PEACE Connect Activity Centre's 30th Anniversary

PEACE Connect leaders — the late Mrs Lucy Tan, Richard and Judy Wee, together with the dedicated staff and senior residents — kindly welcomed and coached me when I was a freshly minted MP almost 20 years ago.

Raw and eager to serve, I learnt much about the needs and preferences of my elderly residents from Lucy and her team back then.

I remember visiting the centre often to help serve lunch at our 50-cent meal programme — a heavily subsidised offering. There was always so much activity, from physical and social programmes to financial assistance.

I am thus mighty glad to have celebrated the 30th Anniversary of PEACE Connect Activity Centre with the current team this week. Thirty years is more than a milestone; it is a legacy of dedication to community care.

The centre began in 1995 as the Shalom Activity Centre, founded by the Holy Trinity Church, my predecessor MP Loh Meng See, and other partners, to serve an already ageing population in Kampong Glam.

Thirty years on, it is now managed under the Anglican Community Services, with leaders like Jenny Koh and Vincent Budihardjo, along with their many enthusiastic staff.

Active Ageing Centres have been established across Singapore by the Government to serve our rapidly ageing neighbourhoods, enabling as many as possible to age in better health and with greater dignity. PEACE Connect, being one of the oldest and most experienced AACs, continues to be an inspiration.

Happy 30th Anniversary!