We're GBG (Geylang Bless God), a family friendly ministry that's been around since 1992. We started out helping fight trafficking in the red-light district of Geylang, but now we're all about supporting families in our community, local, non-local and extra-local.
What learned in the early days is that the church was very much picking up where the police left off. In a crime ridden and vice infested neighbourhood like Geylang there is only so much a government can do. The State invests significant resources in maintaining the peace through drug prevention, policing, and anti-vice activities, eg, surveillance cameras on every other lamp-post, brighter street lighting after dark, increased foot patrols, liquor control rules in certain hotspots, etc.
As one Oikos governor astutely puts it: “For crime as a whole my guess is that there is some efficiency in bringing crime down to a particular level but the cost savings would start to decrease once you try to stamp out the "last mile" of crime. And then ensuring 100% no crime would be astronomically costly. Same for healthcare ("100% no disease") or social services ("100% no broken families")…” (H. G. Tze)
There's a mathematical relationship at play here - a church can only invest so much in neighbourhood intervention before costs rise dramatically without proportional results. As they say, something's got to give. The shift from anti-vice to pro-family work was a natural evolution, following an inverse productivity curve. It simply became more cost-effective to switch our focus from fighting vice to supporting families.
Thus, a community-focused initiative like the Neighbours vision encompassing Legal, Pottery** and other studio art specialisations in Kukoh and Geylang, while requiring investment, would be far more cost-effective than dealing with unchecked crime, prostitution, alcoholism, gambling, and drug abuse in the long run.
Communities thrive and flourish when strong social bonds are cultivated and maintained between neighbors, fostering a sense of belonging and mutual support. While it remains impossible to completely eradicate vice and criminal activities due to the astronomical costs of total enforcement, the power of connected communities serves as a natural deterrent and creates an environment where positive behaviors are more likely to take root. These social connections act as an informal support system that helps prevent isolation and promotes accountability among community members, making it more difficult for destructive behaviors to take hold.
Therefore, rehabilitated individuals—such as yellow-ribbon fathers on parole who choose to live responsibly—provide immense value to the city by helping prevent the substantial costs the State would otherwise incur in addressing destructive behaviors. Similarly, yellow-ribbon sisters who leave behind illicit activities contribute to society through strengthened family life and improved marital relationships, as maintaining monogamy helps keep families intact.
** By the way, you'll love our pottery workshops where people get hands-on and creative while making new friends. Plus, we're big on helping dads and kids bond together, keeping cultural traditions alive, and lending a helping hand to folks who've been through tough times.
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We create pottery to build community and foster slow-life craftsmanship. Through hands-on work with clay, we help gifted individuals discover genius by modalities.
Direct Assistance to Victims in Trauma (DAVT)
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GBG (Geylang Bless God) neighbourhood, established in 2004, serves vulnerable families through a comprehensive urban ministry model, focusing particularly on supporting overseas workers and their families by providing leadership development programs that strengthen family bonds while preserving cultural values in our dynamic ecosystem of connected ministries.
For over three decades, our ministry has served vulnerable women - including mothers, domestic workers, and trauma victims affected by trafficking and abuse. While initially focused on anti-trafficking efforts and victim support, our approach has evolved since Covid. Following strengthened government regulations against human trafficking, we've shifted to a family-centered model. Today, we emphasize supporting overseas workers' families by strengthening father-child bonds and preserving cultural values through leadership training and connection programs.
The organization is currently undergoing a post-Covid pro-family pivot, with emphasis on: