People with special needs are now more accepted than ever in society.
By: Tung Jing Qi
Tucked away inside of Rainbow Centre on Margaret Drive is SEEDS CAFÉ, a bistro filled with love and growth. An initiative by Rainbow Centre, SEEDS CAFÉ serves as a vocational training ground for young adults with special needs.
As its name suggests, SEEDS CAFÉ helps young adults with special needs transit into the workforce when students from Rainbow Centre intern at the bistro. Interns work at the café twice every week: Thursday and Friday, for only a short span of 3 hours, 1.30PM to 4.30PM.
With a wooden and earthy interior, the bistro had a homely feel to it, as the smell of fresh coffee spilled over the well-lit eatery. Decorated with potted plants and paintings done by Rainbow Centre’s very own students, customers seated at the café were either chatting softly, or typing on their laptops. Armed with a homely environment as well as a team of friendly staff, who recommended the chicken curry with toast, and their handmade coffee upon ordering.
Out of all the dishes tried at SEEDS CAFÉ, their Chicken curry toast and Waffle chicken sausage with scrambled eggs is definitely worth a mention.
Their Chicken curry toast was served as a bowl of curry on a plate with a generous amount of chicken and potato chunks, with four pieces of lightly toasted bread on the side. Even though the chicken chunks were quite dry on the inside, the spicy curry complemented the slightly sweet, milky, taste of the toast when eaten together.
The Waffle chicken sausage with scrambled eggs came with a small cup half filled with maple syrup, two pieces of waffle, a generous amount of scrambled eggs topped with chopped basil, and two sausages. Even though the waffles and scrambled eggs were a bit overdone, when eaten together drizzled with maple syrup, created an explosion of flavours.
Interns with special needs are without a doubt, wholly accepted here at SEEDS CAFÉ and Rainbow Centre. However, based on an article published by The Straits Times in 2016, only 10 per cent of Singaporeans have confidence in interacting with children with special needs.
Contrary to this, based on a poll done in August 2019, around 84 per cent of Singaporeans are willing to open up their hearts and make friends with people with special needs. Despite a huge majority of them stating that they are prepared to make friends with people with special needs, 42 per cent of the surveyed feels that acceptance for people with special needs is just on paper, and it has not really happened in real life yet.
Ms Angela Chua, one of the customers who visited the eatery due to a current project that she was working on, reveals that after coming to SEEDS CAFÉ, her perception of people with special needs has changed. While sipping on her iced caramel latte handmade by the interns at the café, Ms Chua says she “definitely see how they can contribute to society too.”
Ms Angie Goh, a mother to her 19-year-old daughter, Janelle, who has been diagnosed with Down Syndrome from birth, has been sending her child to Rainbow Centre for early intervention such as speech therapy ever since her daughter was six months old.
Janelle is now having her internship at a hotel, and Ms Goh feels that vocational training grounds has made her more independent, and Janelle is able to take the bus to work and back home by herself.
Ms Goh feels heartened that acceptance for people with special needs has been increasing in Singapore, and she gives “a huge thank you, for accepting them”.
Located inside Rainbow Centre, SEEDS CAFÉ opens from Monday to Sunday, 7.30AM to 7PM, and they are closed only on public holidays.
For those taking public transport, you can take Bus 32 from opposite Redhill MRT Station to Queenstown Primary School and walk 2 minutes to Rainbow Centre and SEEDS CAFÉ.
Seeds Cafe, 501 Margaret Dr, Singapore 149306
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