ON Friday, the Business Times Budding Artists Fund (BT BAF) received a S$473,000 donation from UOB, as it celebrated 16 years of empowering financially disadvantaged children and youth to pursue the arts.

Increasing exposure to the arts and technology through lessons, camps, workshops and other events at its two arts training centres, the fund has made the arts accessible for more than 20,000 financially disadvantaged children and youths to date.

At the celebration held at 10 Square's auditorium in Orchard Central, guests were treated to a digital premiere screening of "Live: Life A Celebration of Lives Well-Lived Through the Budding Artists Fund", a film that brings to life the stories of BT BAF alumnus Dowlatkhah N. Sara, who also performed an original composition, and two current beneficiaries, Bazil Khalaf bin Basir and Muhammad Akidbin Budiman.

The original screenplay features a combination of video and physical stage performances at a BT BAF anniversary event, bringing together film, visual art, dance, music and theatre with hi-tech mixed-reality elements.

Wong Wei Kong, editor of The Business Times, said: "The Fund has been imparting the foundations of mixed-reality and animation techniques to enable our children to have the resources and freedom to create stories in worlds of their own making.

"We believe that digital literacy is a critical enabler for self-care, personal growth, and helping our children attain relevant skills for the future."

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Initiated in 2004 and adopted by The Business Times in 2005, BT BAF believes that every child or youth with interest and potential in the arts should have the opportunity to develop their talents, regardless of their financial resources.

Through the pandemic, it has imparted to beneficiaries relevant skills, keeping them engaged through home-based learning and providing a listening ear, so that they remain resilient despite disruption and uncertainty.

UOB has been a long-standing corporate donor to the fund. Eric Lian, the bank's managing director of Group Commercial Banking, said: "We are thankful that we are in a position, together with the support of our clients, to help lead the next generation forward and foster greater social inclusion, self-confidence and financial literacy."