At the startof the year, CapitaMall Trust (CMT) responded to the public appeal to help the victims of the Bay of Bengal earthquake and tsunami with our own community project involving the sale of special edition Lunar New Year compact discs at Funan DigitaLife Mall, IMM Building, Junction 8, Plaza Singapura and Tampines Mall. A total of S$177,000 was raised and subsequently channelled through the Singapore Red Cross Society to Yayasan Wisma Anak Korban Bencana Alam NAD & Sumut Orphanage in Medan, North Sumatra. The money was used to build a computer laboratory for the residents of the orphanage.

As our portfolio grows, we are continuing to explore new ways to turn our malls into centres of activity to embrace and benefit the community. Following the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s announcement in January 2005 of revised guidelines for the integration of community facilities in existing private commercial developments, we identified an opportunity to offer space at Junction 8’s office tower to Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) or Voluntary Welfare Organisations (VWOs). Earlier 70,000 sq ft of Gross Floor Area (GFA) from the office tower was converted for retail usage. The office tower would originally have had to be demolished to maintain Junction 8’s original total GFA. The new guidelines, however, provided an ideal way for us to reach out to the community. At a commemorative ceremony in March 2005, graced by Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon, Minister of State for Community Development, Youth and Sports, CapitaMall Trust Management Limited (CMTML), the Manager of CMT was able to give 55,000 sq ft of rent-free space at Junction 8’s office tower to the National Council of Social Services for their VWOs.

In addition, we have recently created open landscaped plazas on the rooftops of both Tampines Mall and Junction 8 which are excellent locations for events and activities, and we have made the event space available to charitable organisations to further our corporate social responsibility goals. In August 2005, The Straits Times held ‘The School of Rock’ contest in conjunction with their 160th anniversary celebrations at Junction 8’s open landscaped plaza, with the aim of promoting Singapore’s talented teen rock bands.

Winning Team for ‘The School of Rock’ contest

 

In recognition of our strong support for the community, we are now approached by more NGOs for assistance with their community projects. In September, Junction 8 and Plaza Singapura helped the Singapore Corporation of Rehabilitative Enterprises by providing roadshow space for a ‘Sale of Yellow Ribbons’ to enhance community acceptance and support for ex-offenders and their families, and to raise funds for ex-offenders to facilitate their reintegration into society.

Since October 2005, we have worked jointly with The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund on an exclusive promotion to sell their official bears for S$3 each at our customer service counters. The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund was created to heighten public awareness of the plight of children from low-income families who attended school without a proper breakfast, or any pocket money to sustain them during the school day. The money raised alleviates the parents’ financial burden of providing for their children’s education and, at the same time, helps children who are already facing difficulties in remaining in school to continue their education.

In addition to fund-raising, we work with various organisations to promote key campaigns which aim to improve the quality of life of their beneficiaries. From April 2005 to June 2005, Tampines Mall offered a push cart to the Down Syndrome Association so that their physically challenged members could interact with the public by selling their wares and, in the process, learn to lead a normal life. In another example, IMM Building collaborated with KK Hospital’s KK Juniors Club in August 2005 to organise a ‘Best Breastfed Baby’ contest. This event aimed to create awareness amongst mothers of the benefits of breastfeeding their babies, and drew an overwhelming number of 600 contestants!

We did not confine our community efforts to our malls, and at year-end we spread some Christmas cheer by arranging for the movie cartoon characters, Wallace & Gromit to cheer up the sick children recuperating at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital. The children’s happy and smiling faces certainly told us that our efforts were much appreciated.

Customer Service Assistant selling a bear to a customer.