Our social investments in FY2008/2009 saw an estimated S$130,000 spent on 10 initiatives, including contributions towards the UPAGE (Union for Power & Gas Employees) Endowment Fund and our matching dollar donations for the twin disasters Sichuan Earthquake and Cyclone Nargis.

Twin Disaster Donation Drive
In May 2008, a donation drive involving employees of PowerSeraya was initiated to raise money for the victims of the Cyclone Nargis tragedy in Myanmar and those impacted by the Sichuan earthquake in China. With the company matching the funds raised dollar-for-dollar, close to S$18,000 was raised and donated to the Singapore Red Cross. The funds went towards the Singapore Red Cross' relief and recovery efforts in the disaster-hit areas. This included purchasing urgent medical supplies, relief items like tents and even basic necessities such as food and water for the victims so as to safeguard the health and safety of thousands of survivors.

Celebrating Family Day with the Intellectually-Disabled from Metta
As part of the company's efforts to reach out to the socially disadvantaged, PowerSeraya invited the Metta Welfare Association for the first time to be part of its bi-annual Family Day celebrations.. Five staff volunteers hosted 27 members and their families from Metta Activity Centre, which runs programmes for intellectually-disabled people to help them develop daily living skills. Our staff volunteers assisted the Metta members with their lunch and guided them through the many game booths and activities that were organised during the event.

Volunteering time for children of Child@Street 11
On 20 February 2009, 14 of our staff volunteers accompanied a group of children from Child@Street 11 to the Singapore Zoological Gardens, in an outing organised by EMC (Energy Market Company). As part of our annual social outreach programme, PowerSeraya, together with companies in the same industry – under the umbrella of NEMS (National Electricity Market of Singapore) Group – spent a fun-filled morning at the Zoo with 35 children from Child@Street 11, a child-care centre that provides care for low-income and/or dysfunctional families.


Contributions to UPAGE (Union for Power & Gas Employees)
In FY2008/2009, PowerSeraya donated a combined sum of $77,000 to the UPAGE Endowment Fund and the UPAGE Bursary Awards. The UPAGE Annual Bursary Awards are awarded to the children of UPAGE members, based on their academic performance and the financial needs of the family (the latter is based on the member's family per capita income). The UPAGE Endowment Fund was set up with the support of unionised companies under its care (including PowerSeraya) to provide an additional source of funds that will help union members in the form of subsidies and benefits such as welfare grants, leadership and training and development courses. In early 2009, PowerSeraya also donated $7,000 to the NTUC U Care fund to help lower-income workers and their families who were impacted by the recession caused by the global financial crisis. The funds helped ease their living expenses which included transport and utility vouchers for workers, and education-related vouchers for their children (as disbursed in previous years). The Labour Movement had also put aside funds for retrenched workers affected by the recession.

Staff's Contribution to the Needy through the SHARE programme
PowerSeraya subscribes to the SHARE (Social Help and Assistance Raised by Employees) programme, where employees give to the Community Chest on a monthly basis through their salary. Our support for the SHARE programme saw PowerSeraya being awarded the Silver SHARE award in FY2008/2009. This is a milestone achievement compared to previous years where the company attained a Bronze award. For FY2008/2009 (i.e. year ending March 2009), the proportion of staff who were SHARE contributors rose to 60%, a 6% jump over the previous year.

The Community Chest is a fund-raising arm of National Council of Social Service with the purpose of ensuring that every person has the opportunity to live a life of dignity to his or her fullest potential .

(The contributions made through the SHARE programme are not included in the social investment figures shown in this report as these are direct contributions made by employees and not by the company).

Learn about our other social investments that recognise and nurture the talents of youths (refer to Chapter 9.3).