MICA (P) 129/02/2011 Issue No. 2/2011 - MINDS

MESSAGE
FROM THE CEO
Many corporate friends continued to bring joy to our clients. The Energy Market
Company celebrated the Chinese New Year with our ATDC clients while Bacardi-
Martini Singapore Pte Ltd brought the ATDC clients to Universal Studios at
Sentosa Resorts World. Students from Towner Gardens School were similarly invited to visit
the Universal Studios. We thank our partners for the wonderful gesture that made the day
for many of our clients. We take the opportunity to also thank Mr Koh Seng Choon, founder
and Executive Director of Project Dignity, for inviting our clients from the EDCs and TDCs for
sponsored lunches at his Balestier hawker training centre.
Going for an overseas holiday may not be such a big deal for some families, but for our clients from CTDC, it was a
first overseas trip organized by the Centre to Pengerang in the nearby Johor Bahru. It was a good opportunity for the
clients to generalize the skills learnt in the Centre, such as making decision, practising dining etiquette and waiting in
queue.
About 97 clients from our three TDCs congregated at MINDSville@Napiri on a Thursday in March for a health screening
conducted by SATA. On hand to assist were staff and some caregivers to guide the clients through the various
screening stations. A group of volunteer doctors subsequently reviewed the screening results with the caregivers
who raised their concerns as well as showed their appreciation for such an exercise. We are looking forward to the
volunteer doctors extending their service to our clients from the other adult centres.
MINDS is proud to have played a part in raising awareness on recycling. Fernvale Gardens School received a
silver medal for the Recycling Outreach Programme supported by the National Environment Agency. This was after
three consecutive Sustained Achievement Awards in 2008, 2009 and 2010. Activities were organized to educate
the students and their families on climate change during Earth Hour. Earth Day was celebrated with talks and
presentations on pollution and conservation. The next time you are in Fernvale Gardens School, check out the Pledge
Tree to see what staff have pledged to be more “green”.
The 7 May 2011 General Election saw some of our clients from MINDS adult centres exercising their rights to vote as a
Singapore citizen. Find out what considerations they had in casting their votes for the political party and candidates to
serve them in their constituencies.
What started out as an initiative to satisfy the demand for breakfast to be sold in the SMEDC canteen for some staff
and clients has turned out to be more than just that. The unexpected outcomes achieved by our clients has once
again demonstrated their abilities if given the opportunity and right coaching. I hope “Food for Thought” by Faridah
will inspire many more such initiatives for the benefit of our clients.
Read about an exciting pilot project taking place at our Lee Kong Chian Gardens School. The Common Signing
Project aims to align communication methods across MINDS schools and adult centres and between home and the
schools/centres. Mooted in 2008, the project is undertaken by a multi-disciplinary team of allied health professionals.
Key Word Signing and Gesture, or commonly known as Makaton, has been around since 1970s and is used in over
40 countries. MINDS hopes to implement this not to replace speech, but rather as a total communication approach to
enhance our quality service delivery.
One of our major upcoming events is the MINDS Concert featuring performances by our student and clients. It will
be held on 14 and 15 of October this year. Look out for more news on this in the coming months. Meanwhile, happy
reading.
Mr Keh Eng Song
Chief Executive Officer
MINDS
mindspeak: the heartvoice of special people 1