Pupils fold cranes to help the needy

CLOSE to 20,000 cranes filled a primary school yesterday in an effort to help Singapore's needy.

Pupils, some of their parents, and teachers from Nanyang Primary School folded 19,688 cranes, which will be exchanged for rice to give to the less fortunate.

Their folding prowess also set a new standard in the Singapore Book of Records for the highest number of paper cranes made in an hour. It knocked out the previous record of 10,056 set in 2007.

The task is the first of three events organised by the North West Community Development Council (CDC) to mark a charity campaign.

For every crane folded, Tong Seng Produce will donate 100g of rice to the CDC to distribute to its needy residents.

The council hopes for a total of 630,000 cranes to be folded, to raise a total of 63,000kg for the Rice That Binds, Cranes @ North West campaign, which runs till September.

Dr Teo Ho Pin, mayor of the North West district, said there has been a 40 per cent increase in the number of residents coming forward for help from January to June this year, because of the economic crisis.

Every day, 96kg of rice is needed for the district's food ration scheme, he added. 'Our first initiative is to help the needy be self-reliant through various means. So job assistance is key to helping them move to a new environment and provide skills upgrading,' he said.

JESSICA JAGANATHAN