Mr Aubeck Kam, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Social and Family Development and Co-chair of President’s Challenge Steering Committee

Distinguished Guests

Ladies and Gentlemen

Good morning. It is my pleasure to launch President’s Challenge 2023 today. Let me begin by sharing some milestones.

Recent milestones for the President’s Challenge

President’s Challenge calls on all Singaporeans to do their part to build a more inclusive society by supporting communities in need. The initiative has grown over the years, reaching out to more donors, partners, and volunteers. In 2018, we began shifting our approach from assistance to empowerment through the Empowering for Life Fund (ELF). The ELF supports programmes that promote skills upgrading, capacity-building, and employment for our beneficiaries, empowering them to lead dignified and purposeful lives. The ELF has raised over $21 million in four years, exceeding its fund-raising target a year ahead of its original deadline. The scheme has since been extended beyond its initial five-year tranche and supported 35 programmes.

To make President’s Challenge more directed and impactful, we have designated a focus area each year since 2019:

a. The first focus area on mental health raised greater awareness about the needs of persons with mental health conditions and support them in their journey of recovery and integration. We have sustained these efforts. In 2022, President’s Challenge went one step further to partner IMH (Institute of Mental Health) to launch SYiNC, to provide quality community-based support to youths with mild to moderate mental health conditions. These youths will continue to receive essential secondary interventions and psychosocial support at the four appointed Social Service Agencies (SSAs) when needed. The SSAs have begun receiving referrals since January this year.

b. In 2020, we initiated the President’s Challenge Enabling Employment Pledge (EEP) in line with the focus area that year on empowering persons with disabilities. The pledge encourages employers to adopt more inclusive mindsets, create barrier-free workplace environments, and implement policies that support the employment of persons with disabilities. The EEP continues to gain momentum, with 250 signatories thus far.

c. COVID-19 brought about a multitude of challenges. The President’s Challenge pivoted to address the gaps surfaced by the pandemic and help those who were the most adversely impacted with focus areas on “Building a Digitally Inclusive Society” in 2021 and “Supporting Lower-Income Families” in 2022. President’s Challenge also rallied volunteers to help the most vulnerable groups tide over the pandemic, mobilising community resources in a time of need. It was heartening to see the united response and commitment from our donors, partners, and volunteers.

Thanks to the tireless efforts and generosity of all our donors and partners, I am pleased to announce that President’s Challenge 2022 raised $16.9 million, the highest amount since it started in 2000.

The central role of caregivers

During my interactions with the diverse groups of President’s Challenge beneficiaries over the years, I had the opportunity to meet their caregivers too. Caregivers play a central role in the lives of beneficiaries and have unique needs – a caregiver of a person with physical disabilities will face a different set of challenges from someone looking after a person with mental health conditions. When I visited the Caregivers Alliance Limited last year to announce the focus area for President’s Challenge 2023, the caregivers I met also shared their experiences coping with caregiving pressures such as finances and psychological stress. Such pressures will be more common as our population ages and family sizes are smaller. Caregivers may have to take up multiple caregiving roles, as the Ministry of Health expects that 1 in 2 Singaporeans aged above 65 could develop severe disability and require long-term care.

Now, more than ever, caregivers make up a critical pillar of society. However, caregiving is also a physically, emotionally, and financially demanding role that requires knowledge, skills, and resources. The Quality of Life of Caregivers study conducted by NCSS (National Council of Social Service) showed that caregivers cope better when they have access to respite options, or social and emotional support for the work they do.

The Government has also been exploring ways to better support them. Last year, it announced the Home Caregiving Grant from $200 per month to up to $400 per month, to recognise caregivers’ contributions and further reduce caregiving costs. This takes effect from March 2023. There are also many cross-agency collaborations to provide our caregivers with more holistic support. The National Caregiving Conference and CARE Carnivals are examples of how various agencies are coming together to raise public awareness of caregiving and empower caregivers with resources, training, and support services.

Beyond Government, the community should also support caregivers. Over the past decade, our social compact has evolved to adopt a whole-of-society approach towards social assistance, with corporates and the community stepping up their giving. These efforts lay the foundation for a caring community that helps those in need, while complementing individual responsibility and family support.

Addressing caregivers’ diverse needs

To take this one step further, President’s Challenge 2023 will mobilise the community to support initiatives that empower caregivers, provide customised support to caregivers, and plug existing gaps faced by caregivers. President’s Challenge 2023 will raise funds to support 86 benefitting agencies, including caregiver support programmes in line with the focus area on ‘Caring for Caregivers’. This is an important shift that will expand the focus of President’s Challenge beyond the direct beneficiaries to include their caregivers, providing upstream support in the social support ecosystem.

One example of an SSA that will benefit from this approach is Montfort Care, where we are today. Montfort Care has done important work to improve the lives of individuals and families facing transitional challenges. Over the past few years, it has collaborated with NCSS to co-pilot the Caregiver Community Lab, which was introduced to improve the experience of caregivers like Ms Cheong Siew Khum. Being a full-time caregiver to her mother and sister, who both have multiple health conditions, Ms Cheong struggled to navigate support services. The Montfort Care team helped address Ms Cheong’s challenges and linked her with community service providers. With this support, Ms Cheong has also secured permanent employment as a part-time bookkeeper, which allows her to earn a small income working from home, while caring for her family.

In essence, it is not just a question about taking care of the beneficiaries, but also helping caregivers fulfil their own needs. Caregivers worry about their own retirement and old age, or if they face a situation where they also fall ill, and need financial support and resources for medical treatment. We must help caregivers ensure that they are able to fulfil other goals in life such as seeking income, gaining employment, and taking care of their physical and emotional needs, while they undertake their caregiving duties.

Through the Caregiver Community Lab, the Montfort Care team also identified existing gaps in the caregiver support ecosystem and co-created solutions. One area they identified was employment. This culminated in the new Care Navigators programme, which will be supported under the President’s Challenge ELF scheme. The programme will provide employment opportunities for caregivers through job training and placements. In doing so, it will enable older and lower-income caregivers to apply their caregiving experience to the healthcare and social services sector, facilitating their return to the workforce. This is an important point because there are caregivers who have left the labour market for years. They have lost skills, and the ability to navigate the employment landscape. They need help to find their feet again, even as they continue with their caregiving duties.

President’s Challenge 2023 will also support programmes such as the Caregivers Support Network by the Singapore Red Cross Society. This network will provide caregivers with practical skills training, social services, mental wellness workshops and peer support engagement, to better address caregiving needs and help caregivers avoid burnout in the long term. I am confident that the focus on ‘Caring for Caregivers’ will rally more support and understanding towards caregivers and generate similarly meaningful community initiatives to support the diverse needs of caregivers.

Such initiatives and partnerships must be underpinned by a whole-of-society effort to holistically strengthen the caregiver support ecosystem. For example, employers can build a more inclusive workplace by implementing flexible work arrangements and accommodating the schedules of employees who are taking on caregiving roles at home, so that they can balance work and caregiving commitments. When caregivers are supported and recognised, they feel more empowered to care for others. Let us come together to care for them too.

In closing, let me once again extend my heartfelt thanks to the donors, partners, and volunteers of President’s Challenge for your strong support and commitment over the years. I look forward to working with you to continue our efforts in uplifting communities in need. With your contributions, we can empower the lives of our beneficiaries and those caring for them.

I would also like to thank Montfort Care for running the GoodLife! centres and for the good work that you are doing to care for caregivers.