Father’s Day celebration take a retro spin at National Runway Cycling and Skating

Paya Lebar Air Base, Sunday, June 20, 2010 — Some families celebrated over dinner. Others prepared special gifts. But more than 7,000 NSmen and their families chose to begin their Father’s Day celebrations early in the morning by spinning their wheels down the runway and revisiting childhood games of old.

After flagging off the participants at National Runway Cycling and Skating (NRWCS) 2010, Associate Professor Koo Tsai Kee, Minister of State for Defence, President of SAFRA and Guest-of-Honour for the event, joined in the crowd for a leisure ride along the runway at Paya Lebar Air Base.

For the first time, participants in the cycling and skating endurance categories were able to receive their personal completion timing with the introduction of a timing device this year.

“Many of the cyclists and skaters in the endurance categories take it as a personal challenge and the introduction of the timing device will help them track their progress,” commented Mr Donald Tan, Deputy CEO (Business Strategies), SAFRA.

Serving up a blast from the past, this year’s event also saw fathers teaming up with their kids to compete in a circuit of 10 traditional childhood games. These are commonly played through the decades since the 1950s as part of the event’s Father’s Day special, themed ‘Retrotastic Dad’. These included all time favourites such as Hantum Bola, Snake and Ladder, Kampong Fishing and Kuti Kuti.

Mr Tan commented: “The youths today are growing up in an era of mobile applications and cyber gaming. We hope that by bringing back these traditional childhood games, fathers will be able to interact and bond with their children as they share a piece of their fond childhood memories with them.”

Celebrating its 15th Anniversary, National Runway Cycling and Skating 2010 was jointly organised by SAFRA National Service Association (SAFRA) and the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) to promote family bonding among NSmen and their families. This year’s event was also held in conjunction with National Family Celebrations.

LTC Archie Ong, Chairman of the NRWCS Organising Committee, commented: “We are pleased to open the runway at Paya Lebar Air Base for members of the public to engage in healthy and family-oriented activities together such as cycling and skating. We are glad to note the good response from families and sports enthusiasts of all age groups. Seeing the participants having a great time at the base makes our efforts in organising the event worth it. With the event held on Father’s Day, it was certainly a good opportunity for families to spend quality time together and celebrate the occasion.”

Families were also entertained at the carnival with a host of fringe activities including stunt bike and skate performances, a cheerleading performance and stage games which saw participants doing the Limbo Rock and playing a human-sized Jenga.

Nevertheless, the crowd puller was the F-15SG static aircraft display which was showcased to the public for the first time.