With start-up help from MCYS ComCare Enterprise Fund (CEF), Community Kitchen is now moving full steam ahead to support the needy residents of Bukit Panjang.
It was a great idea – start a pastry-making business that would create jobs for women from disadvantaged families, particularly among the Malay community, and thus help them to help themselves.
But great ideas need money to become reality. And that’s where the MCYS ComCare Enterprise Fund (CEF) proved to be the critical factor in helping the Community Kitchen take off as a commercial venture in Bukit Panjang in 2006.
Getting The Key Ingredient
The brainchild of Dr Teo Ho Pin, MP for Bukit Panjang and Mayor of Northwest CDC, the project was launched in April 2005 on a very small scale at the Al-Iman Mosque.
The following year, thanks to S$140,000 of CEF funding and armed with a 2-year business plan, the Community Kitchen moved to bigger premises at Bukit Panjang Community Club (CC). The money came, of course, with conditions.
Explains George Chia, Project Coordinator of the Community Kitchen: “In order to secure this funding, we had to adhere to strict guidelines based on our business proposal and the community work we were engaged in. We had to factor in license fees, rentals, utility bills, labour costs, supplies, equipment costs and daily operational costs.
Putting The Recipe Together
“Basically, employees of the Community Kitchen prepare pastries, cakes and cookies for small-scale retail and catering purposes. Currently, a total of 13 women who are trying to find a place in this society form the kitchen crew. They were specially selected among numerous applicants and sent for training after thorough examination of their backgrounds and financial situations.”
Managed by Mr Chia and Senior Kitchen Supervisor Gina Shamsuddin, the kitchen crew works in 2 shifts to prepare the raw ingredients and the end products. Every morning, the pastries are collected and sold from 2 push carts strategically located at the Fajar and Bangkit districts in Bukit Panjang.
Community Kitchen also offers a catering service, taking orders from MCYS, Town Council, North West CDC and other bodies that are aware of this project.
Savouring The Taste of Victory
“Our products are pretty popular with customers as we are nearly sold out everyday,” says Mr Chia. “I think it’s because of the quality of our pastries.”
He adds: “Considering that we are a small-scale establishment, a turnover of S$98,000 in the first 13 months was quite an achievement for us. That gave us the confidence we needed to press on.
“Though there are only 2 of us running the whole show, I believe we can expand and compete on a commercial level. We started off with baby steps on the stairs and have progressed to the escalator. Soon, we will be operating like a lift – smooth and fast!” MCYS introduced the CEF to help start or scale-up social enterprises. It provides seed money to fund sustainable enterprises in the community that help needy Singapore Citizens.
Community Kitchen is proof of the need for, and the value of, the CEF concept.
“This project is truly a beneficial one as the ladies who work at the Kitchen start living life with renewed spirit and energy,” says Mr Chia. “Seeing them give it their all makes me seriously consider exp