North East CDC sets out four priorities to support residents over next three years

The North East Community Development Council (CDC) will strengthen support for residents in four areas over the next three years: easing the cost of living for low-income families, helping people upgrade their skills and find jobs, creating more opportunities for artists with disabilities, and encouraging more people to volunteer.

At the North East District Meeting 2026 on Thursday (12 November), North East CDC signed memorandums of understanding with 11 organisations, comprising seven new partners and four existing ones. They will pool funding, expertise and volunteer resources to develop community programmes that support residents in need.

Minister for Social and Family Development Masagos Zulkifli attended the event and witnessed the signing ceremony.

To support low-income families, North East CDC will provide more daily necessities and financial assistance. This includes subsidising transport costs for children travelling to school and residents attending medical appointments, as well as providing food and healthcare supplies to ease households’ daily expenses.

The CDC will also help young people and other residents improve their employability through skills training, mentoring and hands-on learning. It will organise more industry-specific job fairs to help jobseekers find suitable work.

It will also introduce more activities that promote family and intergenerational interaction, and encourage young people to take on community leadership roles and volunteer, strengthening ties among residents.

To support artists with disabilities, the CDC will expand the network of partners under its Shaping Hearts initiative, encouraging businesses and individuals to use their expertise and contacts to help artists showcase and sell their work.

Speaking at the event, Mayor of North East District Baey Yam Keng said 253 artists and 41 social service agencies were taking part in Shaping Hearts this year, up from 192 artists and 27 agencies last year.

Baey is also Minister of State for Culture, Community and Youth and for Transport. He and Masagos are both MPs for Tampines Group Representation Constituency (GRC).

Baey said the initiative not only gives the public more opportunities to appreciate works by artists with disabilities, but also helps the artists gain recognition, connect with the community and earn an income from their work. “Most importantly, this initiative recognises everyone’s abilities and potential, and encourages artists to pursue their dreams boldly.”

A total of 16 awards across six categories were presented at the Neo Kah Kiat Arts Awards ceremony, held in conjunction with the North East CDC District Meeting. Named after the founder of local catering company Neo Group, the awards aim to support artists with special needs.

North East CDC also held an art auction at the event, raising $769,385. The proceeds will support a network of artists with disabilities, creating more opportunities for them to showcase and sell their work.

North East CDC also appointed its 10th council at the meeting. Of its 62 members, 17 are newly appointed District Councillors.

Baey said the new council would work towards building a caring, supportive and closely connected community, focusing on care, connection, collaboration and inclusion. It aims not only to meet residents’ immediate needs, but also to help them better navigate future challenges and seize opportunities.

“Our work has always centred on one goal: building a caring community where residents are closely connected.”

He said North East CDC had worked with 629 organisations over the past three years to roll out 40 programmes, benefiting more than 674,000 people.

North East CDC’s jurisdiction covers the four GRCs of Pasir Ris-Changi, Punggol, Sengkang and Tampines, as well as Tampines Changkat constituency.