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By Shuli Sudderuddin
Freelance enrichment teacher Irene Lim went shopping for books yesterday.
In the end, she picked up almost 20 textbooks - and did not have to pay a cent.
She was at Yio Chu Kang Secondary School where the NTUC Used Textbooks Project was held to allow 9,000 students from low-income families to choose what they wanted.
'We got almost 20 textbooks, which is good because I saved a little under $100,' said Ms Lim, 30, a mother of three. She selected books for her older daughter and son who will be in Primary 3 and 2 respectively next year.
The public can collect their free textbooks starting from Tuesday at four centres, with the other three being Swiss Cottage Secondary School, Saint Anthony's Canossian Secondary School and Zhang De Primary School.
The project, in its 26th year, saw a record 150,000 textbooks collected, up 50 per cent from last year.
The number of students benefiting is also expected to increase by about 50 per cent from last year.
Since its inception, the project has distributed about 1.6 million books to about 120,000 students.
The project was launched in conjunction with the Back to School Fair yesterday by Mr Zainudin Nordin, NTUC Care and Share director and mayor of the Central Singapore District.
'To collect 50 per cent more books than last year shows that we have a very caring society. We know the current economic downturn will have an impact on the ground and there will be more workers and members here who will be affected,' he said.
He added that the project and fair provided platforms to emphasise the importance of education and to help the needy in a more meaningful way.
Those waiting in line at Yio Chu Kang Secondary School since 6.30am agreed.
Said Lin Su Min, 15, who will be in Secondary 4 next year: 'I went once when I was in primary school but it was much more messy and disorganised.
'Now, there is a greater variety of books and I could even find some workbooks. I've saved about $60.'
This article was first published in The Straits Times on 7 Dec, 2008.
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