36 | July⢠2018
Agency oicer and the National En-
vironmentAgencywereevencalledâ
sayshisdaughterAnne.âhehouse
wasillingupwithvolunteerstohelp
cook prepare and deliver the food.
We were like st rangers in our ow n
home.â
hen one day they ran out of rice
needed to make the 1000 meals
needed for the next day. âWeâll pray
aboutitâTonyrememberssayingto
his worried family. It worked â be-
foredayâsendaricemerchanthad
giventhemanexcessshipmenthe
needed to off load. Soon after the
familyâs entire house â the living
room kitchen and bedrooms â was
illedwithsacksofrice.
ACCORDING TO THE WORLD BANK
Singapore is a high-income economy.
But local economist Yeoh Lam Ke-
ong estimates that there are between
110000â140000 households living in
time with his family and grandchil-
dren when he eventually retired.
âDistributing the bread reminded
me of the times when I had to queue
for food and nobody asked whyâ he
says. âThe temple just gave the food
to us.â
SoonafteranothernunaskedTony
to distribute unsold vegetables from a
wholesaler to the poor. While distrib-
utingthevegetableswithhiswifean
elderlymaninarentedgovernment
lat approached them and asked for
food.Hewaslivingbyhimselfand
could not cook. The couple began
making and delivering a home-
cooked meal to the man every day.
Over time the number of meals
Ton y w a s c o ok i n g i n h i s k i t c he n a t
home grew and two friends decided
topitchinandhelp.Butasthenum-
berofmealsgrewsodidtherubbish
andcomplaintsfromhisneighbours.
âA policeman a Land Transport
Willing Hearts serves up to 7000 meals a day to disadvantaged households
PHOTO: ALAMY