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Dear Friends and Partners of Honour (Singapore),
Thank you for your gracious support during these challenging times as we persevere with our mission to promote a culture of Honour and Honouring for the well-being of Singapore irrespective of race, language or religion. Take care. Be safe. Keep well.
As we approach National Day, the focus on what is crucial and critical for the future of our nation becomes even more salient. We want to do our part for Singapore to be HOME: filled with HOpe and MEmories, not only for the current generation, but for the generations to come.
We believe that Singapore managed to survive and progress since independence because we were a nation built on honour. We honour our word, always, by being trustworthy and dependable; we honour one another, always, by appreciating and respecting one another, keeping the peace, and being united. Singapore became something out of ‘nothing’ by building and maintaining a strong ‘nation brand’.
Honour is living by virtues, which are values in action. When we live an honourable life, we live according to universal virtues that promote collective well-being. We do this by showing great respect to ourselves and others by striving to be the best we can be as individuals and as a nation, by doing the right thing regardless of what others may be doing, and by keeping our word, even if it costs to keep our promises. Honour, backed by competency and unity, is what gives us sustainable long-term success.
This quarterly newsletter provides you with an update on our key initiatives, including an exciting new development to build up the Honour Champions Community.
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KEY UPDATES |
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Panel of Community Advisors |
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Our programmes and initiatives are guided by a multi-racial and multi-religious Panel of Community Advisors chaired by Ms Chew Gek Khim, Executive Chairman of The Straits Trading Company Limited. The Panel helps address potential racial or religious sensitivities in our programmes and activities. Its members are listed on our website www.honour.sg.
We are appointing three additional members to the Panel, namely, Ms Goh Swee Chen, former Chairman of Shell Companies in Singapore; Mr Jaspal Singh, former CEO of ComfortDelGro (UK & Ireland); and Mr K Kesavapany, President of the Singapore Indian Association. We appreciate very much all our Advisors, past and present, for their continued support, wisdom and guidance in our endeavour to promote a culture of Honour and Honouring for the well-being of Singapore.
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We continue with our "What Next?” programme consisting of a workshop to elicit participant consensus on what a sustainably successful Singapore needs to be like, so that future generations of Singaporeans may continue to find Singapore as the place which offers them the opportunity to be the best they can be according to their talents and abilities. The idea is to help participants think for the long-term without being distracted by the challenges and difficulties they face today in their personal and national lives. We need to have the confidence and gumption to deal with the Unknown Unknowns and to Expect the Unexpected.
Some needs for the long-term may well take 20 or 30 years to bring about. We have conducted ”What Next?” workshops with university undergraduates & young working adults, educators, and community leaders. We hope to reach out to business leaders, religious groups, and other communities this year who are interested in the longer-term development of Singapore as a society and nation. Should you wish for us to conduct a “What Next?” workshop for your social group or workplace, or simply to attend such a workshop, please get in touch with us at admin@honour.sg. |
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Despite the restriction on film screening events, we push on with the Honour Film Initiative and continue to work on new films which feature the virtue of honour in daily living. It is showing care, concern and consideration towards others we come across in our normal activities or who are marginalised in society. Our young filmmakers press on with their imaginations and their video shoots!
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HONOUR CHAMPIONS COMMUNITY |
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People thrive when nations and societies offer them opportunity to be the best they can be, not just as individuals but as a community.
David Halpern, in his thought-provoking book “The Hidden Wealth of Nations” (Polity Press 2009) summarises his research conclusions as follows: “Richer nations are happier [than poorer nations], yet economic growth doesn't increase happiness. This paradox is explained by the Hidden Wealth of Nations - the extent to which citizens get along with others independently drives both economic growth and well-being. Much of this hidden wealth is expressed in everyday ways, such as our common values, the way we look after our children and elderly, or whether we trust and help strangers. It is a hidden dimension of inequality, and helps to explain why governments have found it so hard to reduce gaps in society.”
Honour in society, built upon Singapore’s historical experience as a nation, has to manifest in two ways:
First, to Honour our Word – keeping promises and being trustworthy and dependable.
Second, to Honour One Another as human beings and citizens of the land.
It starts with Honour-directed Individuals who seek to be the best they can be according to their talents and abilities, then Honour-directed Families with close relations among members of the family built on love and understanding, then Honour-directed Communities with healthy relationships between people in their daily interactions built upon care and consideration, then Honour-directed Organisations and Businesses where honour prevails in relationships with customers, workers and business partners, and finally Honour-directed Nation where there is mutual trust between the people and the government, and a political, social and economic environment that encourages and facilitates all the other dimensions of Honour-directedness.
Weaving the wisdom of David Halpern with the impact Honour (Singapore) seeks to achieve for the well-being of society, the instincts most people already have about the importance of honour and trustworthiness need to be drawn out into thought and action. Honour, built on trust and connectedness, makes for happiness and success for the individual, the family, the community, the workplace and the nation.
Covid-19 has underlined the critical need for relationship, and posed the challenge of how to build up and maintain relationship when there is limited opportunity for in-person meetings. At the same time, Covid-19 is teaching that the online platform should be used with suitable imagination for maximum effectiveness in keeping relationships going.
I am pleased to announce the launch of the Honour Champions Community backed by a good electronic platform which facilitates communication between its members. Let me explain some of the critical aspects of the Community.
First, it is a community of “Honour Champions”, which are people who believe in Honour as the foundation for long-term happiness and success through enhancing trustworthiness and connectedness in all dimensions of our lives, be it with the family, in the neighbourhood, at the workplace or across the nation.
Second, it is an “open” initiative in that anyone can join as a member so long as they subscribe to the virtue of Honour for life and living. By joining, they commit to share with other Honour Champions their ideas, challenges, opportunities, experiences both successes and failures, and hopes on practising Honour in daily living at home, in school and at work.
Third, we recognise that different people have different needs and backgrounds because their past lives, present situations and future hopes are all different. Hence the Honour Champions Community is composed of a wide range of “Honour Champions Groups (HCGs)”. Each HCG will have its particular area of interest which will best serve the needs of its members. Possible areas of interest/communities can, for example, be Corporate Governance, HR practices, Organisational Strategy, Sustainability, Educators, Entrepreneurs, Young Parents, and so on. The possibilities are numerous.
Every member of the Honour Champions Community has to be a member of at least one Honour Champions Group. The HCG is where members help each other by sharing their ideas and experiences in living out Honour in their workplace and social circles; members are motivated to share not only about successes, but also challenges they face and even failures they had gone through. Each HCG can have its own format for meetings, whether online or in-person, and activities, the critical criterion being whatever would be beneficial, both in the short-term and the long-term, and appreciated by its members.
We have just started with four HCGs: Educators, Entrepreneurs, Freelance Trainers and Coaches, and Young Professionals. We look forward to setting up many more groups according to whatever may be of interest to Honour Champions. I shared a few thoughts on this initiative at its recent soft launch which can be viewed at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y38DYsCPA3M.
If you are interested in participating as an Honour Champion, please write us at hcc@honour.sg indicating your area or areas of interest. We will then get back to you and suggest an existing HCG or a new HCG for your consideration. There will be no obligations from your expression of interest. I very much look forward to hearing from you.
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HONOUR PARTNERSHIP FUNDRAISER 2021 |
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This is a challenging time for everyone and we in Honour (Singapore) feel with you during these times. But while I know this is not the best of times to appeal for donations to keep Honour (Singapore) going, may I appeal, if you are in a situation to be able to help, that you could consider supporting our mission. Please forgive us if we should offend you with this appeal, but I am directing this appeal only to those of you who can consider helping us out despite the times.
There is currently a dollar-matching programme by the Tote Board’s Enhanced Fund-Raising Programme, which means that all donations, received by 31 July 2021, will be matched dollar-for-dollar by the Tote Board.
In addition, all donations qualify for enhanced tax deductibility as Honour (Singapore) has IPC (Institution of Public Character) status. For online donations, please visit our our website or Giving.sg. Should you have any queries over this programme, you may write to us at admin@honour.sg. Please consider donating whatever amount, large or small, you can afford.
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THANK YOU |
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Once again, my sincere appreciation to you for your encouragement, support and belief in our cause. My wishes to you for the best of health, happiness, and well-being. If you wish to get in touch with me, do write me at LimSiongGuan@honour.sg.
Lim Siong Guan
Founding Chairman
Honour (Singapore)
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