Inaugural SINDA Youth Carnival Celebrates Talents and Diversity
PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
DATED: 30 July 2016
30 July 2016 – To celebrate youth aspirations and their talents in diverse areas, the Singapore Indian Development Association (SINDA) organised a first ever Youth Carnival on 30 July. Held at the Paya Lebar Kovan Community Centre, the vibrant and fun-filled carnival attracted more than 800 youth, from all walks of life. Creating a common platform for youth to showcase their talents in areas such as dance and futsal competitions, the Youth Carnival themed, “Celebrating Youth”, also gave the opportunity for youth to come together and be inspired by each other’s
achievements.
The amount of time and effort required by the competitors to invest into their practice sessions motivated them to put their best foot forward during the competitions yesterday. One of the futsal competitors, Naresh, said: “a competition is not all about winning, it also involves learning good character traits from fellow competitors and
using that to improve ourselves as individuals and as a team too”. Winners of the dance competition, ‘Magic of Facez’, remarked: “Emerging as champions for this competition is a positive and new experience for the team as we got to know the strengths of our competitors only today but instead of allowing that to be a setback, we took it in our stride to keep us motivated to continue performing at our level best throughout the competition. It was also a good platform to meet like-minded people who are talented in many different ways”.
Guest of Honour, Ms Indranee Rajah, Senior Minister of State for Law and Finance, and President SINDA commented: “Our youth have energy and talent; this event will be a start of their journey to develop their own potential further and think about how they can contribute to the community”.
One of the key highlights of the Carnival included a panel session that featured four prominent youth who shared their experiences in overcoming challenges and their aspirations in education, sports and community service. The panel session aimed to inspire other youth to discover their passions and excel in them. One of the panelists, Ms M.Premikha, 21, a medical student from the National University of Singapore shared her thoughts on the panel session: “what made the panel session really special was that youth came from various academic and social backgrounds and shared on their lives and challenges in the hope to inspire other youth”. Bustling with activities, the Carnival also featured local bands and performers, comprising youth with diverse talents, including groups such as Mayan Suns, Damaru, Aksara Collective, Veritas, Girls Power, rappers and beatboxers. A range of activities capturing youths’ interests, including carnival games, water soccer, DJ workshop, 3D drawing, contests and many more kept youth busy and engaged at the carnival.
The Singapore Anti-Narcotics Association (SANA), Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB), National Youth Council (NYC), Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SICCI), Community Health Assessment Team (CHAT), Health Promotion Board (HPB) and media partners Vasantham and Oli 96.8FM supported SINDA through sponsorships and booth activities to raise awareness on drug abuse, cyber bullying, gaming addiction and health issues, amongst others. The carnival ended with an electrifying concert by Vasantham artistes and local bands.
The event was graced by Ms Indranee Rajah, Senior Minister of State for Law and Finance, and President, SINDA. Mr Baey Yam Keng, Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth was also in attendance.
About SINDA
The Singapore Indian Development Association (SINDA) is a Self-Help Group, set up in August 1991 to address educational and socio-economic issues facing the Indian community in Singapore.
SINDA actively strives to build a well-educated and confident community of Indians that stands together with the other communities in contributing to the progress of multi-racial Singapore. In the course of fulfilling its objectives, SINDA works closely with many volunteers, schools and grassroots organisations. In the process, SINDA has steadily evolved into a credible organisation that serves as a pillar of the Singapore Indian community.
Today, SINDA runs a wide array of programmes that not only effectively serves to uplift the educational performance of Indian students, but also promotes family harmony and uplifts the social status of ethnic Indians.
Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for Social Policies, is Chairman of SINDA’s Board of Trustees. Ms Indranee Rajah, Minister, Prime Minister’s Office, Second Minister for Finance and Education is President of SINDA’s Executive Committee.
For more information on SINDA, please visit www.sinda.org.sg.
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