PAP Community Foundation (

abbreviation An abbreviation () is a shortened form of a word or phrase, by any method including shortening (linguistics), shortening, contraction (grammar), contraction, initialism (which includes acronym), or crasis. An abbreviation may be a shortened for ...

: PCF) is a charitable foundation in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

founded by the governing

People's Action Party The People's Action Party (PAP) is a major Conservatism, conservative political party in Singapore and is the governing contemporary political party represented in the Parliament of Singapore, followed by the opposition Workers' Party of Singap ...

(PAP). Its aim includes the social and charitable causes between

Singaporeans Singaporeans are the citizens and nationals of the sovereign island city-state of Singapore. Singapore is home to a people of a variety of ethno-racial-religious origins, with the city-state itself being a multi-racial, multi-cultural, m ...

and the PAP, especially in

preschool A preschool (sometimes spelled as pre school or pre-school), also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, play school, is an school, educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they ...

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

eldercare Elderly care, or simply eldercare (also known in parts of the English-speaking world as aged care), serves the needs of old adults. It encompasses assisted living, adult daycare, long-term care, nursing homes (often called residential care), hos ...

and

community services Community service is unpaid work performed by a person or group of people for the benefit and betterment of their community contributing to a noble cause. In many cases, people doing community service are compensated in other ways, such as gettin ...

. It also includes offering financial assistance and promoting welfare of its citizens. Since 1986, the foundation has built many kindergartens and centres islandwide providing childcare, student care and aged care services. Centres are also built close to public housing estates, such that the centres are all within a close proximity. The incumbent Chair is

Josephine Teo Josephine Teo Li Min. In this Chinese name, the family name is Teo (''née'' Yong). In accordance with custom, the Western-style name is Josephine Teo and the Chinese-style name is Teo Li Min. (née Yong; born 8 July 1968) is a Singaporean ...

History

The PAP Community Foundation was founded as a charity organization with roots in

Singaporean Singaporeans are the citizens and nationals of the sovereign island city-state of Singapore. Singapore is home to a people of a variety of ethno-racial-religious origins, with the city-state itself being a multi-racial, multi-cultural, m ...

origins and society, the first chairperson of the board was former

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Goh Chok Tong Goh Chok Tong (born 20 May 1941) is a Singaporean former politician who served as the second prime minister of Singapore from 1990 to 2004 and as a senior minister of Singapore from 2004 to 2011. He served as the secretary-general of the Peo ...

between 1986 and 1990, followed by former

President of Singapore The president of the Republic of Singapore, is the head of state of Singapore. The president represents the country in official diplomatic functions and possesses certain executive powers over the government of Singapore, including the contro ...

Tony Tan Tony Tan Keng Yam (; born 7 February 1940) is a Singaporean banker and politician who served as the seventh president of Singapore between 2011 and 2017. Prior to entering politics, Tan was a general manager at OCBC Bank. He made his polit ...

and Coordinating Minister for National Security

Teo Chee Hean Teo Chee Hean ( zh, s=张志贤, poj=Tioⁿ Chì-hiân, p=Zhāng Zhìxián, first=poj; born 27 December 1954) is a Singaporean former politician and two-star rear-admiral who served as Senior Minister of Singapore and Coordinating Minister for ...

between 1990 and 1999, and 1999 and 2011 respectively. The foundation is headquartered in Upper Changi Road, Singapore. The mission statement state of the foundation is to "enhance the well-being of the community by providing quality educational services at affordable cost, as well as through welfare and community services". The organisation suggests a vision which will "nurture a multi-racial, fair, just and inclusive society by providing educational, welfare and community services." The group has grown to become a heartland centre, with approximately tens of thousands of

children A child () is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking ...

put through its centres in 87 locations. Four notable purposes of PCF are ''Kindergarten'', ''Child Care'', ''Education'', and ''Charity'', with senior care proposed as the next series of implementations. The first senior care centre was opened in 2016 in

Simei Simei ( ) is an estate located in Tampines, Tampines Town in the East Region, Singapore, Eastern Region of Singapore. The name ''Simei'' is pinyin for "Four Beauties" in Chinese. Formerly known as Tampines South, it was officially renamed to Sime ...

, and in 2023, PCF operates a total of 7 senior care centres. The official website for the organization states that the organization started in the 1960s to help prepare children for entry into

primary schools A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

. Classes were conducted in any space available - from 'wayang' stages to shop-houses. In addition to the benefits of having a pre-school education for children, the

also viewed it as a social outreach programme to gain the support of parents From then till 1986, these kindergartens were run by individual party branches in their respective constituency. In 2012, the majority of pre-schoolers in Singapore attend one of the PCF-run kindergartens, and the PCF commands about half of Singapore's pre-school market. In 2022, there are more than 40,000 children enrolled in about 360 of PCF's preschools islandwide. The foundation is also notable in offering a variety of bursaries and scholarships. In 2021, PCF was recognised as the best workplace in Asia according to Great Place to Work given good workplace and employee support programmes despite the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Lawrence Wong Lawrence Wong Shyun Tsai. In this Chinese name, the Chinese surname, family name is Huang (surname), Wong. In accordance with custom, the Western-style name is Lawrence Wong and the Chinese-style name is Wong Shyun Tsai. (born 18 December 197 ...

was the council chairman from 2016 to 2022. Wong is expected to stand down as chairman on 12 June 2022 as he was slated to be

Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore The deputy prime minister of Singapore is the deputy head of government of the Republic of Singapore. The incumbent deputy prime minister is Gan Kim Yong, who took office on 15 May 2024. History The deputy prime minister is the second highe ...

on 13 June.

was to take over as chairman from 13 June.

References

{{Reflist, 2

External links

Official site
1986 establishments in Singapore Charities based in Singapore Foundations based in Singapore Organizations established in 1986 Socialism in Singapore