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As of March 2019, 95% of Singapore's public transport and bus stops are person with disabilities (PWD) friendly, our employment, only dismal 5% of the population with disabilities is actually employed. Singapore, being one of the first world nations, aims to be more inclusive in the workplace in the coming years. However, many companies are hesitant to take that step due to the lack of knowledge and a misperception of high costs of integration into their operations. Thankfully, with the help of SG Enable, more companies have taken steps towards a more inclusive workplace culture. Continuing on our two-part series on PWD friendly organisations, here are some of our local trailblazers. In partnership with SG Enable, these are the top 10 PWD friendly companies - ranked by the following qualities: (Ranking System) If you have missed out on Part 1 of our series, click here to find out more. Opportunities for Progression PWD Friendly arrangements Inclusiveness culture 6. Pan Pacific Hotels Group Team Singapore Para Sailor Apple Yap Qian Yin has benefitted from her role as finance executive in the company. Pan Pacific made washrooms wheelchair-friendly and gave her a dedicated access card to get around easily. Apple lived a fulfilling life - managing and consolidating accounts in the day while training for competition in the night. Pan Pacific not only made it PWD friendly but possible for Apple to continue to pursue her passion as a sportsman. If you are someone keen on the hospitality industry, Pan Pacific might be somewhere you like to consider. 7. KK Women's and Children's Hospital At KK, they have hired more than eight staff with disabilities believing that their physical limitations does not stop them from contributing to society. KK made provisions for Linli, a wheelchair bound administrative staff, by providing a larger space for movement and a personalised photocopier within her reach. She has been working there for almost a decade now and was also awarded for her excellence in service by President Tony Tan in 2012. KK is an example of an inclusive environment for those aspiring to work in the healthcare sector. 8. Singtel Singtel empowered their disabilities staff to progress further b y giving them their own voice in the Group Sustainability department where they look at making retail stores more accessible for PWDs. To accommodate their needs, Singtel made certain adjustments with a special staff pass that can be detected and would automatically open the doors for their PWD staff. Also, there have been open discussion with the PWD's supervisors and colleagues to understand their condition better to know when is appropriate to provide help. By tending to the physical and emotional needs of the PWDs, Singtel ensures an inclusive and empowering environment for all. 9. Barclays In one of the offices at Barclays, the staff communicates a little differently from the rest - via sign language. Barclay empowers their PWD employees by teaching their team members basic sign language words and simple deaf etiquette. Beyond that, Barclays provide a platform through Reach Disability network for other colleagues to interact with the PWD staff and learn more about the disability etiquette. This enable Barclays employees to better empathise with the PWDs. With more platforms available, I believe Barclays will effectively integrate more PWDs into their inclusive culture in the coming days. 10. GovTech Just like any human will have their strengths and weaknesses, GovTech believes that disabilities will not dampen the PWD's ability to contribute to the workforce. GovTech's culture seeks to amplify team effectiveness and cover each other's weaknesses; leading to their high performance. Employees are also welcoming and encouraging that spurs our PWD staff on in their daily operations. Career progression is also readily provided as GovTech sends their PWD staff for upgrade and certification and most comes back with flying colours. If you are a tech junkie, GovTech may provide you a sustainable career doing what you like! Break out of your physical limitation and do something more! Check out our PWD-Friendly courses - Digital Marketing, Communication Design, Website Management specialised to cater to your needs.

"Change is not meant to be made alone. That's why we're here." – Abigail Teo, Changemaker, Make The Change Make The Change is honoured to have Timothy Hamons and Shah Widjaja come to share their thoughts and experiences with us for this year's edition of Design For Good Talk. During his session, Tim showed how visual models and concepts can be used to support and work through personal change to create a compelling story set around one's end goal. Tim expounded his belief that EVERYONE can draw; he had attendees pick up pen and paper, okay, an A5 card and a marker, and had them pair up, drawing whatever their partners shared with them. Questions were encouraged, and what w discovered was that the more people shared, and listen, the better the quality of the drawing. Granted, the drawings were not perfect but Tim shared that people were attracted to imperfection (the Japanese concept of wabi-sabi?). This acted as an effective icebreaker. The insight gained from Tim's sharing? EVERYONE can draw! Just let loose your inhibitions and release the inner child. Listen. The more one listens, the more insight and understanding one gains. The ability to tell a story is important if you are a leader, because great stories inspire people and allow them to see the possibility of the previously thought impossible. In summary, Tim encourages using visual thinking to aid and enhance our thought processes. Our second speaker of the day was Shah Widjaja, the former Head of Creative at Palo IT, Experienced Designer, Mentor and Troublemaker. Shah's sharing was titled very interestingly, "Design Thinking: WTFs and FTWs". Well, the acronyms mean just that. When met with a difficult problem, most of our reaction would be to blurt out the former expletive (what the...?) But what Shah wants attendees to do is to adopt the latter attitude. Take away from Shah's session? The boring stuff is important. You know what they say: "The devil is in the details." Plan 'just' enough. While it is always good to plan for contingencies, care must be taken not to over plan. It's not about the method. Show, don't tell. Visualise your ideas, it is easier to get across to your audience. Get uncomfortable being uncomfortable. Adopt a learning mindset, put aside personal ego, or "expert mindset" — Past results are no indicator of future performance. And last but not least, Persevere!

Singapore holds one of the lowest disability employment rate amongst developed cities in the world with only 4.9% of Persons With Disabilities (PWDs) employed in the workforce. This means that only 5 out of every 100 PWDs are participating in the workforce and we are missing out on a potential workforce of 160, 000 people. We still have a long way towards becoming an inclusive society. Do you desire to make your mark despite your physical limitations? Do you know anyone with a physical disability? The good news is that more effort has been put in to educating the public, as well as organisations, in creating a more inclusive society. Many companies are becoming advocates for a more inclusive workforce with PWD friendly environments. This means there will be more job opportunities for PWDs. In partnership with SG Enable, these are the top 10 PWD friendly companies - they are recommended based on the following qualities: Companies are not ranked in order. Inclusiveness culture PWD friendly arrangements Work opportunities for PWDs 1. United Overseas Bank Group (UOB) UOB is one of the early adopters to the inclusiveness culture with their launch of "inclusive employment initiative" since 2013. In collaboration with Autism Resource Centre’s (ARC) Employability and Employment Centre, UOB redesigned certain work processes, modified their work environment and training programs to ensure that it is friendly for people with autism. Even the jobs, like checking and digitisation of customers documents, are tailored to people with autism's unique quality of steadfast focus and detailed attention. In addition, UOB provides counselling and supporting services which helped ensure the turnover rate decrease from 50% in 2013 to 5% in 2015; ensuring a sustainable long-term career. 2. Liho Our local bubble tea chain has recently jumped on the bandwagon to be part of the inclusive culture. Liho is making much effort with their new concept store opening at Cathay Cineleisure this March; with aims for the store to be entirely managed by PWDs. On PWD friendly arrangements, they are partnering with Singapore Association for the Deaf to provide appropriate training to 2-3 PWDs. We look forward to seeing how Liho can provide more opportunities for PWDs in the coming months. 3. Samsui Kitchen (Soup Restaurant Group) Being the social enterprise branch of Soup Restaurant Group, Samsui Kitchen catered to provide nutritional elderly friendly meals. Samsui Kitchen continues to be inclusive by having these meals prepared by trained inmates in Changi Prison and PWDs in Enabling Village. Facilities are also PWD friendly with low cooking facilities and induction cookers to ensure workplace safety for their wheelchair bound staff. With the expanding business, we can expect more opportunities for PWDs to make an impact in Samsui Kitchen. 4. National University Hospital (NUH) Through the School-to-work transition programs, NUH partnered with Ministry of Social and Family Development, Ministry of Education, and select special education schools for potential intellectually challenged students for internships in various departments. These eventually became their full-time jobs. With SGEnable job coaches and supportive supervisors in place, it smoothened their transition to the workplace with communication and processes adapted to their needs. Opportunities are given to PWDs to move from simpler tasks to more complex roles with greater responsibilities. 5. Uniqlo Uniqlo believes in engaging PWDs beyond monetary or physical means. To inculcate an inclusive culture, Uniqlo hires PWDs across their branches for their staff to catch the heartbeat of their belief. Uniqlo also provides utilises a basic training system that is easily used by all their employees including those with disabilities. PWDs have multiple opportunities to explore different roles here from frontline work with customers to back room jobs. If you enjoy interacting with people, Uniqlo may be the place for you. Look out for Part 2 of our series on Top 10 PWD Friendly Companies this month! Break out of your physical limitation and do something more! Check out our PWD-Friendly courses - Digital Marketing, Communication Design, Website Management specialised to cater to your needs.

MTC is honoured to be one of the 27 recipients for the 2nd Call-For-Proposals sponsorship award on Better Internet x Youth. Make The Change (MTC) is honoured to be one of the exhibitors of the inaugural Better Internet Conference held at the Singapore Institute of Technology. The Better Internet Campaign, centred around the message of "Be Safe, Be Smart, and Be Kind", is the Media Literacy Council’s (MLC) flagship event to champion media literacy in Singapore and bring it into the national consciousness. Mr S Iswaran, Minister for Communications and Information, giving his time to appreciate our beneficiaries' artworks. Here are some takeaways from the conference: Be Smart: Always check the source of received news; whether it is from a credible source. Be Safe: Never click on suspicious links and give out personal infomation indiscriminately. Be Kind: Be Sympathetic and Empathetic. Imagine yourself on the receiving end of unkind remarks.

Have you ever wondered about what kind of internship programmes are secondary school students taking up? Despite ranking at the top of OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) , Singaporean students have become good test takers instead of holistic innovators. As such, we need a change in our education mindset from a rigorous exam/test focused curriculum towards a experiential learning process. Recently, Ministry of Education (MOE) calls for removal of mid-year examinations for Secondary 1 and 3 and across all primary and secondary levels to have one weighted assessment per subject in a term . More secondary schools are going beyond the usual extra-curricular activities to open up opportunities for their students to be attached to a company fora shoer stint during their school holidays. Good news! You no longer have to be in a polytechnic or university to explore your career interests. Today, a 14 year old secondary two student can benefit from the chance to learn from an actual working environment and gain their unique take on industries ranging from Hospitality to Business Start Ups. Here comes the big question... There are so many internships out there, how do you know which one to apply for? At Make The Change (MTC) , we have the privilege to host different groups of secondary school students for internship. We gathered insights from our past interns. This is the introductory guide to choosing the right secondary school internship: Ever felt lost staring at job portals or overwhelmed by the list of options your school provide; don't fret! Here are some guidelines to help you with your search: 1. List down the top 3 internships closest to your ideal career/interests If you already know exactly what are your interests and career choices, that's good. You can start preparing yourself and find your ideal internship. If not, keep calm and take time to reflect on your daily choices. Start by asking yourself, what makes you tick. What are the hobbies and interests that energises you? During your conversation with friends, what topic do you find that you cannot stop talking about? While scrolling through the feeds on your social media, which type of posts will you stop for? What occupation best fits your aspiration? Once you identify your interests, you will be able to narrow down your options. 2. You can see yourself working for the company No one wants to wake up dragging their feet to work everyday. You got to do your homework. For every internship you are applying to, google about them and read up on the company culture and values they represent. You have to ask yourself: A) Do you identify with the values the company represent? B) Is the internship an opportunity to make a greater impact or is it just another job? C) Do you see yourself contributing to the company rather than just receiving from them? 3. Look for a company that is open and willing to share Interviews are the best platforms for you to find out about the company. It is to your benefit when you ask related questions. This is a good litmus test to see if the company is willing to be open. Lucas, one of our interns, reflected Make The Change was transparent in showing him the workings of the company and appreciate the effort in giving the interns the full working experience. 4. Be open to learning from multiple perspectives Every job has its own learning experience. Never belittle a job just because it may seem menial or physically demanding. Always stay humble and hungry to learn from the various tasks assigned to you. If you are managing well with your assigned work, seek out opportunities where you can contribute. Now that you are well armed with these tips, what are you waiting for? Start seeking out your desired internship today!

Holidays are awesome, holidays are fun! Spending part of your free time for camps are usually rewarding too- you get to meet new people, think about ideas and participate in activities beyond the school curriculum. This year, we managed to facilitate a series of workshops for our winners from the annual Design For Good Youth Competition. Running through differing creative touchpoints such as social media, photography, videography and digital art, we hope that our youth changemaker camp can get participants to learn more and explore these mediums to express, experiment or even pursue creativity in the days to come.

It's the first class for our 2nd intake last Saturday! Holding the class at Enabling Village, we are geared up for the upcoming lessons to prepare our new students for the rising digital world. From offline to online, brands are seeking talents to manage their web portal, e-commerce platform and even customer’s brand loyalty activities through various digital and open-source platforms. ​ This programme is designed to equip them with essential IT skills and know-how to manage the e-commerce portal via existing open source platforms or self-design platform with entrepreneurial mindset. ​​We look forward to growing and learning together :)

We are always thankful for opportunities that enable us to share more about our training courses for persons with disabilities in Singapore. Our team at Make The Change is happy and proud of our very own CEO, Michelle, as she went on 938Now to share our programmes live! Last month, we are humbled to have not only one, but two radio interviews with 938Now. Together with Michelle, the two sessions touched on the key topic of employment inclusiveness and invited two different guests to provide the perspectives of the employer and employee respectively. Here are the highlights of our featured session with Keith de Souza and our MTC Alumni Wen Jie: 1. Begin With The End In Mind Before Wen Jie became our alumni through the MTC Essential Communication Design programme, he was already keen to learn more about design. Serving in army as a regular, Wen Jie met with an accident 4 years ago that resulted in a permanent disability. Having the resilience to pursue his interest, he found out about a career fair from SG Enable and took the first step to drop by and explore the options available. Coming across Make The Change's booth, he decide to sign up for a course in Essential Communication Design. 2. A Postive Learning Attitude Changes The Game When asked about the course, Wen Jie mentioned that he has learnt alot from the lecturers as they were professional and attuned to adjust the pace of the class accordingly. After six months, Wen Jie graduated with an updated portfolio of digital skills and knowledge in and sent his resume in to Make The Change. He was then offered an opportunity to explore a whole new career with Excel Hardware. 3. A Longer Journey Is Often A Greater Story Today, Wen Jie is a digital maketing executive at Excel Hardware. Having an annual turnover of S$20 Million in both online and offline channels, Excel Hardware is a forward-looking enterprise that manufactures kitchen fitting solutions in both domestic and regional markets. Not only is Wen Jie contributing to the design team, he is also handling the e-commerce platform that is helping to scale the business. 4. No One Starts Out Perfect And All-knowing. When asked about his first day at work, Wen Jie recalled that he was nervous and not as confident as he is now. He also shared on how his boss has been good and patience to guide him, and that his team welcomed him warmly. Wen Jie believes that the workplace environment was suitable for him, so there was not much adjustment made to redesign the space. Also, he doesn't want to be especially looked after, and would prefer to be treated as the other team members and be appreciated for what he can bring to the table. 5. Worrying Hardly Gets You Anywhere Wen Jie had his own concerns when he was starting out as well- he was afraid of people looking down at him for his disability, and he wonders if he can really measure up to the industry standards. However, he urges persons with disabilities to not let these fears stop them and step out of their comfort zone to give it a try. 6. Together We Are Better There is strength in unity when like-minded people pursue similar goals. Ever since the first intake in 2015, 85% of the graduates from Make The Change's programmes have found employment upon graduation. When asked about the process, Michelle highlighted that communication is the important key. This means that the team will often speak to both the students and their caregivers to explore how this education can benefit them. The barriers to entry are brought reasonably low as SG Enable provides up to 90% subsidies of the entire course fees. Most of the classes are also held in the accessible Enabling Village. At the students' own timing, they can also practice with the software available at Make The Change's valued partner, M.A.D. School. 7. Empowerment Helps To Bridge Education with Employment As a training provider, it is important to always consider the bigger picture and align content that will not only benefit the students in their current season, but also their future. By engaging industry practitioners to conduct the courses, the content is created with the intention to get the students ready for the marketplace. Of course, Rome is not built in a day and it takes consistency to foster a good portfolio after building up a good foundation. For this purpose, Make The Change has invited potential employers to the classes, as both parties get to understand and share more about their needs, goals and stories.

Social Entrepreneurship is at the heart of what we do. This year, we are more than happy to continue taking part in Asia's largest celebration of social enterprises. Festival For Good 2018 has been an enjoyable experience for our team, and here are 4 keys to Make The Change at the mega gathering this year! 1. Strengthening the Ecosystem Besides sharing about our purpose and story at our booths, our team had the chance (and space) to go around Marina One to know more about what our neighbours are doing this year. Who knows- this may be the first step of many great collaborations within the sector itself. Sometimes you don't have to go far to meet the right people. On top of it being a new place in town, the festival is also held at one of the most Instagrammable spaces in Singapore! 2. Growing our Changemaker Community We are glad to have met many familiar faces at the festival- be it our past project partners or students, it is always heartening to see how the same community is staying to grow even further. This year, we had many festival-goers who signed up to be part of our Changemaker community as well. Some of them are students while others are working professionals looking to explore the social entrepreneurship space. Tapping onto platforms such as Facebook, it is important for us to be aware of the happenings around and beyond the sector. 3. Support from both Public and Private No matter how you prefer to term or coin the 3 sectors (private+public+people or public+private+civil etc.), you will probably agree to the necessity of collaboration. Gatherings like the Festival For Good is arguably one of the very few platforms capable of showcasing such a tri-sector partnership. We are happy to have met up with Ms Grace Fu, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth over the weekend and share what we have been doing thus far. Also, the Festival is powered by DBS Foundation, who is focusing on building a more inclusive Asia by championing social entrepreneurship. 4. Learn, Unlearn, Relearn Learning, unlearning and relearning is all part and parcel of growth. Take the video above for example. We love how this content is executed- they have real social entrepreneurs debunking common myths around social enterprises. Being a content creator and curator ourselves, this is a great learning case study. The week leading up to Festival For Good has also hosted the DBS Foundation Social Enterprise Summit 2018, as well as the Grand Finale of the 2018 DBS-NUS Social Venture Challenge Asia (SVC Asia). While the former serves as a gathering to celebrate, recognise and inspire social entrepreneurship in the region, the latter is a platform for new ideas to be tested and explored as sustainable innovative solutions. The importance of having a community All in all, the happenings and events purposed for social enterprise don't just serve to reach out to the public, but also to strengthen collaboration and understanding within the sector itself.

Do you think Singapore is ready for employment inclusiveness? It is almost paradoxical to limit its definition. On one hand, workplace inclusiveness includes the acceptance of every individual's background and opinion. On the other, you can see how it is about creating an environment that provides equal opportunities for everyone to work. This means that persons with diabilities should also be able to access and make use of the tools available to complete work tasks. If you have been following Singapore's Budget 2017, you will probably remember how there was a significant emphasis on training, integrating and building an inclusive workplace last year. If it turns out well, we will have more potential for our resident labour force to grow. Even as 3.4 per cent of residents aged 18-49 in Singapore have a disability, people with disabilities make up just 0.55 per cent of the total resident labour force. There is space and opportunity for us to reach out more. By focusing on talents and skillsets, the workplace should be easy for everyone and anyone to be a part of the team. How we can bring this ideal into reality today? Here are some examples (not exhaustive) where Singapore is strengthening her employment inclusive in the workplace: Designing an Assessment Tool for Organisations Other than the Budget emphasis, much has been done to nurture a more welcoming environment. To raise the bar, SG Enable has a special accessment tool from Singapore Business Federation Foundation that can help employers discern if their work environment is ready to hire, retain and grow persons with disabilities as members of their organisation. A tangible guideline is practical to point out specifc areas in which employers can improve on, making it easier to prepare and offer a condusive environement for new members to come on board. Constantly Changing and Challenging Perceptions Ryan Ng, founder of social enterprise Society Staples, puts it the best when he shares how the proliferation of glasses have destigmatised shortsightedness as a visual disability. Rather than a handicap, you might even see a pair of spectacles as a fashion accessory. This is an example of how changed mindsets can lift up negativity, and innovate on ways in which tools can be redesigned for use. Another example comes from Volvo East Asia, where additional workplace facilities like automating doors and ramps have been promptly added for the convenience of wheelchair-users. Redesigning spaces hold a powerful key not only for inclusiveness to happen, but also to sustain. Having said that, work culture is extremely important in retaining employees as well. Giving a little more attention to make sure that every individual's needs and concerns are addressed consistently will result in a longer term retention within the organisation. This is hard work that takes consistency and dedication. The Role of Education in Employment Inclusiveness Besides building up the right environment for persons with disabilities, you will probably agree to how sharpening the right skills is important as well. More than just a job, employment also gives you the joy and dignity of earning your own keep. For many persons with disabilities who have not had the chance to work, employment can come across as a form of recognition, as their companies honour them not for anything but the skills they have to offer. And as Nelson Mandela best puts it: "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." Our team has been offering our creative programmes for persons with diabilities for the past 4 years. With an approximate 85% of our graduates finding employment upon graduation, we are heartened to be part of the journey to equip and nurture more creatives. Here is Wen Jie's story of how he found his job at digital marketing after graduating from our programme: Join us to get Singapore ready for employment inclusiveness We are still works-in-progress, with many more areas to improve and grow in. If you believe in what we believe in, do join us and be part of the movement in these ways: 1. For Employers Our graduates from Communication Design in Marketing, Digital Marketing and Website Design and E-commerce can help you and your team to build a higher capacity for the digital space. Drop us a mail at info@makethechange.sg and we would love to arrange for a short chat to see how we can help connect and work together. 2. For Potential Students If you have been wondering about what skills or courses to go for, why not think about what we have to offer? Our next intake for 2018 is in the coming November, and signing up is easy. Simply fill in the form here. So, Singapore ready for employment inclusiveness? With social service organisations facilitating consistent feedback, review and improvements, the communication and understanding from both potential employers and employees are likely to be strengthened significantly. The rise in Social Enterprises in the recent years may also help to bridge the gap as well, as many social entrepreneurs are aware and committed to embed inclusive employment as part of their business objective. A tangible framework like the assessment tool can also serve as a good reference point across organisations as well. In the longer run, training programmes equip persons with disabilities with useful skillsets for employment in the future of work. From here, we may have a long journey ahead to make employment inclusiveness the new normal. Singapore is on good ground to build up a solid foundation for inclusiveness to take root and flourish for many years to come.

Last Friday, we just had our award ceremony for MTC Design For Good Youth Competition 2018! Having invited all our finalists, we were happy to finally meet them altogether for our winners' workshop. Even as we didn't manage to meet every single one of our finalists, we were heartened to know more about the finalists who came :) Putting up the artworks, our winners also got to see their shortlisted artworks in the exhibition space before the workshop started. We had our opening sharing by Make The Change's CEO, Ms Michelle Lim, who connected the finalists with why we do what we do. We believe that design can empower and transform lives. Mr Han from Media Literacy Council took the stage later to elaborate more on media literacy, and encouraged the participants to send their ideas for the Better Internet x Youth Call-for-Proposals. At the heart of this nationwide design competition, we want to tap on the creativity of our participants to internalise information on a social cause before expressing their ideas on the canvas. This is where our last speaker, Mr Kenji Choo, came in to share how design and visual literacy can make a difference in expressing the intended message. We believe that the process is just as (if not more) important than the end, for it is the journey in which our young people get to understand and find out more about media literacy. Their interpretation for "Be Safe, Be Smart and Be Kind" opens up to a variety of drawing styles, colouring techniques and messaging. Out of the 150+ entries that we have received this year, our top 5 finalists are: Best Craftsmanship Award Tay Jo-Ren Pasir Ris Secondary School Most Creative Award Zhang Tianhui Nan Hua High School Most Creative Award Li Xin Rui Hwa Chong Institution Judges' Choice Lance Capistrano Serangoon Garden Secondary School Judges' Choice Yap Yi Xin ITE College East

Do we ever thank people enough? An observation relatable to Singapore and beyond, appreciation (especially to those closest to us) is often overlooked in today's world. Bearing in mind of how we are fast approaching the end of 2018, many of us might have already met the few special people who went the extra mile to make the change for us, with us and through us. And no matter the love language, we always have the choice to make our appreciation known to them. Here are 3 simple (and hopefully, timely) reminders of how we can show our appreciation to those who have taken the chance to make the change in our lives today: 1. Make Gratitude Your Everyday Language Be it online or offline, our prioirties shift along with the faster and faster pace of life. Our fleeting thoughts land from one to another as we scroll through a seemingly endless vault of new and newer things. But if we take some time to step back, we will probably realise how we were first influenced and changed by many others before we end up to be where we are today. For one, you can probably imagine how we can all be better at gratitude if we embrace it as a language. To embed thankfulness into our daily interactions, we can make it a point to let people know that we appreciate their actions, big and small. From a real life conversation to an email for a new work associate, the effort to say or show thankfulness is a powerful movement that will truly make the world a better place. 2. Give Your Changemaker A Token Of Appreciation And of course, nothing says thank you like a fresh bouquet of flowers. Digitalisation made it very easy for flowers to be ordered and delivered, and it is all the more true for Singapore. You can literally have a bunch of them sent to your doorsteps within the day itself. The great thing about getting flowers is that they'll have one for every occasion (eg. weddings, store openings, birthdays). And this is not exclusive to women who like flowers. These arrangements have long evolved to be curated and designed for a larger audience. From humourous hampers such as the nuggets bouquet to the minimalistic brocoli, there is bound to be something for everyone. For those who are thinking of giving something more, why not go for a hamper or some gift vouchers? And if you are looking at something smaller, a cup of KOI with extra toppings or a thoughtful pack of vitamin Cs are great too. 3. Take Your Own Chance and Make The Change For Another "If you get, give. If you learn, teach." – Maya Angelou One of the most powerful ways to show appreciation is to continue and pass it down to the next person you get to meet. You'll never guess how a simple action on your part can make the difference in someone else's life. And it doesn't necessarily have to be a large, dramatic one-time sacrifice. Sometimes consistency speaks louder and inspires better. Rather than the stereotypical picture of a big nationwide movement, a changemaker usually makes the biggest change in the ordinary, daily life of another. We can probably begin with a refreshed mindset to be open and ready to give. More often than not, the toughest part is making the choice to step out. Perhaps we will be able to find something rewarding and fulfilling for ourselves in the process as well. Who are your changemakers today? As Robert Ingersoll best puts it: "We rise by lifting others." You probably can think of a few people who have inspired or helped you in one way or another. Why not make a conscious choice to celebrate them today? You might never know- they might be waiting for a changemaker to let them know that their actions and thoughts are appreciated.