The Outstanding Caring Commuter Award has been renamed to “Richard Magnus Award for the Outstanding Caring Commuter” to honour the late Mr Magnus for his efforts in championing better rides for all commuters. This was announced by the Minister for Transport, Mr S Iswaran, on 16 June 2022 (Thu) at the Caring SG Commuters Event at the Enabling Village.
The late Mr Richard Magnus
2 The late Mr Richard Magnus was the Chairperson of the Public Transport Council (PTC) from 2014 to 2022, and the first Chairperson of the Caring SG Commuters Committee, from 2020 to 2022. A strong advocate for the vulnerable, Mr Magnus firmly believed that a caring commuting culture was a social asset that would contribute to social cohesion, and championed for a gracious and more inclusive society.
3 Mr Magnus played a key role in the transformation of the public transport experience through the Caring SG Committee’s engagement of commuters and co-creation of projects. Notably, initiatives such as the Heart Zones have become the cornerstone of the Committee’s work. Since 2017, 11 Heart Zones have been set up at public transport nodes, including one in a hospital. Heart Zones serve as platforms to lend a helping hand to fellow commuters who may need assistance during their commute. The Heart Zone initiative was awarded the UITP (Union Internationale des Transports Publics) Asia-Pacific Special Recognition Award in June 2019.
4 Under Mr Magnus’ guidance, the Committee held the inaugural Caring Commuter Week in November 2021, with President Mdm Halimah Yacob as the Guest-of-Honour and launched the Caring Commuter Report, “Our Caring Commuting Journey”. The report outlines four behaviours that commuters could easily adopt in their daily journey to contribute to a caring commuting culture — Give Time, Give Care, Give a Hand, and Give Thanks.
5 The “Richard Magnus Award for the Outstanding Caring Commuter” is not only a recognition of Mr Magnus’ contributions to the building of the Caring SG Commuters movement, but also aims to be an inspiration to commuters to embody his ethos of care.
The Caring Commuter Award
6 Launched by PTC and the Singapore Kindness Movement in 2019 as part of the Transport Gold Award, the Caring Commuter Award recognises public transport commuters who have demonstrated acts of care to others on their daily commute. It also aims to inspire other commuters to step forward to help fellow commuters in need.
7 Five sets of Caring Commuter Awards are given out each year – one Outstanding Award and four Commendation Awards. In its fourth edition this year, the current call for nominations will end on 17 July 2022. Nominations are evaluated based on the impact of their act of care to the person being assisted, the effort that was undertaken by the caring commuter, and the situation at hand. More information on past winners can be found on https://www.caringcommuters.gov.sg/awards
Caring SG Commuters Movement
8 Members of the public are invited to visit the Caring SG Commuters Portal to find out more about Caring SG Commuters initiatives and how they can get involved.
About Caring SG Commuters Committee
The Caring SG Commuters Committee was set up in January 2020 with the mandate to work with commuters and the community to transform Singapore’s public transport system into one that is more caring, welcoming and inclusive. It is chaired by Ms Janet Ang, who is concurrently the Chairperson of PTC, and comprises key industry players, as well as representatives from relevant ministries and agencies.