It is not every day that Primary 5 pupil Hema (not her real name) gets to eat breakfast.
She lives in a two-room HDB rental flat with her younger sister and their grandparents in Lengkok Bahru.
The family of four depends on Hema’s grandfather, who earns about $1,500 as a security guard – enough for only two meals on most days.
Hema herself gets $2.80 pocket money each day under the Ministry of Education’s Financial Assistance Scheme. She would sometimes go hungry and feel lethargic, especially after PE lessons.
But since May this year, 30 primary school pupils from Lengkok Bahru, including Hema, have been benefiting from the Healthy You And Me initiative, which provides the children with a pack of milk and light snacks.
Healthy You And Me was started by residents Elisa Devi Govindasamy and Marlina Mohamed Yased in 2021 and the two mothers work with 15 other volunteers. The ground-up initiative provides aid for the Lengkok Bahru community.
Before going to school each morning, the children gather outside Ms Marlina’s flat to access the donated milk fridge, tick their name off on the whiteboard and collect a snack.
Ms Marlina encourages the children to collect breakfast for consecutive days in a week, after which she rewards them with a small token such as a box of cereal or a pencil case.
“It might not be much, but it helps the children stay alert during lessons. Children who go to school on an empty stomach lose interest in learning,” said the 45-year-old mother of five.
Ms Elisa concurred, saying that the beneficiaries, including her own daughter and son who are in primary school, now look forward to waking up early for school.
Located near Redhill, Lengkok Bahru is an area that consists of six blocks with mostly two-room HDB rental flats.
Public rental housing is available only for households whose income is $1,500 or less per month.
According to a health study conducted by Beyond Social Services in the area, although 42 per cent of the resident interviewees reported having chronic health conditions, many of them thought of seeking medical help as a last resort.
Ms Elisa, a 37-year-old single mother, was no different. She discovered in 2021 that she had to undergo a hysterectomy, which costs $7,000 – more than seven times her monthly income of about $900.
The part-time cashier has been venturing into a home-based online business to supplement her income.
As a Malaysian on a long-term visit pass for the past 10 years, Ms Elisa was not eligible for government medical subsidies. She believes it was pure luck that a private hospital doctor performed the surgery for free after hearing her pleas.
“Not all our neighbours are resilient, hopeful or even aware enough to seek help for their medical conditions. We wish to change that,” said Ms Elisa.
She connected with her 12th-storey neighbour, Ms Marlina, who was thinking of creating a support system for the residents during the pandemic.
They formed Healthy You And Me, starting with a hotline and a one-off free lunch drive for residents struggling with Covid-19.
The hotline was popular among the residents, with babysitting and healthcare support as the top requests.
Ms Elisa and Ms Marlina also created a website (healthyyouandme.netlify.app) to complement their efforts.
The website and their recently formed TikTok page have been touchpoints for donors to learn about their initiative.
“Sometimes residents just need someone to accompany them to the polyclinic because they feel overwhelmed. Or they need a person to take care of their young children while they are out to attend to an urgent matter. We wanted to address these small needs first,” said Ms Marlina.
Connecting with donors to provide free breakfast for children was inspired by Ms Marlina’s youngest son, nine-year-old Rafieq. He had told his mother that he felt “awake” in school after drinking a packet of milk during recess.
In a similar vein, Ms Elisa recognised that nutritious food was an issue for Lengkok Bahru parents.
She was in a similar situation a few years ago – there was once when all she had was $6 in small change. She could on most days serve her children rice, rasam, fried eggs and soya sauce.
Her experience fuelled her drive to make Healthy You And Me work. The initiative relies on donors not only for milk and snacks but also frozen, canned, dried or processed food for the families.
Next to the milk fridge outside Ms Marlina’s flat, there’s a cupboard containing food supplies such as instant noodles, pasta, canned meat and vegetables.
“We sincerely hope that donors continue to support us. It brings us and the young beneficiaries much joy,” said Ms Elisa. “Providing breakfast was a pilot initiative, and we hope we can sustain it.”
Other than coordinating support services, she and Ms Marlina organise social gatherings for the neighbours. The duo hope to foster a close-knit support network for the residents of Lengkok Bahru and broaden their initiative.
The team is currently working with Mount Alvernia Outreach Medical and Dental Clinic to bring their healthcare services to the residents.
