Embargoed for publication till 6 January 2018, 5pm

 

media release

10 Eunos Road 8 Singapore Post Centre

#12-01 Singapore 408600

Tel: (65) 6590 3000   Fax: (65) 6319 8755

Website: www.cdc.org.sg/SouthEast

 

To: News Editors

 

6 January 2018

 

YOUTHS KICKSTARTED 2018 WITH AWARD RECOGNITION FROM ESM GOH CHOK TONG

60 youths from schools and grassroots organisations recognised for community efforts in 2017 under NextGen Leadership Awards 2017

 

Singapore, 6 January 2018 – The South East Community Development Council (CDC) which is the Secretariat of Marine Parade Leadership Foundation (MPLF), brought together 60 youths from various schools and grassroots organisation for the NextGen Leadership Awards 2017. The youths were recognised for their efforts for contributing to the community in 2017. Gracing the event were Emeritus Senior Minister (ESM) Goh Chok Tong, Adviser to Marine Parade GRC GROs and Patron of Marine Parade Leadership Foundation (MPLF), and Mr Seah Kian Peng, Adviser to Marine Parade GRC GROs and Chairman of MPLF.

 

One of the award recipients was 21-year-old Kenneth Tan. Kenneth started his volunteering journey at the age of 18, when he chanced upon the kidsREAD programme. Through kidsREAD, Kenneth found his love for interaction with children, and more importantly, discovered his passion in making a difference to the lives of others. It seemed natural that not long after, Kenneth volunteered for more causes till today.  Some of the recent projects Kenneth has worked on include being a volunteer for the Buddy Reading Programme under Beyond Social Services, as well as a volunteering for Meals-on-Wheels with TOUCH Home Care as a mentor.

 

The significant milestone in Kenneth’s volunteering journey was him assuming the Founder and Director of the Kampong Chai Chee CC kidsREAD Senior Programme, after he has grown the kidsREAD programme. Noticing that the existing kidsREAD Programme by National Library Board (NLB) was meant for younger children (4 to 6 years old), Kenneth felt compelled to start the senior programme, observing more than half of the participants in the programme beyond the age group. Kenneth understood the need for these older children to have a programme specially designed for their learning level; for them to widen their vocabulary pool and increase their capability to read thicker and wordier books. In June 2016, Kenneth kick-started the senior programme (for 7 and 8 years old) and it had taken off well since then. Half of the students have graduated from the programme in November 2017. The graduated students can now read relatively well without assistance and are expected to have cultivated good reading habits.

 

But it was not all smooth sailing for Kenneth. When he was made centre head of the club in mid-2015, there were numerous challenges. Due to irregular sessions, there were very few children attending the sessions. As such, the club was slated to be closed down. There was also a lack of essential resources such as books and activity materials at the club, which had to be used during the sessions.  Sessions were far from adequately equipped and smoothly run.

 

Kenneth knew then that a revamp was needed for the club to survive. He scheduled regular weekly sessions, attended every session and identified missing resources which he requested for NLB to provide. Together with his volunteers, Kenneth also sourced for additional books and activities to be used.

 

In order to maximise the benefits each child gets from every session, Kenneth and the volunteers extended the sessions to incorporate more activities to the programme, which inculcated in the children good reading habits, as well as educated them about values, improved their language ability, and developed the children’s critical thinking and interpersonal skills.

 

The experience of working together with volunteers from different backgrounds, as with all other volunteering experiences, had been a humbling and interesting journey for Kenneth. As the centre head of the club, it fell upon his shoulders to manage the pool of volunteers and oversee the execution of weekly reading sessions. Volunteers range from working adults to students like himself. More often than not, it was heartening for Kenneth to meet the many like-minded individuals who are keen to volunteer with children. It naturally brought the team closer together, and they would spend time engaging in fruitful discussions after every session, looking at how future session can be improved, as well as discuss each child’s progression and behaviour. 

 

ESM Goh said, “Building a caring, compassionate and inclusive community is a continuous undertaking and I am glad to see such altruistic motivations among our next generation. Youths possess so much energy, creativity and access to new knowledge and information. They hold the key to our collective future. Getting them to channel their energies to impact the community is the motivation behind the NextGen Leadership programme.”

 

Award recipient, Kenneth, shared, “It is an honour and privilege to be receiving this award, and I am sincerely thankful to be selected by the committee. It has been a very enriching experience serving residents in the constituency over the past few years. Not only does this award serve as a recognition of my contributions to the community, it is an affirmation that my decision to contribute to the community is a right one.”

 

For more information, you may reach:

 

Ms Claire Koh

Manager (Organisation Excellence)

DID: 6319 8712

Mobile: 9695 7630

Email: Claire_Koh@pa.gov.sg

 

Ms Louisa Lim

Project Officer (Projects)

DID: 6319 8747

Mobile: 9650 1343

Email: Louisa_LIM_from.TP@pa.gov.sg

 

 

About South East Community Development Council

South East CDC was set up on 24 November 2001. It oversees the Marine Parade Group Representative Constituency (GRC), East Coast GRC, Fengshan Single Member Constituency (SMC), Mountbatten SMC and MacPherson SMC, and serves a population of about half a million residents. At the helm of South East CDC is Mayor Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman, who steers efforts in achieving the three strategic thrusts that guide the work of the CDCs. Termed the “ABCs of Community Bonding‟ — Assisting the Needy, Bonding the People and Connecting the Community — South East CDC initiates and manages programmes in collaboration with both community and corporate partners along these three strategic thrusts, so as to nurture a vibrant and self-reliant community.

 

More information on South East CDC at www.cdc.org.sg/southeast or be our Facebook fan at www.facebook.com/secdc.

 

About Nextgen Leadership Awards 2017

The award winners this year will be the 8^th batch of recipients. Each recipient will receive an acrylic trophy as a memento, a certificate and a cash cheque of five hundred dollars. To harness the energies of these award recipients, they will be invited for a poverty simulation exercise, followed by a dialogue and certificate presentation with ESM Goh Chok Tong, Patron of the Marine Parade Leadership Foundation, together with MPLF Board Members.

 

We have a total of 60 award recipients, 48 from schools and 12 from GROs.  Please refer to Annex A for profiles of award recipients. 49 award recipients will be attending the Award Presentation Ceremony on Saturday, 6 January 2018.

 

Goh Chok Tong NextGen Outstanding Student Leader Award

The Goh Chok Tong NextGen Outstanding Student Leader Award was launched in 2010 to recognise students who have demonstrated leadership in school and/or community activities, and to motivate them to further their involvement and commitment in serving their school and community. We want to recognise youths who have exhibited passion, initiative and dedication as community leaders and active volunteers to inspire more youths to lead and serve. All award recipients will be given opportunities to further enhance their leadership potential and capabilities to serve the community as well as access support for community initiatives.

           

NextGen Young Community Leader Award

The NextGen Young Community Leader Award was launched in 2010 to recognise youth volunteers in grassroots organisations and voluntary welfare organisations who have demonstrated exemplary leadership and outstanding effort in the area of community service. We want to recognise youths who have exhibited passion, initiative and dedication as community leaders and active volunteers to inspire more youths to lead and serve. All award recipients will be given opportunities to further enhance their leadership potential and capabilities to serve the community as well as access support for community initiatives.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Annex A

 

Goh Chok Tong Outstanding Student Leader Award

S/N	Name of Awardees	Division	School
1	Julian Tay Yong Sheng (Zheng Yongsheng)	Braddell Heights	St. Gabriel’s Secondary School
2	Koh Soo Tze Andy
3	Aidan Ling Zhen Yang		Zhonghua Secondary School
4	Samantha Gedalya
5	Toh Hao Yi
6	Liaw Zheng Kai		Nanyang Junior College
7	Manita Goh Liang Yi (Wu Liangyi)
8	Sng Yi Xuan
9	Cynthia Yap Xinyi	Geylang Serai	Bartley Secondary School
10	Nur Adli Syahadat Bin Mohamed Anas
11	Nur Hikmah Binte Md Ali		Madrasah Al-Maarif Al-Islamiah
12	Jadon Ngai Jee Ee (Wei Zhiyi)		Maris Stella High School
13	Ooi Jia Yu Anders
14	Gerard Peter Ng Junquan	Joo Chiat	St. Patrick’s School
15	Lincoln Chas Mavric Norfor L K
16	Taufiqul Hakim Bin Rosli
17	Foo Yong Li		Victoria Junior College
18	Frances Pek Sze Hwee (Bai Shihui)
19	Low Jun Liang James
20	Denzel Tan Jun Yan		Victoria School
21	Muhammad Asy’raf Bin Khaizal
22	See Yong Xin
23	Lee Zi An	Kembangan-Chai Chee	Manjusri Secondary School
24	Tay Kai Sim
25	Ismath Sultana Binti Sirajudeen		Ping Yi Secondary
26	John Marie Mabale Andrada
27	Muhammad Dzaky Shabran
28	Muhammad Fayyah Isa Bin Baharin	MacPherson	Madrasah Wak Tanjong Al-Islamiah
29	Muhammad Nur Hadi Bin Musa
30	Mumtaz Binte Abdul Halim
31	Esther Ng Shi Ming		Geylang Methodist School (Secondary)
32	Jade Tan Kai Qi
33	Tan Jie Hui
34	Ariken Isabel Clare	Marine Parade	CHIJ Katong Convent
35	Nurul Iffah Bte Mohd Arifin
36	Shanais Yuen Ziqing
37	Lee Tom	Mountbatten	Chung Cheng High School (Main)
38	Liew Yi Lin
39	Ng Yong Ming, Keane
40	Jinie Agilia		Broadrick Secondary School
41	Loh Ke Ying
42	Toh Xiao Tong, Cynthia
43	How Jackson		Dunman High School
44	Lin Jiaxin
45	Tay Yi Xuan
46	Leong Sih-Zau		Tanjong Katong Secondary School
47	Matthew Chin Yuen Hao
48	Sherry Han Weng Yenn

 

 

 

NextGen Young Community Leader Award

S/N	Name of Awardees	Division (Nominated)
1	Guan Mei Ting	Braddell Heights
2	Peh Pei Shan (Bai Pei Shan)
3	Lim Yi Xuan	Geylang Serai
4	Tan Chang Peng Kenneth
5	Tan Ser Kiat, Alastair
6	Ryan Chong Ming Guang	Joo Chiat
7	Chua Mei Chen, Pearl	Kembangan-Chai Chee
8	Matthew Lin Xunyi
9	Chong Liming	MacPherson
10	Michelle Phua Kah Hwee	Marine Parade
11	Tan Peiyu, Amelia	Mountbatten
12	Telson Tan Loo Jun (Chen Rujun)