11/09/2019
As Singapore's leading wheelchair rental provider in the business for more than 5 years, we would like to say that it's sad to see how Singaporeans are quick to jump to conclusions and gang up. At a recent charity event, an organisation called Happy People Helping People Community (HPHP) was allegedly stood up and left with no wheelchairs for a large group of elderly for a fun day at Jurong Bird Park.
Reference post at Carousell : https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10157971428363825&set=pcb.472347873348680&type=3&theater
Let us first say that Habibi Wheelchair is proud to have supported Happy People Helping People Community numerous times in the past and welcome opportunities to support in future events.
A question we have is, why is it that things don't get viral when it goes well? We are using this opportunity to say that we feel as a business whether it be a charity or not, it's the organizer's duty to ensure every aspect of the flow of event runs well. It goes without saying that given the ample time to plan and prepare, any company- especially ours, with experience in supporting major events, would be able to support such an event like HPHP's.
With that, we hope to highlight that there are always 2 sides to a story.
From the screenshots of the conversation shared, it felt like HPHP was all out to get RevWheelchair, consciously putting all their eggs in one basket when clearly it was mentioned that they had difficulty with their delivery vehicle the day before. And yet the HPHP representative still decided to push them to the edge?
Having some experience with a fair share of charity events, many tend to expect discounts because they are doing a charity, but people fail to realise that businesses are not a charity organisation. We do our best to support them.
With that said, it's up to the organizers to think of ways to sufficiently attain funding to support the things needed. One piece of advise; Never demand, never expect and never assume.
Do also note that we didn't see the earlier part of the conversation. So we need to ask:
1. When was the planning done?
2. When did HPHP contact Rev Wheelchair?
Based on experience, we more often get these requests at the last minute, but we would certainly be more than happy to support if we are able to.
As a business, we don't expect RevWheelchair to come to us for help by virtue that we are natural competitors. But as an event organiser, HPHP could have reached out to others too and spread their risk. There are a few like us out there to mitigate this. We can always try cutting cost but sufficient funding should be catered even more so for a cause that is noble such as this recent event.
