Volunteers help single dad clean Punggol home to welcome daughter home from rehab

After his daughter was sent to a rehabilitation centre for vaping, a single father believed that she had gone down the wrong path because she did not grow up in a positive environment at home.

Hoping to give her a fresh start, he sought help from a volunteer group to clean their house in Punggol ahead of her return on Feb. 27, 8world reported.

Liu Yong Fu (transliterated), 53, was formerly a taxi driver, and prolonged sitting had hurt his spinal nerve, resulting in a stroke in 2022.

Since then, he has been relying on a wheelchair.

As Liu cannot stand for long periods, he needed the volunteers' help with tasks like removing furniture and cleaning the ceiling.

On Feb. 1, about 30 volunteers from Keeping Hope Alive went to the rental flat to lend a hand.

Affected by the divorce

Liu told 8world that he had divorced many years ago, and brought up his daughter on his own after that.

The father and daughter pair moved several times before finally settling down in their current rental flat in Punggol.

"The divorce impacted my daughter a lot," Liu said. "She was often low in spirits and showed no interest in her studies, and dropped out of school very early."

Later, she mixed with a bad crowd and started vaping, which led her to be caught by the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) in August 2025.

Liu recalled waking up suddenly at around 6am that day to discover a group of people in his house, arresting his daughter.

A neighbour had reported her to the police after she got into a quarrel with them.

She became aggressive and short-tempered due to using drug-laced vapes, Liu said.

He had mixed feelings about his daughter getting sent to rehab, he added. He was glad it would help her to kick the habit, but he was also sad to see her leave.

"I often tell her I love her, that I'm her father, I brought her into this world, and I hope she will change—she knows all this," he said. "I hope she will reflect and wake up."

A fresh start

Keeping Hope Alive is a private initiative where volunteers visit families in rental flats across Singapore to offer aid to the less privileged.

Founder Fion Phua told 8world that they operate on a monthly basis, knocking on doors islandwide to deliver essentials and clean houses.

They also help out with safety hazards and situations that the residents cannot manage on their own.

The group seeks to give residents an opportunity to spark change in their lives, Phua said.

"Maybe they want to clean up their place but do not have the courage, energy, or ability to do so," she added.

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