Habitat for Humanity Singapore| Contact information | HFH Singapore
Century Technology Building
56 Lorong 23 Geylang #05-00
Singapore
388381
Singapore
Phone: +65 67447326
Fax: +65 68445383
E-mail: info@habitat.org.sg
| | Web site | www.habitat.org.sg
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Singapore -- Habitat for Humanity Int'l 1
THE CITY STATE OF SINGAPORE IS AT once an entrepôt, a cosmopolitan metropolis, a high-tech hub and an international financial center. In two generations, rapid government-led industrialization and open policies inviting foreign investments stimulated rapid economic growth.
In Singapore, the elimination of poverty has, in part, been driven by official concern to create decent housing. Before the Singapore government established the Housing & Development Board (HDB) as the country’s public housing authority in 1960, only nine percent of the population enjoyed low-cost public housing. Today, 86 percent of Singapore’s population lives in very high quality HDB flats.
Registered in March 2002, Habitat for Humanity Singapore is involved in fundraising, advocacy and organizing volunteers, along with local home improvement and safety projects.
Since 2003, HFH Singapore has held “Under No Roof ”, an event designed to raise awareness of sub-standard housing and homelessness among young people. The annual event involves participants constructing make-shift shelters and spending the night without a proper home. Hundreds of young people take part each year.
In 2006, HFH Singapore started “Operation Homeworks”, a home improvement and safety project that has benefited more than 200 elderly and disabled people to date with the help of more than 1,200 volunteers.
Singapore was the first Habitat country to send disaster response teams to Sri Lanka and Aceh after the December 2004 tsunami.
HFH Singapore has also formed close links with HFH Indonesia’s Batam affiliate. Batam island is only a short ferry ride from Singapore, making it an ideal location for short volunteer builds.
HABITAT HIGHLIGHTS
• In June 2007, HFH Singapore celebrated the 1,700th family housed in tsunami- affected Meulaboh on the west coast of Indonesia. In addition to the US$9 million grant from the Singapore Red Cross, HFH Singapore raised an additional US$500,000 for reconstruction after the Indian Ocean tsunami.
• More than 10 local celebrities helped more than 200 students at the 2008 Under No Roof, by building symbolic Habitat homes, with paper bricks and pipes.
• As part of its advocacy and fund-raising campaign, HFH Singapore mobilized more than 700 local student volunteers to build the world’s largest paper brick house in June 2007. The volunteers broke a world record by using more than 45,500 Tetrapak drink cartons for the house.
• Since 2002, Singapore has sent more than 3,300 volunteers to Habitat builds in China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, the Philippines, Romania, Sri Lanka and Thailand, including the tsunami-affected areas.
• More than 300 houses have been built in the nearby island of Batam.
COUNTRY FACTS
Population: 4.8 million (July 2008 est.)
Capital: Singapore
Area: 692.7 sq. km.
Ethnic groups: Chinese 76.8%, Malay 13.9%, Indian 7.9%, others 1.4% (2000 census)
Languages: Mandarin 35%, English 23%, Malay 14.1%, Hokkien 11.4%, Cantonese 5.7%, Teochew 4.9%, Tamil 3.2%, other Chinese dialects 1.8%, others 0.9% (2000 census)
Religions: Buddhist 42.5%, Muslim 14.9%, Taoist 8.5%, Hindu 4%, Catholic 4.8%, Christian 9.8%, others 0.7%, none 14.8% (2000 census)
Updated January 2009
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