Chinese Cultural Centre to be ready in 4 years

SINGAPORE: The proposed Chinese Cultural Centre, at the carpark next to the Singapore Conference Hall in Shenton Way, will be ready in four years’ time.

The Singapore Federation of Chinese Clans Associations (SFCCA) chairman Chua Thian Poh said the project is now in its bidding phase.

Mr Chua was speaking at the sidelines of the Chinese Development Assistance Council’s (CDAC) 9th Volunteers’ Day on Sunday.

Held once every two years, Volunteers’ Day honours those who have gone out of their way to help CDAC’s beneficiaries.

At the event, President Tony Tan Keng Yam gave out 10 Volunteer Commendation Awards, three Volunteer Group Awards and 124 Long Service Awards.

While the CDAC has some 3,000 volunteers currently, it is hoping to attract more youths and males.

The CDAC’s long term plans include collaborations with associations, clans and schools to establish programmes that offer more services to the community.

One such programme is the "Project C.A.R.E", slated for April 2013.

This joint effort by the CDAC and SFCCA aims to bring together 600 volunteers who will bring 500 elderly for a day out shopping and eating.

CDAC’s chairman for CDAC Volunteers Engagement and Development Committee, Baey Yam Keng, said: "More than 60 per cent of volunteers are female. And it is not proportional to the profile population. We felt that the males should come forward more, to offer their strength, their services, their talent for the community as well.

"For males, we hope to work with our female volunteers to bring their boyfriends, their husbands or their sons along with their work here. At the same time, we must also devise programmes that are suitable for the male. So I think, maybe we should look at more activities that will tap on the physical attributes of men. They feel that while they are helping the community, they can also be macho at the same time."

— CNA/ck