Young men who have landed themselves in trouble with the law may find their future looking bleak and uncertain.
That is why a telco has donated $50,000 towards a gardening project designed to encourage them to roll up their sleeves and sow the seeds of a new beginning.
StarHub has put the money towards a garden for the Singapore Boys Hostel, which caters for about 40 juveniles aged 13 to 16 who have committed offences and been placed on probation by the courts.
These youngsters will help to create the 19m by 17m landscaped patch, planting vegetables, spices and herbs which they will go on to nurture.
Eventually they will be able to enjoy the results of their labour – eating the food themselves, taking it back to their families or donating it to the neighbouring Kwong Wai Shiu Hospital.
The project, titled Seeds of Hope Edible Garden, falls under the National Parks Board’s Community in Bloom programme and is also supported by NPark’s charity arm the Garden City Fund.
The garden is slated to open on March 28 and will take a few weeks to complete.
StarHub chief executive Neil Montefiore officiated at the ground-breaking ceremony last Friday at the hostel in McNair Road, which is approved by the Ministry of Social and Family Development.
He hopes the project will instil in the boys “a sense of discipline, love and patience”.
He said: “At the end of the day, they can literally eat the hard-earned but sweet fruits of their labours.”
Source: The Sunday Times