Over the March and June school holidays, Project Cheer sessions were conducted by 12 teams of ACJC student volunteers at eight children and elderly charities. The 180 students not only honed their project management and leadership skills but also forged new friendships with both young and old. The sessions commenced in the morning with the children and are joined by the seniors in the afternoon allowing for multi-generational bonding.
Concluding the programme for the year, TCTF hosted a Closing Tea on Tuesday, 21 July 2015, to thank the students and encourage their spirit of continued volunteerism. During the tea, the teams summed up their learning points gleaned from their experience. Team leader, Aegan Tan, shared how he learned to think on his feet and troubleshoot problems. His class won the top award by excelling in areas of resourcefulness, creativity, enthusiasm, crisis management and execution.
Participating charities included Care Community Services Society, CARE Singapore, Concern and Care Society, Fei Yue Community Services, Lakeside Family Services, Lions Befrienders Service Association, St. Luke’s ElderCare and Students Care Service.
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As part of our Young Arts Reporter Project (YARP), the Tan Chin Tuan Foundation partnered with NUS Radio Pulze on 22nd and 23rd June, to create an exciting opportunity for our young beneficiaries – immersing in a “radio deejay” experience!
26 little deejays from PPIS Student Care Centre (Jurong) and Singapore Council of Women’s Organisations warmed up their vocal chords for two days of training, encompassing both theoretical and technical broadcasting knowledge and skills. Guided by their student mentors from Radio Pulze, the YARPies were tasked to create their own script, themed “The Change We Can Bring”. Their two days of preparation paid off, earning them a chance to bring their words to life, through a “live” broadcast session in the studios located at NUS University Town.
The YARPies fostered close bonds with their mentors who have been patiently guiding the young ones through the workshop. Many were inspired to become radio deejays and several expressed interest in working towards entering the University to pursue their ignited spark of interest in broadcasting.
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Under the guidance and support of TCTF, Project Cheer was organised this year by 12 teams of students from ACJC comprising over 180 volunteers. This year’s edition of the project has seen the students engage more than 600 beneficiaries from eight different organisations over the course of the March and June school holidays. The numerous, wide-ranging activities, organised wholly by the students themselves, included crop planting sessions, teaching the beneficiaries to prepare a number of traditional food dishes, teaching dialects such as Hokkien and Cantonese and several other traditional games.
For a multiplier impact, Project Cheer involved two core aspects: First, the JC students ran their first Project Cheer with a children’s charity. Second, later that same day, the students – together with the children from the children’s charities – brought Project Cheer to charities serving the aged. The teens became mentors, and demonstrated to the younger children how they too can make a difference in other people’s lives, and become a joy to others.
“It’s been amazing to be part of a project that brings both elderly and children together, in a single setting, and to have them interact and bond over a day’s activities.” As rightly highlighted by Zachary Wan from class 2SB4, the unique project was certainly an enjoyable and meaningful experience for both students and beneficiaries alike.
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In partnership with Encore! The European Season in Singapore, the Tan Chin Tuan Foundation warmly welcomed a group of over 100 children and their accompanying guardians from CARE Singapore, Daybreak Family Service Centre, ISCOS, PPIS Student Care Centre (Jurong) and Yong-En Care Centre to view a play adapted from the Roald Dahl’s novel, ‘The BFG’ on Thursday, 28 May 2015.
Before the play, the foundation invited the children to participate in a short critique-learning session, conducted by the Players Theatre and a speech and drama teacher, Ms Grace Yap. There, the children got to play the part of critics by learning and experiencing the thought process one goes through when reviewing a play. Through this session, the foundation hoped to instill in the children a passion for theatre, while boosting their self-confidence and helping them better express their thoughts and opinions.
The results of the session were evident during the Q&A session at the end of the play, where the inquisitive and animated children fired insightful questions towards the cast, ranging from queries about the length of rehearsals to even “How difficult is it to walk in the giant’s feet?” Clearly inspired, the children made their way home still chattering excitedly about how they would play the roles in ‘The BFG’, of which many of our little critics awarded a resounding five-star rating.
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In our second instalment of Young Arts Reporter Project (YARP) in 2015, TCTF partnered with Sri Warisan Som Said Performing Arts Ltd, a local Malay dance company. The YARPies (a nickname for those who participate in YARP) are children and teens who are part of the Career Exposure Programme at Thye Hua Kwan FSC @ Tanjong Pagar.
The YARPies were given exclusive access to marvel at the full dress rehearsal of the dance troupe’s production, “Magika Pak Pandir” (Magical Tale of Mr Pandir), performed by the children and youth team of Sri Warisan Performing Arts School. Before the rehearsal, founder of Sri Warisan and Cultural Medallion Recipient, Mdm Som Said, shared more about the dance company and the production.
A mock Press Conference was also organised by TCTF for the YARPies to conduct interviews with the local Malay dance icon, Mdm Som, and the production cast and crew. Questions such as, “How much time goes into rehearsing for the production?” and “What made you decide to become a performer?” allowed the young ones to understand a little more about what it means to be in the performing arts. Through the session, we hoped to expose our beneficiaries to alternative career pathways and encourage them to appreciate arts and cultural events, whilst picking up tips on how to communicate effectively.
At the end of this unique experience, the children and teens were all invited to watch the actual performance the following Saturday, much to their delight and excitement.
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In appreciation of the most enduring love of all, the Tan Chin Tuan Foundation invited families, friends, staff and TCTF-supported charities to treat their mothers to an evening of timeless classics on Mother’s Day, 10 May 2015.
Joining the foundation to celebrate mothers and music in this year’s “Tan Chin Tuan Music-For-All: SSO Classics in the Park – Mothers’ Day Concert” were charities such as Dover Park Hospice, HCA Hospice Care, Man Fut Tong Welfare Society, Muslim Kidney Action Association and Yong-En Care Centre. These beneficiaries, along with the rest of the audience, enjoyed a score of masterpieces, including those of Tchaikovsky and Strauss II, performed beautifully by the Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO) with conductor, Joshua Tan. The concert concluded with a stroll down memory lane as the audience reminisced past memories of Singapore with a medley of previous National Day songs, in commemoration of Singapore’s golden jubilee.
Ending the evening on a high note, mothers were also presented with stalks of roses as a token of appreciation for their unconditional love and support.
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To kick start the foundation’s More Than Words journey this year, the Tan Chin Tuan Foundation invited staff from TCTF-supported charities for a get-together to share more about our More Than Words 2015 programmes over tea.
At the tea session, TCTF introduced the exciting activities we have lined up for our beneficiary charities this year through our collaborations with our arts partners. A few of our partner art practitioners, ACTs of Life, Singapore Creations Etc., Singapore Repertory Theatre and The Little Arts Academy shared more about the various workshops that they will be conducting to train staff/beneficiaries of the charities, under our More Than Words programme. TCTF also garnered input on how we can better tailor the different training initiatives to meet the needs of the charities.
More Than Words is a signature programme of TCTF, in line with its focus on education and community development. The programme seeks to provide opportunities for less privileged children to learn creatively through the arts and culture. This year’s programme cycle will run from May onwards, and will include a suite of genres including speech and drama, theatre, storytelling, hip-hop dance and singing, just to name a few.
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In partnership with Encore! The European Season in Singapore, Tan Chin Tuan Foundation hosted a photography workshop at DECK as part of our Young Arts Reporter Project (YARP) programme. Our participants consisted secondary students from CareSG, representatives from 4PM and our own Tan Chin Tuan scholars.
Participants learnt about photography techniques such as the rule of thirds and visual perspectives. They gained exposure to creative darkroom procedures such as cyanotype and were introduced to a condensed 3-step process for photo-taking. To their delight, they also had the opportunity to try their hand at experimenting with a Polaroid Land camera.
Beyond the workshop, the budding photographers were invited to showcase their newfound skills on two platforms. Our campaign, #TCTFIWD2015, was used to encourage participants to celebrate International Women’s Day by posting photos of inspiring women in their lives on social media while TCTF opened positions for resident photographers in the upcoming March instalment of Project Cheer.
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An afternoon chorale treat at the newly renovated Victoria Concert Hall (VCH) awaited concert-goers on Sat, 22 November. Beneficiaries from TCTF-supported charities, YMCA of Singapore, Thye Hua Kwan Moral Charities Early Intervention Programme for Infants & Children (EIPIC) Centres and Kheng Chiu Loke Tin Kee Home, enthusiastically applauded as the Singapore Symphony Children’s Choir regaled them with a repertoire of 16 songs.
Our volunteers, including Tan Chin Tuan scholars as well as colleagues from the Tecity Group, stepped up to make the ‘Tan Chin Tuan Centennial Concert: Make Music, Celebrate Life!’ a memorable experience for our beneficiaries and their families.
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To celebrate the foundation’s More Than Words journey in 2014, the Tan Chin Tuan Foundation organized a “More Than Words 2014 – Cherish Your Dreams” performance at Nanyang Auditorium, NTU on Thursday, 11 September 2014.
The performance at NTU was attended by our council member, Mr Chew Kwee San, and advisor, Mr Eric Teng, together with over 750 guests from more than 40 organisations. It was the culmination of 140 hours of training sessions in storytelling, writing, music, dance and drama for children at various TCTF-supported charities across Singapore. For most of these young performers, it was their “stage debut” and what made it sweeter was having their families rooting for them from among an audience of several hundred people.
During the performance, we also launched our More Than Words publication. Our budding writers reimagined what Singapore would be like in a hundred years, and shared their hopes and vision of what home would be in this future. The culmination of the children’s creative contributions and illustrations lies within the covers of the publication entitled, “Singapore 2114: My Dream, Our Future”.
With some 500 children converging, the normally formal NTU foyer was transformed into a playground brimming with children eating, some dancing, reading and playing. As the event drew to a close, we were happy to see our guests leaving with wide smiles on their faces.
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