# data[].attributes.body
Loneliness in elderly in Singapore

Scientifically, loneliness is a subjective phenomenon in which an individual feels a discrepancy between their desired and actual social relationships. This issue is particularly relevant in Singapore as we have a rapidly ageing population and a collectivistic culture, in which relationships and interconnectedness between people are valued. With the number of Singapore residents aged 65 years and above who live alone increasing from 47,000 in 2016 to 67,600 in 2019 and the current ongoing pandemic potentially restricting social activities, the elderly become increasingly likely to feel lonely. Research has shown that lonely older adults not only lived at least three years less than their peers, but also spent less of their remaining life in good health or being active, which makes it a serious issue to note.

Some current measures

At the height of the pandemic, nursing homes became out of bounds to visitors and volunteers to protect their vulnerable elderly residents. Cycling Without Age Singapore, together with Mind Palace, developed a virtual reality trishaw ride to continue giving the elderly a chance to explore Singapore.

Befriending services and programmes

Staff and volunteers from the Silver Generation Office (SGO), local grassroots organisations, social service agencies and senior activity centres proactively and regularly reach out to seniors living alone or who are at risk of social isolation, to provide companionship and encourage them to participate in social activities

Seniors can sign up with CareLine, which is a 24/7 social support hotline that provides tele-befriending services as well as emergency response to seniors in distress.

Unaddressed gaps

The use of technology might not be very effective as the elderly might not find it interesting and may even feel uncomfortable with it

Loneliness may result in the seniors to be unwilling to actively engage themselves through activities or befriending, befriending services only help the people who are willing to seek help and build social connections but not those who have come to the extent that they reject socialising (we possibly can’t address this)

Possible ideas

Engage elderly in meaningful activities so that they feel a sense of purpose as they continue to be involved and are able to contribute to society despite retirement and old age (get them to share about their life stories?? In school or collate into books??)

# data[].attributes.body
Providing more support and raising awareness on the struggles caregivers caring for high functioning children with ADHD and autism

Caregivers face various challenges while caring for a child with ASD, with a negative impact on physical health, psychological well-being, societal reactions, and financial balance. They undergo a lot of problems while taking care of a child with ASD. Health professionals must have an understanding of these problems and must provide these caregivers and the general public with the necessary  education and information for better management of their personal struggles and those they care for.

Current measures in Singapore:

CaringSG as an informal support group for other caregivers who are struggling: born out of the Covid-19 pandemic that cut off many special needs families from mainstream services. During the circuit breaker last year, many special education schools and early interventions had to stop their services and families were stuck at home

Caregiver Support Network- launched by AA(S), Autism Association Singapore: giving caregivers from both Eden Centre for Adults at Hougang and Clementi a chance to meet with one other and share their experiences; provide a platform for caregivers and with caregivers, through which members engage, interact and share with one another, form mutual-help groups and meet periodically. Through this community network, caregivers also engage in different activities to learn new skills and self-care, so that they could better care for their children and themselves in the long run.

Autism Enabling Masterplan-“Life After Death” of caregivers

Full list of informal support groups:

https://www.enablingguide.sg/caring-for-caregivers/informal-support-groups

# data[].attributes.body
Depression in Singapore has been a major concern due to the rising number of suicide cases in recent years, with the young adults between the age of 18-29 experiencing the largest increase in suicide rates from 16.5% in 2017 to 21.5% in 2020. However, due to the nature of being a mental illness, the symptoms of depression in people are not easily noticed and may be hard to determine sometimes. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic has introduced many uncertainties which will further worsen the mental depression in Singaporean youths.

Due to the increased awareness of combating depression, the Singaporean government, together with other organisations, have come together to introduce some measures to help young Singaporeans enhance their mental well being. For example, more polyclinics will be built to make mental health care more accessible to patients to seek help. More frontline staff, social service and community agencies will be trained to understand, identify and respond to depression patients, and the government is introducing initiatives to increase the number of community outreach teams. These initiatives serve to not only provide help in time, but also to raise awareness about psychological illnesses to the public.

# data[].attributes.body
The topic of mental disability is very much a sensitive one, and as a result, many often prefer not to discuss it with their children, seeing it as too complicated a topic for a child to handle. This creates a problem where young students, upon meeting their peers who do possess mental disabilities, do not understand the situation which they face, and end up ostracising or bullying the child in question.

As to alleviate the situation, more awareness has to be spread about the difficulties faced by the mentally disabled. The target audience for this measure will be younger students, as despite existing initiatives to combat stigma against the mentally disabled in society via existing organisations and initiatives such as MINDS and the Purple Parade, a large majority of these initiatives aim at combating bias throughout the whole of society and are aimed mostly at adults, As such, a more specific approach to this situation will be what is needed.

A possible proposal could be to develop resource packages aimed at the target audience to educate them about the current situation that some of their peers might face, and how they should deal with this situation. Information should also be conveyed to parents to help them teach their children on what exactly mental disabilities are, so that parents too can do their part in helping instil the importance of building a more inclusive society in their children. Parents might have the desire to want to educate their children on how to approach this problem before, but a lack of resources and knowledge on how to best talk to their children about this can hamper prior efforts to do so. Thus, these two initiatives combined can build a better environment for discussion of mental disabilities.

# data[].attributes.body
CTC: To raise public awareness for hearing impaired people in SG

Current Measures
1.The Singapore Association for the Deaf provides Deaf Awareness Programme so that general community, organisations, businesses, schools and service providers will gain appropriate and relevant information about sign language, Deaf culture, deaf people and communication and accessibility issues faced by the Deaf. Lectures help people understand deaf culture and the problems they face and how to improve their situation.

2.Breaking the Sound Barrier campaign in Our SG fund raise awareness of the potential of the deaf community as able employees
and change employers’ perceptions towards hiring the deaf. The programme promotes fair employment opportunities and an inclusive and caring society for deaf Singaporeans. At the same time, more people can know about this group in need.

The problem is that these programs require upfront payment, so few people take the initiative to find out about the hearing impaired. The solution could be for the government or more organizations to subsidize programs and publicize them free of charge to raise awareness of the hearing impaired. For example, invite Singapore Association for the Deaf to give lectures in the community or schools and cover the cost of 'Internal – $150 for 10 pax
External – $170 for 10 pax'.  Also, simply disseminating knowledge is not enough to sensitize the public to the challenges facing the hearing-impaired. Activities can be organized to let people experience the life of hearing-impaired people. Knowing their difficulties, people may be more willing to help and understand them. In these ways, hearing-impaired people are more likely to receive attention and help.

# data[].attributes.body
CTC: Current efforts to empower the low-income group through art engagement can be improved.

Current measures:
• Club (space) belonging to arts non-profit company 3Pumpkins’ Tak Takut Kids Club
◦ Children, especially those who do not meet typical social service requirements but need social support, can enter and leave the space freely to 1) engage in activities of their own 2) perform
◦ Children benefit from the arts-based activities (e.g. discover themselves, express themselves etc) AND also give back to the community (e.g. through selling their artworks + performing for the community i.e. bringing the arts to more people)
◦ Eventually children’s empowerment extends beyond arts. They are empowered to contribute back to society in other ways that they are passionate about.

Possible approach: business undertaking to optimise social enterprise
- expand the outreach of the club (possibly to other age groups)

# data[].attributes.body
CTC: Excessive wastage of textbooks and assessment books
The single usage characteristic leads to most textbooks and assessment books undoubtedly being thrown away. This is causing a great wastage of paper and trees, and thus a main factor of deforestation. Although there are donation drives for the donation of such books and also platforms that allow second-hand book trades, the accessibility of the donation drives and online safety are some of the obstacles stopping students from making their books as meaningful.
In order to address this problem, I think a specialized organization can be established. Ideally, this platform would purchase textbooks and assessment books from publishers and then rent them out to students with a lower price. By collecting deposits from each customer, it should ensure the quality of the books despite having been used by different users, and in case of any damage to the book, the organization also would not need to afford the loss, ensuring the sustainability of the organization. The organization could also purchase digital copies of the books, if available, and enable online rental by giving customers a period of access to the protected documents. This would not only help to reduce the amount of paper usage, but also help students, especially the unprivileged, to relieve the financial pressure on their families.
However, considering the frequent renewal of book editions, the organization also needs to be mindful of the quantity of books they purchase so as to profit from its business.

# data[].attributes.body
Cause to champion: elderly in Singapore working past their retirement age

It is not a rare sight to see elderly in Singapore working laboriously to earn their keep. From cardboard collectors to street side food stands to beggars giving out packets of tissue paper, many seniors have a low standard of living when they should be enjoying their days of retirement. As the percentage of seniors in our population increases, I believe more focus should be put into caring for their well being. Some initiatives the government has implemented are social assistance in terms of monetary donations or helping to find suitable jobs. However, not only are some uneducated on financial literacy, the jobs that are assigned may not be stable enough to help them save up. Hence, the effectiveness of these initiatives are greatly diminished. Another example is how the non-profit organisation Happy People Helping People (HPHP) provides meal sponsorships, grocery vouchers and outings to the elderly in order to take care of their basic physical and emotional needs. I think that this is much more effective as it directly impacts the elderly and it is simple for them to understand. Therefore, I feel that it is important to raise awareness on the issue and assist such existing measures in order to improve the quality of life for the elderly.

# data[].attributes.body
My cause to champion is raising awareness in helping the Deaf in Singapore.

In a research in Singapore made in 2017, it is known that only one in 10 employers surveyed have positive attitudes towards hiring deaf people, and one in two admit they have no intention to do so. Even though it is understandable that the employers may have second thoughts as regards to hiring the deaf due to multiple reasons such as doubts on their inability to communicate with clients, colleagues and bosses, it still hurts to know that such “discriminations” are present. Additionally, people who are born one ear deaf only may also have worries on whether they should actually inform their employers regarding their medical condition, because they aren't sure if their employers will immediately doubt their work ability and strip them off the work opportunity.

Hence, my cause to champion is to raise awareness in being more receptive as well as helping the Deaf in Singapore, and likely improve these statistics.

Some initiatives and campaigns started in Singapore include SGD, SDYS, Igniters, Signifique, and TEP. While such programmes may be useful and effective to a certain extent, there is also a large group of the public, including us youths, that have never heard of such associations, or have the intention to help out as volunteers at these places, or by simply being more open and friendly towards the Deaf when seen in public.

More importantly, according to SADeaf.org.sg, there are more than 5,400 persons with hearing loss registered with SADeaf. There is a gradual increase in the number of registered clients over the years, which can be attributed to the ageing population, with many elderly who may face deafness or hard-of-hearing. Hence I feel that this issue is a significant one that requires more awareness and attention to be drawn to.

# data[].attributes.body
Cause to champion: what is being done to address the issue of video game addiction in teenagers in Singapore

In today's digital age, almost every teenager has access to a smartphone and or personal computer, it is rare to find a teen who has never played a video game before. It is commonplace for teens to indulge in gaming, many of whom have developed an addiction to it. Most teens use gaming as a way to pass time or as a form of relaxation, however there is a small proportion of teens that are addicted to gaming and this is a really big problem. Gaming addiction can lead to disastrous consequences in severe situations, being the cause of many terrible situations.There are many cases where teens have committed crimes or other harmful acts all because of a video game. From harming others to harming themselves due to events that happen in a game, many do not know the line where real life starts and the digital world ends, with the line between the digital world and the real world becoming extremely blur. Gaming addiction can start of small and insignificant, children addicted to videogames often exhibit the same symptoms, such as they may play many hours per day, neglect personal hygiene, gain or lose significant weight, disrupt sleep patterns resulting in sleep deprivation, play at work, avoid phone calls from friends, or lie about how much time they spend playing video games. However these pale in comparison to more severe cases where teens have done bodily harm to themselves or orders, and in the most extreme cases, a loss of life.

Video game addiction has been classified by The WHO as an mental illness. The World Health Organization included gaming disorder in the 11th revision of its International Classification of Diseases (ICD). With its classification as a mental illness by the leading medical body of the UN, this shows that video game addiction(VGA) is an extremely serious issue in todays society, being recognised as something we need to solve.

During the covid 19 pandemic, most people in Singapore were stuck at home due to restrictions that were set up to curb the spread of the virus, thus many people, especially teens, spent most of their time at home with nothing to do, so most of them resorted to gaming to pass time or to catch up with friends, while there is nothing wrong with a leisure activity such as gaming, it has led to increased cases of VGA. This is serious as this addiction will not cure itself when the pandemic or lockdowns end as they are lasting and will play a major factor in the teens upbringing, affecting their life habits that will stay with them as they grow up.

Like any other issue, there has been measures and movements put in place by different groups such as the government

and different social groups

One such example is DigitalMindset,

The only methods of "curing" VGA is through therapy with councillors,or early intervention, it is difficult to cure once someone is addicted for a long time as it has become a normal day to day havit for them. It takes effort and determination by both those affected and the people around them for the VGA to be cured. Measures have only been put in place by governments or social groups, but not by video game publishers, who should bear the brunt of the blame, as they are the ones who come up with strategies to get people hooked on their games, trapping the players in the virtual world, not letting them escape. With many features to keep users playing, they are the root cause of the addiction, so they should be the ones who also put forward the solutions as well.

Anti addiction features such as limited game time have been put into placed in some games, however the number of instances is extremely small and not prevalent in the most popular and most played games of today”

Use of the 3 problem-management approaches

1. Campaign or movement (to impact behavior, either existing or possible future social causes)

2. Instructional curriculum (educational, used in teaching-learning situations)

3. Business undertaking

# data[].attributes.body
The unfortunate murder of a teenager by another in a high school shook Singapore last year. Mental health of teens becomes an increasingly relevant topic as statistics in 2019 show a striking number of 1 in 7 teens experiencing mental health issues. Furthermore, the pandemic also elevates negative emotions such as fear, anxiety and loneliness, resulting in an uptick of mental health issues. In response to the rising numbers and a greater social awareness, Singapore has stepped up efforts to protect teens’ mental health. These includes integrating mental health education into a revised curriculum, rolling out online initiatives to enhance young people’s access to mental health resources (mindline.sg etc.), and training schools and social service agencies to identify and manage at-risk children with severe emotional and behavioural problems, offering free mental health checks as well as rolling out coordinated mental health and social support services for at-risk youngsters.

Disturbingly, young people in distress seek out anonymous platforms because they don’t want their parents to be involved, with common reasons including  I don’t want to worry or disturb them. I don’t think they’ll understand. I’m afraid they will judge me. They’ll just think I’m lazy. I tried to talk to them, but they think there’s nothing wrong with me and that I don’t need professional help. Apart from rolling out school-based initiatives, I think it is also important to increase awareness of the role of the family in tackling mental health issues.

# data[].attributes.body
Ctc: To help ppl with physical disabilities to seek employment in SG

Despite making progress over the years for people with disabilities (PWD), much more can be done to support them especially in the education and employment fields. One indication that disabled people are not getting enough opportunities can be seen from the disproportionately low employment rates of people with disabilities compared to that of the overall population – “people with disabilities make up just 0.55 per cent of the resident labour force in Singapore. This also means that “only one in 10 persons with disabilities is able to find work in the open market” (The Straits Times, 2017). Additionally, workers with disabilities are also more likely to be engaged in part-time and informal work, instead of being in full-time employment with its attendant increased stability and benefits. Therefore, the lack of opportunities for PWD have raised awareness for us to champion causes for them.

# data[].attributes.body
My cause to champion is about allowing people with disabilities to find jobs. There have been many reports of people with disabilities being unable to find jobs in the working world due to prejudices of them not being able to be as productive as those without disabilities and also that hiring them would be less cost-effective. Currently, there are some measures such as the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) which tries to prevent workplace discrimination and the Open Door Programme which seeks to help people with disabilities in finding employment. However, there have still been many cases of bias towards PWDs and thus the campaigns for employers to be more accepting of PWDS can be improved.

A possible model would be to have representatives being present at job interviews to ensure that the reason for not hiring PWDs is not due to prejudices against them but due to valid work-related reasons, and if not action can be taken under TAFEP. This way, the number of employers rejecting PWDs would be reduced due to the stronger implementation of TAFEP. Campaigns can also be introduced to raise awareness on the support that PWDs can get to find jobs, as there may be many PWDs who are unaware of such organisations. This way, more PWDs would enrol in support organisations and programmes such as the open door programme, therefore allowing more PWDs to find jobs.

# data[].attributes.body
My cause to champion is raising awareness for the inclusion of persons of special needs into our society.

In Singapore, there is indeed a portion of residents who are handicapped and lack the ability to carry out certain tasks either due to an inborn illness or through a severe accident that occured. Some of the disabilities include intellectual disabilities such as Down Syndrome, sensory disabilities like blindness and deafness and physical disabilities which include cerebral palsy. However, are they of no use to society? Certainly not. Even though they may be incapable of completing a few tasks, they can no doubt still contribute to our society immensely. Unfortunately, based on what our Minister of State for Manpower Zaqy Mohamad said in the parliament in 2019, reported in the Channel News Asia, the resident employment rate was 28.6 per cent among PWDs in the working ages of 15 to 64. This means that 7 out of 10 hadnicapped residents are left unemployed and excluded from the working world. Hence, in what ways can we be more inclusive towards them ?

The first current measure imposed to include persons with disabilities is the Purple Parade. The Purple Parade is a locally-organised event by the Central Singapore Community Development Council annually to raise awareness of those who have special needs. They aim to advocate inclusiveness by making sure that people with disabilities are on a fair playing field with others in the working world. They celebrate the talents of those with disabilities and showcase it on the day of the event. This allows the handicapped to be recognised by society and not become left out. As a result, it reminds business owners that people with disabilities should be treated the same as those who are able bodied and not hold prejudice against them.

The second measure imposed to include persons with disabilities is gathering physically challenged sports persons to represent Singapore in the Paralympics. The Paralympics is an event organised by the International Paralympics Committee for top-tier paralympians to compete in various sporting events and make their country proud. I am sure everyone should know of our country’s most valuable paralympian, Yip Pin Xiu. She was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy, which is the weakening of muscles. Despite having a disability, she swam competitively at the age of 12. Through her swimming career, she has won a total of 5 gold medals for Singapore in the Paralympics. This was due to her strong determination and tenacity, which pushed her to greater heights. This exemplifies that even with a disability, people can still make their country proud with their unique talents. I am also certainly very impressed by the paralympians’ strong willpower and they are indeed role models for many. As a result, people with special needs are recognised greatly by society and are not excluded from it.

# data[].attributes.body
My cause to champion is reducing  Singaporean children and teens reliance on mobile devices and screens. Following the rapid development of technology and widespread adoption of technology in our daily lives, there is a growing addiction within the younger population towards mobile devices. In a February 2021 survey, researchers found that nearly 50% of people in the US spent five to six hours on their phone daily. In another survey conducted in 2019, researchers found that the average teenager in spent 7 hours a day glued onto their mobile devices. This shows that teenagers, on average spent more time on mobile devices than those of a older demographic. This may be due to them being exposed to technology as they transition into adulthood and have to make use of technology for school work, communication and a plethora of other essential activities.

This is significant in the context of Singapore as with an increase in reliance of mobile phones, it has led to an increase in students suffering from chronic diseases like myopia. In a recent study, it has been found that by Primary 6, the percentage of students with myopia is 65 percent and by young adulthood, that number has increased to 83 percent. Currently, Singaporeans are spending nearly $300 million on glasses alone every year. This situation has given Singapore the name "The Myopia Capital of The World"

Currently, there are guidelines put in place that encourages students to engage in physical activities instead of being obsessed with their devices. The present advisory by Kandang Kerbau Hospital (KKH) is to undertake an hour of moderate exercise every day, engaging in muscle and bone exercises at least thrice a week to ensure an active lifestyle in order to stop the cycle of excessive phone usage. Additionally, the Personal Learning Devices distributed by the Ministry of Education (MOE) allows for limits to be set on screen time to be set so that children are not using them excessively. These limits can be set in a manner which allows students to use their screen time for important activities like studying and online learning and prevent the abuse of mobile devices. This allows them to reduce their reliance on devices, reducing their screen time and helping them lead a more fulfilling, active life.

# data[].attributes.body
According to towardszerowaste.gov.sg, Singapore generated 744 million kg of food waste in 2019, 20% more than 10 years prior. This is despite the great amount of efforts put forwards to reduce food waste in Singapore, including numerous ground-up initiatives like the South West Community Development Council's Foodprints @SouthWest, a programme that aims to recognise institutions and businesses that have made an effort to reduce the amount of food waste generated. The reason behind the ineffectiveness of such initiatives could lie in the apathy of today's youth towards food waste. A study in 2018 by the University of Illinois that looked at why youths , especially college students, waste so much food. It attributed this to the fact that many of them spend much of their lives not having control over their own food, which led to them deflecting the responsibility of food waste from themselves. Current measures Singapore has taken to combat this apathy in youths are limited in scope. For example, the launch of 'Love Your Food@ Schools' project by NEA was involved only 10 primary and secondary schools, and there is no follow-up to it currently. In addition, a major unaddressed gap is food wastage at the pre-university level, as pre-university institutions were noticeably absent from the aforementioned initiative. Hence, more can be done to address apathy towards food waste in schools.

# data[].attributes.body
People with a visual impairment are facing problems in employment and social well-being. Firstly, they might not be able to meet the criteria of the employer to get a job. Secondly, they might feel inferior due to their disability and hence reduce their social participation. Thirdly, they might face problems in daily lives,for example shopping and walking on the street without tactile paving.

Current Measures: MSF provide job placement and Support for persons with disabilities

Persons with disabilities can seek employment assistance from SG Enable's information and Career Centre, located within the Enabling Village. However, due to visual disability, not many of them are able to access to this information, let alone travelling to the Enabling Villiage.

Guide Dogs Singapore (GDS) believes that people with vision impairment should not be limited by their loss of sight. As a non-profit social service agency, it aims to enhance the quality of life for people with vision impairment through rehabilitation and the use of guide dogs, and help them to integrate into society. However, fees for training a guide dog can be as high as $5000, this is so that funding for such amount of money can be hard and only a few people visually impaired can benefit from it.

Desired ourcome: promote a more visually-impaired-inclusive society by raising public awareness towards them and increasing assistance for them.

Possible methods: “dinner in the dark” experience, speeches, fund raising

# data[].attributes.body
Cause to champion: Social divide between migrant workers and locals.

Singapore has approximately 1,427,500 migrant workers, comprising 38 per cent of its labour force (MOM 2019a) in order meet the needs of sectors such as domestic work, building and infrastructure construction, as well as ship repair and construction (Bal 2017). However, research has shown that despite the demand for such workers in Singapore, significant proportions of the public have negative attitudes towards migrant workers, including discrimination, xenophobia etc, some of which has been magnified as a result of the pandemic.

Current measures in Singapore include:
Promoting social inclusion by avoiding separation of migrant workers’ accommodation through city planning
Encouraging social cohesion through community events where migrant workers and the public can interact.

# data[].attributes.body
My cause to champion is to provide children and youth with autism in mainstream schools with educational opportunities to hone their individual talents. Currently, there are special schools that coach autistic students, such as Pathlight School and the Autism Resource Centre. However, there is a lack of opportunities for such students in mainstream schools where autistic students are the minority. Coupled with the neurotypical setting for their learning, an autism-friendly environment for them to learn and grow in school is minimal. Autistic youth learn differently from their neurotypical peers, hence a special resource created for them can be paramount to their learning, enabling them to progress in spite of an ableist school environment.

Alternatively, a special resource can be created for mainstream schools to raise awareness regarding assisting autistic students in the student populace. As stated earlier, due to the overwhelming neurotypical majority, not only there is little awareness by both students and teachers of how to lend a helping hand for autistic students to cope in their learning, there is much stigma against autistic students, which unfortunately fosters a borderline ableist and discriminatory environment for the autistic minority. This can sadly cause autistic students to breed negative perceptions of themselves due to internalised guilt over their identity, thus affecting their mental health. Therefore, it is also paramount for such a resource to be present, to reduce stigma against autistic individuals in the student populace and allowing autistic students to feel included and accepted.