SINGAPORE - There are many kind people in Singapore, said Dignity Kitchen founder Koh Seng Choon, who has reached his fund-raising target of $200,000 for the restoration works of his social enterprise.
The fire that ravaged his 10,600 sq ft premises at 69 Boon Keng Road in the wee hours of the morning on Feb 13 opened his eyes to the generosity of ordinary Singaporeans.
Police investigations into the fire are still ongoing.
Dignity Kitchen is run by Project Dignity, a social enterprise founded in 2010 to create jobs for people with disabilities.
Its Singapore branch comprises a foodcourt open to the public, a culinary training centre, social outreach programmes and second-hand book stalls.
Restoration works, which will start on April 1, will cost over $100,000 and take about two to three months. The contractors will focus on the roof, air-conditioners, Web server and training centre, which suffered the most damage.
The foodcourt, which has seven stalls manned by the differently abled and disadvantaged, is intact and resumed operations on Feb 19.
Training makes up 30 per cent to 40 per cent of Project Dignity’s total business revenue, Mr Koh, 65, told The Straits Times. It will mean a revenue loss of about $600,000 during this period. The social enterprise is still in discussion with its insurer on a payout.
Apart from receiving donations, Dignity Kitchen also did fund-raising on crowdfunding platform Give Asia.
A total of 1,381 donors have come forward to show their support, with the smallest amount of $10 coming from a 10-year-old boy. Barclays Bank, the biggest donor, gave a five-figure sum.
Some donors were from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and India. A local man said he was donating part of his inheritance to support the cause.
A group of old boys from St Joseph’s Institution gave about $2,000, and the Rotary Club of Pandan Valley, on March 22, handed over a cheque for $3,155 raised by 35 members.
Ms Elsie Chua, past president of the club, said they were touched by Dignity Kitchen’s mission to restore dignity to the differently abled and disadvantaged by creating job opportunities for them.
Some of Dignity Kitchen’s staff parted quietly with their salaries, while three of the enterprise’s beneficiaries donated amounts of $20 to $50. They were recipients of Dignity Kitchen’s free box meals, which are given to 90 low-wage workers for dinner from Monday to Friday.
One of them was a woman in her 80s who fished out $20 from her purse. Mr Koh said he was almost moved to tears by her gesture.
“I saw only a few notes in her purse, $20 is like $200 to her. I told her I could not accept her donation,” he added.
She insisted and dropped the money into a Pay-It-Forward box before telling him in Hokkien: “You have been giving us a meal unconditionally over the years.”
“Kindness begets kindness,” said Mr Koh. “It has been a humbling experience, and I didn’t know the reputation of Dignity Kitchen has been so impactful.”
Any savings from the donations will be channelled to his charitable causes, including funding the meal service, which costs $450 daily, and sponsoring students with disabilities for its courses.
The money will also help to fund Mr Koh’s new initiative, Dignity Kitchenette, which will be launched at Yio Chu Kang Bus Interchange on May 20.
The food stall, selling bento boxes and drinks, will hire 20 dementia and cancer-recovery patients, who will be rotated on four-hour shifts weekly.
Mr Koh, who has a Dignity Kitchen branch in Hong Kong, hopes to have at least two more stalls selling bento boxes in Singapore by the end of 2024. He will also launch the same concept in Hong Kong from June, starting with a stall at Albion Plaza in Tsim Sha Tsui and another at the Chinese University Medical Centre in Sha Tin.
“These are the people who do not get government grants,” he said. “We will train them for a period of 22 days to 10 weeks in areas like food handling and basic food hygiene, before they start their new job.”
