History comes alive at Children’s Day fundraiser held by BT, CHIJ Kellock and TRCL
Underserved children and youth attending the event play carnival games and watch performing art showcases
SOME 500 primary school pupils celebrated Children’s Day with carnival games, performances, and an outdoor Puzzle Hunt at a wartime bunker during an annual fundraiser by The Business Times, CHIJ (Kellock) Primary School, and not-for-profit arts organisation The Rice Company Limited (TRCL).
Held at Fort Canning Hotel, the Children for Children (CFC) 2024 fundraiser was attended by Minister of State for Education and Manpower Gan Siow Huang.
The event had raised S$103,000 as at Thursday (Oct 3) and its proceeds will go to the Business Times Budding Artist Fund that gives underserved children and youth, aged six to 19, opportunities to attend sponsored arts courses. The fundraiser will remain open to donations until Oct 31.
Donors for CFC 2024 include the Hong Leong Group of Companies (comprising Hong Leong Foundation, Hong Leong Finance Limited, Hong Leong Asia Limited, Hong Leong Holding, City Development Limited, Millennium Hotels and Resorts), CWT Limited, Nippon Paint, Ransack, TS Group and UBS.
Highlighting the fund’s aim to uplift underserved children and youth, BT editor Chen Huifen said that CFC 2024’s theme, “Hold on to Our Dreams”, seeks to remind children and youth to remain resilient against adversity.
Speaking on the power of community and the arts to transform lives, Gan said: “It is heartening to see that children are getting support to pursue their interests and talent in the arts at the Children for Children event today.”
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The day’s festivities started with carnival games organised and run by CHIJ (Kellock) Primary School pupils. The children took part in games such as darts, can toss and basketball.
They were also treated to a line-up of performing arts showcases from the primary school’s choir, rhythmic gymnastics, string ensemble, dance ensemble and percussion ensemble CCAs, among others.
The annual fundraiser, in its 16th edition, had a historical twist this year. The highlight of the event – the Puzzle Hunt – was an outdoor escape room-style game that took students around Fort Canning to solve puzzles at different stations while learning about Singapore’s history.
One station was an underground bunker from World War Two, the Battlebox.
One student from Zhonghua Primary School said the experience of being in the underground bunker made him feel like he had travelled back in time, and that it made World War II history – which he had learnt about in social studies classes – even more interesting.
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