Mr Toh, an elderly gentleman who has been handicapped by his amputated state for the past 10 years, was living in a suboptimal environment. Unlike most of us, he could not afford to have meals in a decent manner. All this changed on a fateful day when a group of Tzu Chi International Medical Association (TIMA) volunteers decided to step in to brighten his day.

Queenstown Secondary School held its National Day Celebrations cum 55th Speech & Prize Giving Day on 8 August to thank individuals and organizations which have contributed to the school community. Our Foundation was among the awarded recipients of the annual presentation ceremony.

In the afternoon of 29 July, 84 medical professionals set aside time from their busy schedules for a bonding session at the Redhill Tzu Chi Free Clinic. It has been more than ten years since the inception of the Tzu Chi International Medical Association (TIMA) in Singapore. Looking back when everything first started, it was indeed challenging for the pioneer members to recruit fellow medical professionals to volunteer with Tzu Chi.

In July 2012, Tzu Chi Cambodia invited Brother David Liu and Tzu Chi Singapore to Cambodia for the third Blissful Life Talk. The talk gave a review of what the Cambodia volunteers have attained according to the principle of Bodhisattva path over the past one year. It was the first visit to Phnom Penh for two fellow staff from Tzu Chi Department of Religious Affairs. Besides bringing with them blessings from the Master, they were also in Cambodia to understand how the local volunteers are progressing. This simple and sincere gesture made the Cambodia volunteers very touched and grateful.

In the spirit of “compassionate relief” of Tzu Chi and Master Cheng Yen, Israeli vocalist David D’Or, Italian painter Vittorio Amadio and Taiwanese singer/host Johnny Yin got together in Singapore on 22 July to perform in two beautiful charity concerts for Tzu Chi Singapore.

Close to 100 entrepreneurs and volunteers from Tzu Chi Indonesia branch, KL-Selangor branch and Klang branch gathered in Singapore to lend their support to our ‘Voices of Great Love’ charity concert on 22 July. Capitalizing on the rare occasion, our Tzu Chi entrepreneur group hosted a seminar in evening of the 21st and invited more than 80 local entrepreneurs to join the visitors in sharing their Tzu Chi experiences.

Since 2011, the Singapore Tzu Chi Collegiate Youths have been actively promoting vegetarianism among local youth community through their Veggie Hero (VERO) campaign. On 21 July 2012, they invited 41 youths to take part in a dynamic activity dubbed ‘Running VERO: Market Exploration’ at a local vegetable and fruits wholesale centre. By completing each and every game station, participants have the chance to see, hear and understand that food is obtained after going through a lot of processes and therefore learn to appreciate food.

In recognition of the 19 years of work by the Tzu Chi Foundation in Malaysia, the state of Penang awarded its highest civil honour to Master Cheng Yen. It was a moment of great pride for the 2569 Tzu Chi volunteers in the country.