Issue No: 1/2010 - MINDS

Message from
the President
When the Executive Committee started its term in September this year, it reviewed and set out the
strategic initiatives for MINDS over a 2-3 year time horizon. One of these strategic initiatives was
to better engage our stakeholders, that is, our members, clients, parents and caregivers, staff,
volunteers, donors, sponsors, regulators and funding bodies.
MINDSpeak will be one platform through which we can better engage our stakeholders.
Firstly, MINDSpeak will inform our readers of the many activities that persons with intellectual
disability (PIDs) are engaged in. By showcasing their talents and needs, we hope to create a better
understanding of PIDs, which is an important step for their integration into mainstream society. In
doing so, the work of our staff and their numerous projects and initiatives to empower PIDs and
improve their welfare will be highlighted.
Secondly, it will allow our allied health professionals, principals and teachers, caregivers and
volunteers to share their knowledge and experience. MINDSpeak can be a forum to discuss issues
that affect the lives and well-being of PIDs. Through informed dialogue and exchange of ideas, the
best ideas will often prevail, and this will be beneficial to improving the welfare of PIDs.
Last but not least, MINDSpeak will highlight the many unsung heroes and stars amongst our midst,
be they PIDs, caregivers, staff, volunteers, donors or sponsors. There are many who quietly and in
different ways try to make the lives of those around them better. Hopefully, MINDSpeak will also be
a source of inspiration to our readers, derived from the courage and can-do spirit of our PIDs and
caregivers, the passion and dedication of our staff, and the selfless generosity of our volunteers and
sponsors.
Engaging our stakeholders has to be a 2-way process, and I hope that as much as we try to
engage our stakeholders, they too will reach out to us and engage us, and thereby continue to be
a source of support, guidance and encouragement. In due course, we hope to harness information
technology to facilitate that two way process of dialogue and engagement.
Ultimately, MINDSpeak must represent the voice of all of MINDS, and that would include all our
stakeholders, and you who share our vision and mission of advancing the development, well-being
and aspirations of PIDs and their integration into society.
I am proud to launch this new issue of MINDSpeak, which carry in its pages the many facets and
colour of the lives of PIDs, and the people from different walks of life who, inasmuch as they give,
often find that they also receive, sometimes in unexpected ways.
I hope you will enjoy your copy of Mindspeak. Happy Reading.
Mr Conrad Campos
President of MINDS
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