+ framework, designed to create pathways for persons with intellectual disabilities to secure meaningful employment and attain greater independence. To enrich the participation of persons with intellectual disabilities in community activities and improve their overall well-being, MINDS also established their MINDS Hubs in selected regions to offer a range of services to PwIDs and their caregivers, including future care planning, which I’m sure is on the minds of many of our caregivers.
- MINDS is an important partner in disability inclusion and provision of related services. In my recent announcement at MSF’s Committee of Supply 2024, we will expand the overall capacity of our Day Activity Centres by adding 500 spaces, from the current 1,800 to 2,300 by 2030. We will start by adding about 50 spaces to the MINDS Jurong Training and Development Centre by 2025, with the rest added progressively in the next few years.
Signing of Memorandum of Understanding with SMRT
- Today also marks the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between SMRT and MINDS. I understand that MINDS and SMRT have been collaborating on several initiatives since 2021. These include organising learning journeys for MINDS clients and caregivers at bus and train stations, as well as training SMRT staff on how to assist commuters with intellectual disabilities.
- Today’s MOU is a testament to the commitment of both organisations towards creating an even more accessible and inclusive environment for persons with intellectual disabilities in Singapore. Under the MOU, MINDS and SMRT will collaborate on hiring of persons with intellectual disabilities, providing accessible transport services to MINDS’ centres and clients, raising public awareness of persons with intellectual disabilities at MRT stations and bus interchanges, promoting inclusive and smooth travel experience on public transport through wayfinding applications and signages, and encouraging staff participation in MINDS's volunteering sessions.
- Volunteers play a unique role in our social compact. They support Social Service Agencies like MINDS in their work to improve families’ quality of life. Corporates like SMRT help ensure sustained impact and better outcomes on families in need. This is why the Ministry of Social and Family Development has designated this year as the Year of Celebrating Volunteers, to recognise and celebrate the contributions of volunteers in the social sector and beyond.
I have been working in this disability inclusion space for the past three years and have had countless conversations with professionals in the space, PwDs (including PwIDs themselves), as well as many caregivers. Each story and experience that have been narrated to me never failed to touch my heart. I know the journey of, especially from the perspective of caregivers, how we support our loved ones through their lives from the beginning of life, through the schooling years, right into the post-18 space, which some of us call the post-18 cliff. There was a good discussion following Falling, the theatre production by Pangdemonium. I was unfortunately unable to be there personally, though I have gleaned from many sources what the substantive points of the discussions were. I think these were points that resonate with every caregiver. We know these points as well and are working on them behind the scenes.
In the spirit of Forward Singapore, I want to call out to everybody right here in the Colour Socks Parade, whether you are a PwID yourself, from SSAs, a caregiver, a volunteer, which many of you today are –for us to achieve the aim of being a more caring and inclusive society, never mind the timeline, 2030 or otherwise, we cannot get there if we do not have every single one of us onboard.
Here is my call out to all of us: for us to bring in more ambassadors into this movement, so that together we can really create a more caring and inclusive society. You might ask me, “Mr Eric Chua, how do we do that?” Actually, very simple – if you have friends, family members or colleagues who perhaps are not so much involved in this space today, a few simple messages might help. For instance, if they see a PwID in public spaces like this, maybe we can do with a little bit less of staring, and be a little bit more caring. I think that is a simple message that all of us can share and act upon. Imagine if you are travelling on the MRT today, there is a little commotion near you. Instead of staring, you can show some care or concern. A simple action like a smile on your face can give a lot of assurance to caregivers, and that assurance goes a long way to tell them that it is okay to come out, to be part of the community and experience Singapore, to experience life as it is so vibrant in this city that we call home.
Let us all not be just a part of Colour Socks Parade, but the larger movement of disability inclusion in Singapore so that one day, we can say that with confidence, we are a caring and inclusive society.