PM Lee Hsien Loong at the Official Opening of the upgraded Teck Ghee Community Club

各位同胞，各位居民、大家下午好！

非常高兴今天能够回到德义民众俱乐部和大家见面。我们过去两年翻新了民众俱乐部， 最后竣工了。今天，德义CC面貌焕然一新，终于正式开幕，是一个大好日子。

翻新后的民众俱乐部可以说是“升级版”，面积比以前大，我们也听取了大家的意见，增添新的设施，原有的设施也经过一番整修，方便大家主办更多活动。例如，德义活跃乐龄委员会, active ageing, 去年11月开始，就在我们扩建后的CC推出“啦咖啡”活动，每星期一至星期五为德义区的年长者提供免费早餐，就在隔壁房间。大家都可以来喝Kopi、吃早餐、叙旧、打Rummy-O。大家还可以利用这个空间一起做运动、唱卡拉OK、保持活跃。

年长居民也可以在民众俱乐部学习使用智能手机或平板电脑，学习上网，学习通过应用程序看新闻等等，或者要买东西卖东西，例如利用Carousell。到这里学一学，锻炼脑筋，同时做一点有用的东西。所以大家这样可以一同享受智慧国带来的好处。

当然，我们还有一系列的活动和课程，适合较年轻的居民和家人朋友一同参与。只要你能够付出时间，就可以学一门新手艺，交到新朋友，拉近和左邻右舍的关系，为生活增添姿彩。

我知道翻新工作进行的时候，民众俱乐部的服务和活动中断了。有些能够在其他场所继续下去，有些受到影响，对大家造成一些不方便，很抱歉。不过感谢大家的配合与谅解，以及各位居民、基层领袖和赞助者的努力和付出，让工作现在顺利完成了。

希望大家会经常来这里参加活动，联络感情，把这里当成自己的第二个家。也希望大家继续爱护和照顾我们的社区，让我们宝贵的社区精神能够加强，能够延续下去。现在让我用英语讲几句话，谢谢大家！

Good afternoon to residents and friends in Teck Ghee!

Last two years, we have been upgrading Teck Ghee CC. During these two years, I have been visiting other constituencies in Singapore and I have had the opportunity to visit or to open quite a number of other people’s Community Clubs (CCs).

Some are big, integrated hubs like Our Tampines Hub and Heartbeat@Bedok. Some are new CCs like Keat Hong CC and Kampung Admiralty. Some are upgraded CCs like ours. There is one in Kebun Baru nearby, belonging to Mr Henry Kwek. I also broke ground for a new CC at Fernvale which will come up soon. In a fortnight’s time, I will be opening the new Geylang Serai CC, which is in Wisma Geylang Serai, and will be a landmark in Geylang. All these are very good but all these are other people’s CCs.

Today, I am very happy to be back here in Teck Ghee to open our very own upgraded Teck Ghee Community Club after nearly two years of intensive works. The original CC here was opened in 1984. It was a few months before I became MP for Teck Ghee. The MP was Mr Chandra Das. This was part of Chong Boon and it was called Chong Boon CC. A few months later, there was a general election and I became MP. This became Teck Ghee and we changed the name to Teck Ghee CC. But actually we kept very close links to Chong Boon and with the people who put a lot of work into building the CC in the first place.

After some years we upgraded it. We upgraded it twice, in 1999 and again in 2009. It has been a very popular and well used CC. But we had more and more activities, we needed more space, we did not have enough space and we could not accommodate all the activities we wanted to start here. So when we had the opportunity to upgrade, we decided to do that and formed a committee to oversee the project and to raise funds for the new CC.

Community Clubs in Singapore play a very special role. They serve the needs of the community, they are a focal point for residents old and young and all backgrounds to gather, to make friends, and to bond as one community. This is why we have Community Clubs in every HDB estate. So that residents can get them in their own neighbourhood. The Government invests heavily in building and upgrading the CCs so that residents will always have a place to call their second home.

The People’s Association manages the CC and runs the programmes. They work very hard to make sure these activities are up-to-date and regularly refreshed, and meet the changing demands and interests of residents. We also encourage residents to pursue their own interests and passions, organise their own projects, and in the process serve other residents and give back to the community.

For this upgrading, we have expanded the CC by about a quarter, it is 1,200 square metres bigger. The government paid for 90 percent of the upgrading costs. Our share 10 percent, we managed to raise this as part of the community’s effort. I know a lot of effort has gone into raising the money and preparing for this CC’s opening. I also know that during the upgrading, some of your regular activities have been disrupted and I thank you all for bearing with us.

I hope you will enjoy all the new facilities and the new activities here, like the refurbished Wellness Centre. As I said just now in Chinese, we do the ‘La Kopi’ activities every morning during the weekdays and you have free breakfast. You got friends, you can play Rummy O, you can get exercise, and have activities together. A very big thank you to the Teck Ghee wellness ambassadors who volunteer every weekday morning for the sessions, and for their commitment and dedication to serving the seniors in our community.

Our cooking enthusiasts will be happy to know that we have an upgraded culinary studio at level 4. We got all sort of activities going on. Just now I went in, they were cooking some dessert, some warm food, and some special treats. One of the things I tried was Eurasian food. Not so easy to find in Singapore but  Mr Basil Charles Pereira, he made something special – Bombay Toast! It was very good. I think probably all gone by now. But I think we cannot claim credit for the kitchen. I think it is the baker who makes the difference, the cook who makes the difference. There are many cooks around who know how to cook here, so please take a look at the facilities and check them out yourself.

With better facilities, we can do many more things for the residents. Floral arrangement, sushi-making classes for families. We have formed the 2nd As Band. Music lovers can join the group. You saw them performing just now. What we are looking for are family members where several members of the family are all performing, jamming, playing together. Come down as a family, join the group, jam together with other families, perform in the community and also you can have new classes and new skills. There are a lot of things which you can do in the CC.

We are also working with Central Singapore Community Development Council. Mayor Denise Phua is here and they are helping us to conduct SkillsFuture Advice workshops for residents, and learn how to make use of your SkillsFuture Credit. I popped in on several workshops just now, some conducted in Malay, some conducted in Chinese. We are very happy Denise is our Mayor and will be fully supporting us. And also through Pathlight School just next door. I am sure all of you will find something that you are interested in at this CC.

Let me thank the team who have worked so hard to ensure that the upgrading of Teck Ghee CC was done well. Starting with Dr S Vasoo, JP and Mr Yeo Toon Chia, our two Second Advisers who have provided much guidance and planning for the upgrading and also for the programmes conducted by the CC Management Committee and the sub-committees.

I would like to thank Mr Ernest Wong, JP, BBM who chaired the Teck Ghee Community Development, Welfare and Building Fund (CDWBF) Committee, who oversaw the conceptualisation, planning and upgrading of the CC, and also led the fundraising for the cost of upgrading the CC. He was ably assisted by Mr Ng Choon Teck, BBM, Vice Chairman of the Teck Ghee CDWBF Committee. Thank you also to all the donors who contributed so generously to the Fund.

I would like to thank Mr Goh Yeow Tin, JP, BBM(L), who is Chairman of Teck Ghee Citizens’ Consultative Committee for many years, who together with the Teck Ghee GROs, make sure that we have many more activities in place for residents to participate in.

Mdm Noelene De Foe, BBM(L), who is Chairperson of Teck Ghee CCMC and also Chairperson of the Teck Ghee Active Ageing Committee. She and the CCMC members work all year round to make sure that CC is running well and organise projects for the residents. She has a dedicated group of members including Mr Patrick Toh who is passionate about helping seniors and is busy engaging them and seeing to their needs. Mr Teo Jia Lun who focuses on children and families, and the Lego enthusiasts. You saw them just now building all sorts of Lego things. Mr Vincent Tan, who joined the CCMC two years ago, and organises free monthly lunches and outings for needy students and seniors. I would like to thank the CCMC members and volunteers for all their efforts, strengthening our community bonds, organising activities for instance. I hope many of the residents, who are interested in what is going on, will come, participate and also serve.

For the Official Opening, I would also like to thank Noelene and her team who have organised these activities and brought all the residents in, and also thank the partners for today’s event. Nanyang Polytechnic, Rotary Club of Singapore North, Mobility Aids Services & Training Centre, Teck Ghee Primary School and Pathlight School.

I wish you all great day ahead, and also to our Hindu friends, a very happy Pongal Festival! Thank you very much.

Explore related topics

• Families and communities