Deepavali 2022

NuLife heralds the festive season of Deepavali with outreach efforts that help bring a celebratory touch to beneficiary homes and lives. This year is no different. The festival of lights is back with a bang after a two-year hiatus and we set off Deepavali fundraising with an appeal that asked donors and well-wishers to come forward and donate pre-loved ethnic wear in wearable re-sale condition as a contribution towards our fund-raising goals for this season.

The premium suits, priced at $100 each, are catalogued in a brochure that can be accessed at https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid038LPTjqaKCwNt4MbwkkgH4a8bqWweE3xenHkAwGVxcNC1BsgU72oyP8UVJ1SPo11cl&id=447985345401271&mibextid=u79Ldb. Here’s a not-to-be-missed chance to upgrade your wardrobe and fund our pro-bono counselling and casework assistance.

Deepavali 2022 Goodie bags were graciously donated by Ms Susila Ganesan, member of NuLife’s Board of Directors. Thirty-nine sets of four brightly coloured goodie bags comprising rations, cordial drinks, sparkles, spices, lamps, Deepavali decorations and prayer items will be distributed to NuLife counselling and casework clients and beneficiaries referred to NuLife by partner social agencies over this festive period. NuLife will also distribute one hot/cold pack and a NuLife volunteer notebook to each identified beneficiary.

Assistance will also be rendered through Repair & Refurbishment, a core NuLife programme, to identified NuLife clients and beneficiaries referred by partner social agencies this festive season. Identified beneficiaries can either choose decluttering or cleaning of the hall and kitchen windows as their preferred choice of service.

TKC Brothers – Lunar New Year 2022 Distribution

Chinese New Year, also known as the Lunar New Year or Spring Festival, marks the start of the spring and more importantly, a fresh start for positivity, good fortune and prosperity for the year ahead. Commencing Year 2022 on a noteworthy cause, Mr Chan Kim Wait William & Team worked in collaboration with NuLife in a heart-warming effort to spread the festive cheer to the community ahead of Lunar New Year. An assortment of food rations and household items was distributed to NuLife beneficiaries island wide on 28^th January 2022 conjointly by NuLife staff and Mr William and team. NuLife ensured that the food rations and household items were customised in consideration of the dynamics, needs and preferences of each household and we would like to express our appreciation to Mr William and team for entrusting us to select and purchase the items accordingly with the $1000 cash donation given specific to this initiative.  Additionally, our beneficiaries also each received in delight 10 stalks of artificial sunflowers given in kind by 365 Cancer Prevention Society and a personalised array of over-the-counter medicines given in kind by Mr Karan Chopra.

We hope that the Lunar New Year distribution re-kindled the community festive spirit amidst the humdrum effected by the endemic, encouraging our beneficiaries to celebrate the festive occasion with their loved ones with merriment.

“Alone, we can do so little; together we can do so much” – Helen Keller

May this year bring all that we could hope for. Xīn nián kuài lè!

Halloween Event 

If the smiling faces of our Honeykidz were any indication, our first-ever Halloween event on  October 28, 2022, was successful in achieving what we had set out to do: organise a fun-filled  evening for our Honeykidz while introducing them to the mystery and magic surrounding its  celebration. 

We decided to hold the outdoor event at the well-recognised battleship playground located  within Sembawang Park. The two-hour carnival, packed with five different games, face painting and an excursion around Montreal Drive, entertained 34 children and parents/guardians. A number of NuLife Ambassadors had also signed up to assist NuLife staff facilitate this year-end activity. 

We decorated the area around the park with fairy lights, carved pumpkins, bat and pumpkin ornaments, cobwebs, spiders and Halloween-themed streamers to welcome the participants who received bento meal sets when they registered. A combination of planned solo and group games maximised the advantage of an outdoor location and got their adrenalin pumping. Pin the Cat’s Tail, Feed the Monster, The Gross Box, Lollipop Ghost Craft and Guess the Number of Candies elicited animated participation from the children, some of whom were discovering these games for the first time. 

Popular culture has seen this autumn tradition of decking front porches with pumpkins evolve  into a night-long fiesta of scary costumes, spooky treats, trick-or-treating and the sugar rush of candy. In keeping with this tradition, some Honeykidz and Ambassadors came prepared to  party dressed up in Catwoman, Cleopatra and Supergirl costumes, while others used props  provided by NuLife to accessorize their costumes with witches’ hats, broomsticks, pumpkin  cloaks and the devil’s horn headbands.  

Once the face-painting activity was over, glow sticks were handed to the children and they  were taken in small groups in a van on a mini excursion to Montreal Drive, to observe the  artistic and imaginative decorations gracing the front lawns of the colonial-style homes in the  area. For many parents and children, this was an eye-opener to how creatively Halloween is  celebrated by those for whom it is an annual festive celebration.  

The highlight of the evening was the warm and whole-hearted welcome we received from a  couple who reside at Montreal Drive. They opened their homes and hearts to us and allowed  us a unique opportunity to get to know them and their fur kids. 

NuLife has had the practice of celebrating Singapore’s rich cultural and religious diversity. We  hope we succeeded in that effort this time around as well, by giving our Honeykidz a taste of  a frightfully festive Halloween and a chance to learn about a foreign festive tradition.