Not your regular gym: A space for people with special needs to grow stronger

On gym days, Malcolm Ho is always waiting by the door at home five minutes early. If his father Alex Ho, 59, is not ready, the 30-year-old tells him: “Papa, go already.”

Malcolm, who has Down syndrome, attends NCSF Uplift, a free strength training programme for people with special needs, including those with intellectual disabilities, autism, and physical, hearing or visual impairments.

Exercises are adapted to each participant, who are known as "buddies". “If someone needs more time, more encouragement, or a different approach, that is perfectly fine over here,” said co-founder Chung Tze Khit, 41.

For volunteer trainer Francis Chan, 63, that sometimes means patiently working around a buddy’s mood shifts. If someone is not up for a workout, trainers may try something simpler: “It could be just a dance. Some movement is better than no movement,” said Mr Chan.

NCSF Uplift now supports about 300 buddies with some 500 volunteers from all walks of life. Besides getting stronger and more confident, Mr Ho said Malcolm’s attachment to the gym and its people is unmistakable: “He really treats (the gym) as his home.”