How SMRT’s Journeys for Good supports charities across Singapore

Lee Eng How straps a stretch band around her foot and pulls it while gently lifting her knee.

It is 9am on Monday, and the 98-year-old is just getting started on her first exercise class at charity organisation Blossom Seeds’ active ageing centre in Canberra. Chair zumba is up next, followed by a communal lunch.

“I came here and made many friends,” says Lee in Cantonese. She lives with her domestic helper in a two-room flexi Housing Board flat nearby, and visits the centre three to four times a week. Her five children, who are in their 60s and 70s, live with their families.

Blossom Seeds is a fixture to Lee and the 5,000 seniors it serves around Sembawang. Since September, the charity has been on display to millions more – in two charity-themed MRT trains, and across a network of train stations and bus stops operated by SMRT in Singapore.

The advertisements are part of Journeys for Good – a three-year collaboration between SMRT and the Ministry for Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) to give charity organisations free advertising spaces. Blossom Seeds is one of the institutions of a public character (IPCs) selected in the first year.

SMRT made an initial pledge of $1 million to the initiative over three years.

More meaningful journeys

That visibility matters to Blossom Seeds. All its activities are free – funded by government grants and public donations, says its deputy director Christina Lim.

The charity has 42 full-time and part-time staff. It relies mainly on its network of over 400 volunteers, many of whom are seniors themselves.

Besides active ageing programmes that can host up to 50 seniors each, Blossom Seeds also offers vulnerable seniors befriending, medical transport and home-based palliative care.

The goal is not simply to provide care, says Lim, but to ensure seniors “stay active, connected, independent, and purposeful”.

The Journeys For Good campaign aims to showcase a range of charities and the causes they serve, says Tony Heng, president of Stellar Ace, the advertising arm of SMRT.

“There are a lot of IPCs that people may not be aware of, that otherwise might resonate and connect with them,” he says. “We provide an opportunity through our assets and capabilities to let people know that there are such (organisations) they can participate in, either through volunteer work or donations.”

The initiative, launched in September, originally only planned to highlight six IPCs in the first phase, but expanded to 12 when it drew 179 applications from IPCs in Singapore. These IPCs were selected by a committee formed by SMRT and MCCY, based on campaign readiness and for a mix of causes.

Other IPCs featured include Ambulance Wish Singapore, which supports terminally ill patients by granting wishes, and Caring for Life, a suicide-prevention charity.

“We did not expect the response to be so overwhelming,” says Heng. He adds that the remaining 167 IPCs will receive advertisement support in the form of bus bulletins at bus shelters. The team will also explore how to cater to more IPCs for next year’s campaign.

Moving the community

So why does a public transport operator want to lend its network to charities?

SMRT chairman Seah Moon Ming sees it as an extension of the organisation’s core job of getting commuters to where they want to go safely, reliably and comfortably.

“That is a public service,” he says, and it carries a duty to give back. “When you help the community, you help families,” says Seah, who also set up a foundation in his own name in 2021. It contributes to bursaries, scholarships and to charities.

SMRT has been supporting social causes through donations from its savings (see other story), and collaborations with charity organisations, he says.

But he wants to do more. “What we want is public participation, to move away from direct or indirect contribution from SMRT alone.”

Heng agrees. “We have been doing our best, but our best alone may not be able to help enough,” says Heng, who hopes the campaign will help to multiply impact.

SMRT has reach, which it can use to raise awareness and, he says, inspire a more giving society.

The MRT network sees some 3.49 million journeys daily, according to Land Transport Authority data. Stellar Ace has advertising spaces across MRT trains and stations, and bus stops.

“Where else can you find a location (in Singapore) with three million in footfall?” Seah quips. “The question is what to do with it.”

He hopes Journeys for Good will nudge commuters to give back to the community. “I hope (they) will pause, learn more and offer support in whatever way they can. If our network helps make that connection, it has served a wider purpose.”

Among those who have chanced upon the campaign on their daily commute is Blossom Seeds’ Lim. “When I passed by it at the bus stop near (Canberra), I was so excited and I quickly stopped to take a picture,” she recalls.

It is early days, but she says the signs have been encouraging. Blossom Seeds has seen increased engagement on social media and received four enquiries from people interested in volunteering after spotting their advertisements at bus stops.

Befrienders are what Blossom Seeds needs the most, says Lim. These volunteers reach out to vulnerable seniors like Lee and become a regular presence in their lives.

Before she was referred to Blossom Seeds in 2024, she mostly watched television alone at home, Lee says. Befrienders visited her consistently for a year to coax her out of her shell.

Now, she stays active at the centre and sometimes volunteers herself. She helped pack mandarin oranges into Blossom Seeds’ Chinese New Year goodie bags this year.

Lee’s story inspires Lim. Ageing should not be seen as an affliction, she says, but an achievement.

Beyond fundraising or recruiting volunteers, Lim hopes more people can understand Blossom Seeds’ message: “You don’t have to fade away just because you are older. You can contribute and you have value, because you have lived experience.”

This article was produced in partnership with SMRT.