SINGAPORE – Mapletree Community Month 2024 raised S$21,000 for Boys’ Town and Beyond Social Services and dedicated over 360 volunteer and learning hours during its month-long series of community engagement programmes. The amount raised is an increase of more than 20% compared to the events in August last year.

Mapletree Investments (“Mapletree” or “the Group”) is pleased to spearhead another Mapletree Community Month, which is aimed at rallying Mapletree employees and the tenants of Mapletree Business City (MBC), mTower and Alexandra Retail Centre (ARC) to play a role in giving back to the community.

Said Mr Edmund Cheng, Chairman, Mapletree: “This second edition of Mapletree Community Month reinforces our commitment to enrich communities wherever we operate. This year, we identified more community needs, established new community partnerships and encouraged more employees and tenants to volunteer. I’m heartened by the good work that the Group has been doing together with our tenants.” 

The initiative saw over 260 Mapletree employees and more than 200 tenant staff from 32 tenant companies participating in meaningful activities at the Group’s flagship properties in the Alexandra Precinct. The activities were aligned with Mapletree’s corporate social responsibility pillars of the Arts, Education, Environment and Healthcare.

Arts

The activities implemented under the Arts pillar were a Mapletree Arts in the City (MAITC) performance, an Urban Sketching Workshop and an Urban Sketchers Singapore (USkSG) Sketch Walk. A total of 35 seniors from Care Corner SG (Toa Payoh) – located near Mapletree Industrial Trust’s high-tech industrial building Toa Payoh North 1 – visited MBC for lunch, games and a performance under MAITC. The performers at MAITC were local artistes Flame of the Forest, Roseville and yIn Harmony. They belted out familiar National Day favourites that resonated with the seniors, including The Road Ahead, Home and Chan Mali Chan.

At the Urban Sketching workshop, participants learnt urban sketching techniques such as identifying visual shapes and manipulating the focus of a drawing through light and shadow. The workshop was conducted by illustrator Mr Andrew Tan, an adjunct lecturer who teaches art at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Art (NAFA) and Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD). He is also a member of the community group USkSG, which was invited to MBC at the end of August to conduct its monthly sketch walk. Over 80 sketchers roamed the paths of MBC to sketch the property’s unique art installations and architecture in three hours. The efforts of the workshop participants and artists from USkSG will culminate in an upcoming public exhibition at ARC.

Education

Under the Education pillar, Mapletree held the sixth edition of its Futsal Challenge and a deaf awareness workshop during the month. The workshop conducted by The Singapore Association for the Deaf (SA Deaf) promoted inclusiveness and raised awareness of the need to communicate effectively with deaf individuals by using Singapore Sign Language.

At the flagship Futsal Challenge fundraiser, 14 teams competed in the Open category, where participating organisations from the Group’s tenants pledged a minimum of S$500 per team to participate in the Challenge. Total donations amounted to S$21,000, including Mapletree’s dollar-for-dollar matching and contributions from Mapletree staff and schools participating in the Youth category. Seven teams from Nanyang Polytechnic, Singapore Management University, Boys’ Town and Beyond Social Services participated in the Youth category this year after a break since the Covid-19 pandemic. All proceeds will go towards Boys’ Town and Beyond Social Services, which have been Mapletree’s beneficiaries since 2016 and 2017, respectively.

“We are extremely delighted to have participated in this meaningful and fun activity, which brings a very diverse group of people together for a good cause. We look forward to the next edition of the Mapletree Futsal Challenge in 2025!” said Mr Lukas Wellinger, Google’s futsal team Captain. The Google team emerged as champions in the Challenge.

Environment

As part of Mapletree’s environmental efforts, the Group hosted an orange peels upcycling workshop and a guided butterfly walk by Nature Society Singapore (NSS) from MBC to HortPark.

The zesty workshop taught participants the art of sustainable living and body scrub-making using orange peels, coconut oil and sugar.

The guided butterfly walk was a sensory delight, as participants were treated to a stunning display of nature’s beauty. A total of 18 species of butterflies were spotted during the walk, including the Common Rose, which was voted Singapore’s national butterfly in a survey conducted by NSS in 2015. The partnership with NSS is a continuation and expansion of environmental conservation and educational initiatives, which started with the “Straw-headed Bulbul Conservation Planning” workshop held at Mapletree Business City in May 2019 and the sustained sponsorship of the Singapore Bird Race for the past five consecutive years.

Healthcare

Under Mapletree’s Healthcare pillar, the Group visited St Andrew’s Nursing Home (Henderson) near MBC, and held a mobile blood donation drive and a travel health talk at MBC. 

Mapletree’s visit to St Andrew’s Nursing Home brought National Day cheer to the senior residents. Twenty-three Mapletree employees brightened the residents’ day with heartwarming interactions, sharing laughter as they played games together and sang classic National Day songs.

“They are the best storytellers. When you sit with them, you will be told stories of events and challenges in their lives. We can take away valuable lessons from these stories,” recounted Mapletree employee Ms Stella Koh, who volunteered at the event.

A mobile blood donation drive at MBC, organised in partnership with the Singapore Red Cross, saw over 120 individuals dropping by to make the life-saving donation. Due to their efforts, the donation drive resulted in over 76 units of blood being collected, which can save about 230 lives.

To boost healthcare awareness, a lunchtime talk was held in collaboration with SingHealth Community Hospitals. This talk provided essential health tips for travellers heading overseas, covering everything from vaccinations and medications to food safety and emergency preparedness.

By uniting the working community in MBC, mTower and ARC, Mapletree Community Month has become a cornerstone of the Group’s culture and a testament to its commitment to corporate social responsibility. As a global real estate development, investment, capital and property management company operating in 13 markets, Mapletree strives to incorporate sustainable practices and generate positive community outcomes. To date, Mapletree has set aside S$40.2 million to fund its Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives.

Mapletree staff volunteers visited seniors at nearby St Andrew’s Nursing Home (Henderson) to bring them some National Day cheer on 2 August 2024.

Mapletree staff and tenant volunteers befriended seniors from Care Corner SG (Toa Payoh) over a lunch, games and a concert on 7 August 2024.

Mapletree partnered with SA Deaf to conduct a deaf awareness workshop with an introduction to basic Singapore Sign Language for Mapletree staff and tenants on 13 August 2024.

To highlight Mapletree’s commitment to the environment as one of its CSR pillars, the Group engaged The Sustainability Project to hold a workshop in upcycling used orange peels on 14 August 2024.

On 15 August 2024, a guided butterfly trail walk was organised by NSS to raise awareness about local butterfly conservation and showcase the amazing biodiversity in the Alexandra Precinct.

14 teams competed in the Mapletree Futsal Challenge 2024 (Open Category) over two days on 23 and 30 August 2024 at the MBC Futsal Courts.

Seven teams from Nanyang Polytechnic, Singapore Management University, Boys’ Town and Beyond Social Services participated in the Mapletree Futsal Challenge 2024 (Youth Category) on 6 September 2024.

Mapletree staff and tenants learned the basic tenets of urban sketching and tested their newfound skills around MBC on 27 August 2024.

To end the month of August 2024, Mapletree invited Urban Sketchers Singapore to visit MBC for their monthly community sketch walk. Over 80 sketchers attended the event.

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