SATURDAY, 30 JANUARY 2016 (Singapore) – GoodLife! Makan, a brand new programme by Montfort Care that encourages stay alone seniors to come together to provide for the community, was officially opened by Guest-of-Honour, Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong, today.

With stay alone senior households becoming more prevalent due to factors such as a rapidly ageing population and changing family structures, GoodLife! Makan hopes to create a space that allows seniors to create bonds and rediscover their potential with the help of the community. Located at Block 52 Marine Terrace, GoodLife! Makan is a community kitchen with a twist. Using food as the talking point, the centre not only offers a place for stay alone seniors to prepare, cook and share their meals with one another but more importantly, a space for conversations, learning and companionship.

The colourful 160sqm centre is a 60-person centre established by Montfort Care at the void deck in Marine Parade, with a communal kitchen at its nucleus. Seniors are empowered to plan and cook their meals. Everyone is expected to participate for meal times; in food selection, shopping, preparation, cooking and eating. The focus of GoodLife! Makan is to reach seniors with limited socialising opportunities, provide access to healthy food, life skills empowerment, social interaction and community development.

CEO of Montfort Care, Mr Samuel Ng said, “At GoodLife! Makan, seniors share more than just the food on the plate. They share experiences, knowledge, space and kinship. By building a sharing economy, we deliver more than just food, it also act as a social glue for the seniors.”

With the opening of GoodLife! Makan, Mr Ng hopes that the centre can increase involvement of their stay alone clients, empower them to discover new potential and to connect with the community. He added, “We want to change perception of stay alone seniors as objects of charity to seeing them as active and capable individuals; to move from end of life to a new lease of life.”

In addition to food, the Centre also provides learning opportunities to allow seniors to rediscover their potential through participation and meaningful engagement with the community. A resident who has been benefiting from the programme since October 2015, is 77 years old retiree, Mr Ku Thien Wee. A bachelor who lives on his own, Mr. Ku was referred to Montfort Care after recovering from a fall in the hospital.

“I didn’t know I can draw till I was 77 years old!” he said of the creative arts programme that he participated in. “I took part in the drawing class and have also been practicing drums with the others. I have come to understand that the possibilities are endless, even at the age of 77. We don’t just come for lunch, but we come to help out as well. I will cook if my feet allow me to; otherwise I help to clean the dishes. For me, it isn’t the ingredients that make the food tasty, but the people whom I am eating with.”

For more information about GoodLife! Makan, you can reach us at:

GoodLife! Makan