Story by Jiexin Neo/Red Sports. Photos by Clara Yuan and Matthew Lau/Red Sports
Kids get to enjoy a game of basketball during the launch of ActiveSG. (Photo 1 © Matthew Lau/Red Sports)
Jurong West Sports Centre, Saturday, April 26, 2014 — The ActiveSG Launch and Open House was bolstered by the presence of community residents, who were there as both volunteers and participants.
ActiveSG is a national movement that seeks to create a sporting environment for all Singaporeans. It serves to provide a wide variety of affordable sports programmes for everyone, and is one of the recommendations of Vision 2030.
Lecia Ow, a 14-year-old student from West Spring Secondary, knew about this event through her school teacher and decided to volunteer as a Sports Ambassador at the open house. “I think it’s a meaningful and fun event, so I volunteered through my teacher,” said Lecia. Her schoolmates, Cheryl Tan and Mas Iryani, liked the initiative and thought it was a good experience to gain more exposure, so they also signed up as student volunteers.
One of the many vendors for the ActiveSG Launch and Open House was 51-year-old Edwin Lim, an inline skating instructor who has been teaching the sport for 37 years. He thought well of the initiative as it encourages Singaporeans to engage in a more active lifestyle. “It’s a good way to promote sports. Especially at this ‘Fun on Wheels’ activity, the children learn some safety skills,” said Edwin.
Children who joined ‘Fun on Wheels’ learned how to cross obstacles like sand, humps and curbs on skates and bicycles. Road safety knowledge was also integrated into the activity. Edwin added, “They learn how to give way to others. It’s very useful and some of them go round and round for almost half-an-hour. They said they really enjoyed it and the parents were also interested to join.”
Regular netballers Jean Chia and Hong Wei Zhen were also present at the ActiveSG Launch. “I think it’s very well-organized. The amount of people here are a lot, and there are a lot of variety. From children to adults, I think it’s good to promote sports in Singapore,” said Jean.
10-year-old Jasper Goh was spotted shooting hoops at the basketball court. He said, “It’s fun. I want to try all the games.” Jasper had asked his mum, Cynthia Lim, to take him to this event. Cynthia said, “We tried some activities already, like inline skating and cycling. Then we came here for basketball. I think ActiveSG is good as the registration gives you an amount to minus off from when you sign up for classes and go for swimming.”
Singaporeans and permanent residents get free ActiveSG membership and $100 credit when they sign up.
Chin Oi Su, 39, and Nor Sidah, 35, were also present at the open house with their children. Both mothers thought that such programmes should be promoted more regularly. Oi Su said, “My son has tuition here, so we come here every Saturday and happened to see the poster. We’ve tried the chess, rock-climbing and lawn bowling.” Sidah was at the studio with her kids and friends for bokwa, a cardio workout routine. “My kids participated at the cycling and inline skating activity, so it’s our turn now to participate in bokwa. We just wanted to come down and get to know the instructor,” said Sidah.
Amy Teo, 36, came all the way down from Holland Village with her husband, Matthew O’ Brien, and 2-year-old son Trystan. “My son participated in the swim school’s lessons every Sunday. I think ActiveSG is a great idea and I love it. So we are here today. I think it brings awareness to the kids. Just look at him, he’s having fun,” Amy said as her son enjoyed himself in the water activity.
Sport Singapore, the former Singapore Sports Council, will be having a couple more open houses at different Sports Centres over the next few weeks, to help facilitate the registrations of the new ActiveSG memberships.
For more information on the ActiveSG open houses, visit: http://www.myactivesg.com/about-activesg/activesg-open-houses
For more information on the ActiveSG membership, visit: www.myactivesg.com
To sign up for the ActiveSG membership, visit: members.myactivesg.com
More photos on next page
Leave A Comment