January 2014

129 330

PEOPLE
129 January14
What brought you here?
My husband Thomas’s employer sent
him here two and a half years ago.
Having completed my Master’s degree
in economics and computer science, I’d
been working for a Danish bank, and I
joined him here a few months later.
Our son Vilhelm was born in April
this year, so this is now a baby home,
as you can see! At the moment, most
of my time revolves around looking after
our little boy.
What’s it like to live on the 59th
floor?
We love it – the morning light is beautiful
and so is the view of the lights at night.
From one bedroom we can see Marina
Bay Sands, from the living room we look
out over Keppel Harbour to Sentosa and
the islands beyond, and from the other
bedroom we have a view of Chinatown. I
feel very lucky to be living here.
Tell us about the SWA.
Joining the association is one of the first
things I did after arriving, and I’m glad I
did. It’s open to women of all nationalities
– not only Scandinavian countries, with
the goal of providing them with a good
network. The SWA has twomain aspects:
one is social activities and events, and
the other is making charitable donations
to the needy in Singapore.
Our membership has recently grown
to about 127, and we’re well on the
way towards reaching the goal of 150
members in the next few months.
It’s important to emphasise, though,
that the main purpose of our social
networking is to raise funds for our
charity work. Because we are a small
organisation, we cannot help everyone,
so we need to be quite specific in our
efforts: our stated goal is to enable
children and young people to continue
their education in the face of difficult
times or disturbance in the normal
balance of family life.
At the moment, we sponsor three
scholarships for needy and deserving
university students; we provide support
to three families with children whose
education is at risk; and we also
contribute funds to The Tent, a shelter
for teenage girls.
How are your funds raised?
Partly through our annual membership
fee of $80; partly through the generosity
of various individual and company
sponsors; and also through activities
such as our Walk and Talk outings to
some of Singapore’s favourite green
spaces. MacRitchie Reservoir Park
and the Labrador Park walking trail
are popular options; members pay $5
and non-members $10 to join in. For
example, a recent Walk and Talk in Bukit
Timah Nature Reserve raised $150,
which covers sponsorship of a needy
family for half a month.
Other popular activities include Indian
cooking classes, an iMac and iPhoto
course, ladies’ lunches and theatre
evenings. We've had a Mooncake
Magic talk, and we’re about to do a
tour of Pottery Jungle. We know that it’s
important to have events that will attract
newmembers, especially newcomers to
Singapore, and that will also be enjoyed
by existing members.
Our monthly newsletter keeps
our members up to date with our
achievements, and the calendar on our
website gives an overview of what’s
coming up.
How do you decide who the
beneficiaries will be?
For our two longstanding scholarships
– the Marit Thome Scholarship (named
after the woman who founded the
SWA in 1976) and the Scandinavian
Women’s Association Scholarship, both
at Republic Polytechnic – we rely on the
university to nominate the recipients.
Each student receives $2,500 towards
tuition fees and books.
For the next two years, we have an
additional scholarship for the daughter
of one of the families we supported
in the past. She is now pursuing her
Master’s degree at Beijing University,
and we’re very proud of her progress!
As for our needy families, we
are given leads by the volunteer
association Breadline, which is a
member of the National Council of
Social Services. For example, we
currently support a family of two high
school girls who live with their two aunts
in impoverished circumstances.
In addition to providing these
families between $150 and $300 a
month towards their household and
educational expenses, I and our other
charity officers visit them regularly in
order to help them set their own goals for
the period of our support, assess their
progress and evaluate whether to either
adjust our contribution or terminate it
when the need is no longer there.
Our support is generally for the
short term, while the family is in dire
straits, and should not become part
of the family’s regular income. Most
fortunately, we have a member who is a
qualified social worker and used to work
in that field in Denmark.
Our donation to The Tent is meant to
be pocket money for the girls to spend
on personal effects and clothing. The
shelter itself provides them with food
and a roof over their heads.
What with committee meetings,
social activities, administering
SWA’s family subsidies and
maintaining the website, SWA
must take a lot time. What keeps
you involved, especially now that
you also have a baby to care for?
The look on the face of a bright girl who
has received a scholarship fromus, or the
relief in the eyes of amother who now has
the funds to send her son to kindergarten.
That’s what makes it all worthwhile.
In time, I look forward to returning
to my career as a business developer.
But for now, it’s a joy for me to have
this time to look after my son, while still
volunteering for SWA.
As expats, we live relatively privileged
lives in Singapore and many of us have
so much more than we need. Through
SWA, we can share some of what we
have with others in the community who
are less fortunate.
As expats, we live
relatively privileged lives
in Singapore and many
of us have so much
more than we need.