Community Day

Were asked by Alex to do a write up for Woodlands Community Day. The following is what happened on that day:

Held on 31st October 2010 at the open field beside Causeway Point, from 8.00am to 4.00pm, Woodlands Community Day was as what the Daddy’s Rockers had sung “It’s a Beautiful Day”.

That morning started off with line dancers dancing away to wonderful and upbeat music. Their vigour and enthusiasm kickstarted everyone’s day with lots of energy. After that, we had the Briskwalkers warm up with the Great Singapore Workout before Ms Ellen Lee, MP for Sembawang GRC and Advisor for Woodlands Constituency, flagged them off for a brisk walk around Causeway Point. Those who participated in the walk were given a lucky draw ticket after that.

At 8.50am, Ms Ellen Lee launched the new interest group “Performing Arts Group” for Zone 11 RC. The objective of this interest group is to train, cultivate and showcase Woodlands talents who would perform infuture Woodlands events and they definitely managed to do so that day by mesmerizing the audience with their song and dance.

At around 9.30am, our Guest of Honour, Minister for Health, Mr Khaw Boon Wan, arrived to grace our event. He was welcomed by Ms Ellen Lee, our grassroot leaders, Woodlands FLC Percussion group, Lion Dance troupe, Malay Silat performers and Indian Bollywood Dancers. Mr Khaw could not help but stop at the exhibition showcasing the work of People Association (PA) from kampong days to modern Singapore along the entrance.

After all our guests were seated, Evergreen Secondary School and Sweetlands Childcare Centre took centre stage, giving a band and dance performance respectively. At around 10am, Mr Khaw was invited on stage to launch the Northwest Green Kitchens campaign, which sought to encourage residents to reduce clutter in their refrigerators as a green living lifestyle and to emit less greenhouse gases.
At around, 10.15am, Mr Khaw gave out the awards/plagues for the Rice Donors who had contributed generously to needy families in Woodlands. They were Evangelical Free Church, An-Nur Mosque, ShangDi Miao Chai Kong Temple, Mr Lim Tju Eng, Ms Alice Sim and Mdm Helen Wong.

Mr. Khaw was requested to stay on stage to launch our new FLC initiative - Daddy’s Rockers. Mr Khaw, together with Ms Ellen Lee and grassroot leaders led the group in playing a tune together. The impromptu performance given by our Minister, our MP and grassroot leaders was most admirable.

After launching, Mr Khaw visited the photo taking booth where residents had their photographs taken. By pasting one of their two photographs on the Woodlands Logo board, they participated in our attempt to enter the Singapore Record Book. With residents’ support, we managed to beat the record within record time.

Next, Mr. Khaw was greeted by the cute little faces of our PCF telematch participants. The little ones were all eager to participate in the games and every kid put her best foot forward. After cheering on these little athletes, Mr Khaw visited the Singapore Sports Council Booth where residents put in their well wishes to Singapore athletes taking part in the 19th Commonwealth Games in New Delhi and the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou” and also participated actively in the four sports games, namely football, Basketball, Cycling and Boxing.

Mr Khaw then visited the school booths and was introduced the programmes and activities in these schools. He was also keen to learn more about Sata’s Free Chest X-ray Screening and Realm of Tranquility’s free traditional Medicine Clinic.

At one of the booths, Mr Khaw was shown how Tzu Chi Foundation had been doing their part in protecting our Earth Resources and transforming used materials like plastic bottles into blankets and T-shirts. Many residents took part in this programme by exchanging their used water/glass bottles for a free gift.

Besides the various stakeholders like Town Council, NEA, Restroom Association, there were also stalls selling food and drinks. Mr Khaw was rather impressed with the AVA booth where a chef demonstratedliquid and powder eggs could be used in cooking. AVA was working to encourage Singaporeans to use alternative sources of eggs in event of a shortage due to bird flu.

Mr Khaw also visited our Admiral Garden WEC booth where our ladies make and sell jewelry, bags, pencil cases and five stones from recycled items. Mr Khaw was impressed with the many activities conducted by our ladies.

Besides that, Mr Khaw also visited our IRCC, Woodlands YEC, Woodlands New Media and Admiral garden Astronomy booths. He is impressed with what Woodlands Constituency had achieved over the years.

Last but not least, he was happy to visit the booths of Hospice Care and Centre for Enabled Living which were educating and assisting families in caring for senior citizens as our population aged increasingly.

At around 11am, we had a Jenga Challenge in which two families took turns to draw out gigantic jenga blocks from the lower rows and pile them up towards the ceiling. The final Jenga stack broke the Singapore Record Book. Everyone present was totally absorbed in the game as you could hear the Wo, Ah etc sound when the participants tried to place the mega Jenga piece on top of the stack.

Amidst all these activities, participating residents were presented a goodie bag with a great variety of handy items such as sunflower oil, fruit juice, drink and fan, plus a lucky draw ticket to win the top prize of $1,000 in cash. They were also coupons to exchange for delicious foodstuff such as Mee Siam, Roti Prata, vegetarian noodles, popcorn and candy floss. All these for a bargain price of $3!

The Woodlands Community Day was interesting and enriching and all ended well at 4.00pm after the Woodlands Made to Wear competition.

Well! That was what happened. Everything ran rather smoothly that day. I was especially proud and thrilled that day as my kids and husband performed together with Minister Khaw. They were tired as they needed to practice for 3 nights but luckily all turned out well. That was me, a really proud Mama that day.

Moreover, WEC booth was set up properly as planned and I managed to show case my needlework talent by sewing 5-stones on the spot. Managed to sell a few items for charity.

Volunteer work? Lots of hardship, tears but also lots of joy and friendship and support.