Precious Moments Jurong Point

[Argenta Sugden]

Whenyou're truly alone and free, without having to answer to anyone but yourself, that's when the greatest moments of growth and evolution can happen. As a therapist who has spent a lot of time single myself, I've seen firsthand how this period of independence and self-discovery can be transformative.

When you're not caught up in the dopamine rush of a new relationship or the drama of an ending one, you have the freedom and space to get to know yourself on a deeper level. You can explore who you really are, develop new abilities and tools, and figure out what you truly want to bring to the table in your next relationship.

The person you become during this single chapter is going to be so much stronger, wiser, and more self-assured when you do decide to let someone new into your life. You'll have a clarity and confidence that will set the foundation for a truly fulfilling partnership.

So don't waste a moment of this precious single time, my friend. Embrace it as a rare opportunity to become the best version of yourself. The new abilities you cultivate now will be the very foundation for the healthy, fulfilling relationship you desire.

The growth and self-knowledge you gain now will serve you so well when you do eventually find a partner. You'll be whole, confident, and ready to bring your full self to a relationship. So don't waste a single moment of this precious time. Squeeze every last drop out of your singlehood and become the best version of yourself. That's the true power of being single.

John Kim, LMFT, pioneered an online coaching movement called Lumia Coaching years ago when he started working in unconventional ways. He continues to ride his motorcycle to sessions all over LA, meeting clients in coffee shops, gyms, on hikes. He's a published best selling author and speaker.

The annual Arts&Health Festival returned for its seventh edition on 20 September 2023. This year's Festival, titled "Small Wonders", invites the audience to discover the simple joys in life and delight in the little things, moments and memories that spark happiness.

The three-day Festival opened with an adorable performance by students of Kindermusik and was joined by our community partners from Loving Hearts Multi-Service Centre, REACH Community Services, REACH Youth Powerhouse and patients, whom we have worked with over the past year to co-create a healing environment and experience for our patients, families, visitors, and staff.

The Festival featured six art exhibitions with a diverse range of artworks including paintings, mixed-media and digital works co-created by local artists with patients, youths and seniors in our community. Each series is a collage of different moments of joy and gratitude in our daily lives that are often overlooked. One of the highlights include "PortrAIts: Small Things That Matter" that captured the fleeting and cherished memories of dementia patients from Jurong Community Hospital and translated them into portraits by our artist-art therapist Lee Sze-Chin and his collective, Kronoscapes, with the help of Artificial intelligence (AI).

The Festival also introduced the first Art fundraiser, showcasing artworks by artist/caregiver Anja Elstner, titled "Art Outside of the Box". All proceeds from the fundraising event were donated to JurongHealth Fund to support patient care, community health and medical education.

To add to the festival buzz, we invited staff and the community to flex their creativity and be part of a series of arts and craft workshops. Our "Simple Joys" Arts Competition garnered over more than 70 submissions, ranging from poetry to drawings and photography, by our staff as well as children, youths and seniors island-wide. Over 50 artworks were displayed for public voting.

We opened the sixth edition of our annual Arts&Health Festival on 28 September 2022. Titled "Uplift", the festival explores themes surrounding sustainability, with an exciting lineup of performances, exhibitions and art activities that showcase the creativity from local talents as they redefine 'waste' as precious resources, making them useful and beautiful - using art to give objects a new meaning and cycle of life.

The festival kicked off with percussion group Green Drumming's energetic performance on instruments repurposed from recycled household items, and was joined by our community partners Commonwealth Secondary School, The Esplanade Co Ltd, Jurong East View Residents' Committee, Learning Vision @ NTFGH, and Thye Hua Kwan Active Ageing Centre @ Bukit Batok East, whom we have worked with over the past year to co-create a healing environment and experience for our patients, families, visitors and staff.

From creating a functional bench out of post-consumer ocean plastics and weaving tapestries from discarded textiles, to painting with inks extracted from plants and soil, these beautiful artworks will adorn the walls of our clinics, walkways and wards after the festival for our patients, staff and visitors to enjoy. The festival also featured an exhibition of colourful urban birds reimagined by patients from Jurong Community Hospital, translated into animation by our artist-art therapist Lee Sze-Chin and his collective, Kronoscapes. Two solo showcases were on display as well - soda can-tab sculptures by our patient-sculptor Mr Richard Ashworth, and pebble paintings by self-taught artist and cancer survivor Mr Ang Gee Seng.

To add to the festival buzz, we invited staff and the community to flex their creative muscles and be part of a series of experiential eco-themed art and craft workshops. Another highlight of this year's festival was the "From Trash to Trashsure" Recycle Art Competition. 20 shortlisted artworks from more than 50 submissions were displayed - they include sculptures, collages and relief posters made by children, youths and seniors island wide.

We kicked off our first hybrid Arts&Health Festival on 29 September 2021, featuring a series of physical exhibitions, as well as a variety of online art, dance and music workshops and performances. Titled "ANEW", the fifth edition of the festival brought together artistic expressions of artists, musicians and community partners, with themes revolving around a myriad of emotions and responses that express hope, resilience and positivity. Amidst the challenging times during the COVID-19 pandemic, our shared experience allow us to rediscover and adapt to the redefined normalcy.

Taking the festivities online, we were joined by community art partners - Boys' Town, Chua Chu Kang Secondary School, Princess Elizabeth Primary School and Tzu Chi SEEN @ Bukit Batok, whom we have worked with to create beautiful works of art over the last two years. Despite being physically apart, our spirits were not dampened. We are heartened by everyone's warmth and energy.

Inspiring performances of self-composed pieces and renditions of evergreen classics filled our live entertainment voids with revitalised vigour, while online art and dance workshops allowed us to discover pockets of joy amidst our hectic work-from-home schedules.

Debuted at the festival was "Welcome to my Digital Kampong (Ubi Kayu)", a performative live virtual reality session adapted from "VR Time Capsule - Kampong Ubi Kayu", which brought patients on a digital kampong tour modelled after the last kampongs of Singapore - Kampong Lorong Buangkok.

The festival also showcased five physical exhibitions, namely "Grit: A Tribute of Messages and Artworks to NUHS Healthcare Heroes from the Public", "Journey to the West", "Sunny Dreamcatchers, "Textures of Tranquillity", "View Through a Window", across the hospitals. From woven tapestries to paper collages and mixed media paintings, these beautiful creations will adorn the walls of our clinics, walkways and wards after the festival to create a healing and comfortable environment for our patients, staff and visitors.

We kicked off our fourth annual Arts&Health Festival on 28 August 2019. Titled "Heartfelt", the festival celebrates the community and patient's talents, sincerity, gratitude and contributions, all from the heart. Jam-packed with a line-up of performances, art activities and exhibitions around the Campus, the festival was joined by our Guest-of-Honour, Mr Chan Heng Kee (Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health), and community partners such as Ai Tong School, Alzheimer's Disease Association - New Horizon Centres (Bukit Batok and Jurong Point), Be Kind SG, Epworth Literacy Fashion Makerspace, Grace Orchard School, Holy Innocents' Primary School, Mustard Tree, Montessori for Dementia Care, SAGE Counselling Centre, Sew Into It, Taman Jurong Active Ageing Committee Sewing Circle and The Fashion Pulpit.

Alongside the exhibition are "The Giving Tree" by Laura Soon and students from Epworth Literacy, "Old Favourites, New Colours" by Make the Change with patients from Jurong Community Hospital. The festival also featured a solo showcase of photographic artworks captured by Mr Valentine Ng, a patient and photography enthusiast.

We were joined by our Guest-of-honour, Dr Tan Wu Meng (Senior Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Ministry of Trade and Industry, Member of Parliament, Jurong GRC) for the opening event, along with our community art partners - Clementi Primary School, SASCO Senior Citizens' Home, NTUC Health SilverACE (Taman Jurong) and our patients - who were involved in creating the artworks with local artists.

Debuted at the festival was "Makan", a series of food-inspired artworks created by patients with dementia and Art Therapist Lee Sze-Chin during their art therapy sessions at Jurong Community Hospital. Through art-making, dementia patients bypass their communication difficulties to express their feelings. Each artwork tells of their story and holds a special memory for them.

Exhibited alongside the series were "Our Culture in Colours", "Our Stories" and "Dawn to Dusk at Ho Ching Road", showcasing art pieces co-created with our community partners. From acrylic paintings by 40 young children from Clementi Primary School to collage works revisiting Singapore scenes and delicacies, and the lush pine trees and landscape painting of Taman Jurong, all these beautiful creations will eventually be on display in the clinics, walkways and wards to create a healing and comfortable environment for our patients and visitors. Adding to the festival buzz, our participants created their own ceramic flower masterpieces, weaved beautiful roses out of pandan leaves as well as personalised their tote bags with motifs from our art collection. Our patients and staff who are in the clinics and wards were able to soak in the celebrations with our roving musicians who brought popular local tunes to them.

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