Being Kind: It's All Up To Us

Do you remember when was the last time you showed kindness to others? 

Kindness in the dictionary is a noun which means the quality of being friendly, generous and considerate. 

The most common, most random and simplest acts of kindness shown by great people in all walks of life which YOU and ME are very capable of doing too are:

• giving up your train/bus seat to those who need it more than you do
• smiling to strangers you meet at the lift/hallways
• talking to cleaners/workers in your neighbourhood and offering them food to eat while they work hard
• saying thank you and please
• sharing an umbrella to a stranded stranger when it rains
• holding the door for a person
• help to pick up things someone dropped
• help to carry things for an elderly, pregnant woman or any physically-challenged person

Kindness. It's all up to us. We can show kindness in a million ways if we make a conscious effort to do so. I have stopped tooting my own horn for personal reasons but I never stopped spreading kindness everywhere I go. Of course, there are days when I feel so tired, stressed and grumpy that other people may find me very unkind but it doesn't define who I really am inside out. It may sound like a brag but I know that deep in my heart, I am naturally kind.

In appreciation of the most kind souls spreading acts of kindness all over the Little Red Dot, Singapore Kindness Movement (SKM) held an appreciation dinner on the 28th of May 2016 at The Berlin Bar, Chijmes. The daisy art installation you see in the photo above, which is a symbol of collective appreciation for all the efforts for Kindness Day SG throughout the month of May, was unveiled by the events' Guest-of-Honour, Ms Grace Fu, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth, together with Mr Koh Poh Tiong, Chairman of SKM council, and Dr William Wan, General Secretary of SKM.

Over 220 guests were treated with SKM goodie bags,

free flow of drinks,

good food,

lively music and Kindness Magic Performance by Sin Yong a.k.a. Syros, one of the Ground Up Movements who was awarded with Certificate of Recognition for his effort in creating a kinder society.

Guest-of-Honour, Ms Grace Fu, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth shared us the story of how "It's Raining Rain Coats" was founded.

Dipa Swaminathan, the founder of #itsrainingraincoats - a simple initiative to spread kindness to migrant workers in Singapore, once saw some workers shivering under the rain while driving. She stopped and brought them to her home to give dry clothes to change and hot drinks to warm their tummies.

That was how #itsrainingraincoats was born. Ever since that rainy day incident, Dipa made it a habit to keep a few rain coats in her car and pass it to migrant workers she meet with or without rain. When other people heard about her story, they start donating her other goods like food and other stuff to pass to migrant workers. To date, #itsrainingraincoats have helped thousands of workers across Singapore.

Other newly inducted ground-up movements recognized by SKM other than #itsrainingraincoats and Sin Yong were Familiar Strangers, Peter Draw, Roti for Homies, Sama Sama, Strangers of the Night, The M.A.D. Team and U Cares. All these inspiring kindness movements officially joined the Kindred Spirit Circle. I have nothing but admiration and respect for the all kindness that they do and spread.

MediaCorp artiste Zhang Zhen Huan also graced the event and shared his own stories of being a kindness recipient from strangers and his colleagues at work.

I had a quick photo opp with the very handsome Zhen Huan (so many girls/women took photo with him including the ones pass my age, haha) but nah, my official date at the event was more handsome in my eyes. Heehee! Sorry Zhen Huan!

Thank you, SPRG and Singapore Kindness Movement for the wonderful night full of fun, kindred spirits, inspirational stories and encouraging anecdotes. May we all press on in spreading kindness, not just in Singapore, but everywhere we go.