[SKM] Kindness Day SG 2017's Celebratory Dinner

For the month of May, a series of community activities were carried out as Singapore Kindness Movement (SKM) joined hands with several Ground-Up Movements (GUMs) to kick off Kindness Day SG (KDSG) 2017. This year theme of "Kindness, It's Up to Us", challenge Singaporeans to put aside any reservations and make a conscious effort to act on our innate kindness.

The fifth edition of the annual KDSG bring Singaporeans from different sectors including school children, the Group Up Movements (GUMs) as well as corporate partners to celebrate kindness and graciousness in our society.

A Kindness Day SG 2017 Appreciation Dinner was held at the Stadium Riverside Walk to recognize 11 new GUMs to be included into the Kindred Spirit Circle. This will bring the total number of GUMs to 62 since 2013.

The following 11 GUMs have contributed in making Singapore a kinder and more gracious place to live in through their various campaigns.

- Air Amber
- Jurong Spring YEC
- Unity & Peace
- Project Chulia Street
- Playvocates in Action
- Strings for Kindness
- CanSense
- The Heart Bazaar
- Motorist.sg
- Commacon
- Runner's Heart Reach

Dr. William Wan, General Secretary of SKM observes, "As we approach our fifth year of Kindness Day SG, it is really comforting to see members of our society come together and take a stand for kindness, be it through personal initiatives or through volunteering with community groups. These projects do not go unnoticed and has played a vital part in transforming our society into a more inclusive and gracious community. I look forward to seeing Singaporeans implement more ideas, and create for themselves a Nation of Kindness we can all be proud of in the upcoming years."

Chief of Sports Medicine at Changi General Hospital and former Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) Dr. Ben Tan was the Guest-of-Honour for the event.

There's a presentation of  Certificates of Participation to a list of SKM Partners in recognition of Kindness Day SG as well as Tokens of appreciation to the 11 GUMs to be included in the SKM's Kindred Spirit Circle.

As part of the celebrations, a special maze art installation, named the 'Garden of Gratitude' has been set up with the incorporation of yellow gerbera windmills and light bulbs to celebrate, inspire and fuel the spirit of kindness in Singapore.

Unveiling of the installation through a light-up ceremony before the commencement of dinner.

The yellow gerbera windmills symbolize appreciation and gratitude to friends and loved ones. This art installation not only acts as a perfect photo spot, Singas are also hidden within the maze of daisies. Simply count the number of Singas in the maze and submit your answers at www.kindnessday.sg by 30th June 2017 to win Singa premiums. Winners will be notified via email by 7th July 2017.

Our dinner was accompanied by a wonderful violin performance from Strings of Kindness led by violinist and award winning athlete, Eileen Chai. It definitely bring cheers to this special night.

Thanks a lot for the media invitation. 

Photo Credit +Jessie Quek

Magic of Kindness

A person who thinks starts to know.

A person who knows start to learn.

A person who learns starts to create.

A person who creates starts to share.

A person who shares starts to inspire.

A person who inspires starts to revolutionise.

Let the person be you!

XOXO

[SKM] Appreciation Dinner in Celebration of #KindnessDaySG

Kindness Day SG celebrations kicked off with the Singapore Kindness Movement (SKM) joining hands with several Group-Up Movements (GUMs) to carry out community activities from 1st May. This slew of activities shed light on the often-neglected and vulnerable communities in Singapore. Together with my mum, we took part in one of their activities, which is the Home Visits at Jalan Kukoh organised by The Volunteer Switchboard. 

The theme for this year is "Kindness, It's Up to Us", and the public is encouraged to inculcate the spirit of organic kindness in Singapore. This year, 1,000 hand-folded windmill yellow gerbera daisies were collected throughout the month to form this special artwork display to be unveiled by Minister of Culture, Community and Youth and Advisor to SKM, Ms. Grace Fu. 

The unveiling event took place just before the appreciation dinner at Berlin Bar, CHIJMES and I was glad to be there to witness it with my mum.

Together with Ms. Grace Fu to unveil the special Kindness Day SG display is Mr Koh Poh Tiong, Chairman of Singapore Kindness Movement as well as Dr William Wan, General Secretary, Singapore Kindness Movement.

Just to share, the yellow Gerbera daisies used in this installation were folded by people who have been touched by kindness and as a sign of their appreciation, dedicated the paper flowers to the volunteers. Each and every flower represent gratitude and it's simply beautiful.

Mr Koh Poh Tiong, Chairman of Singapore Kindness Movement giving the Welcome Address, giving thanks to Minister Grace Fu for gracing this event as well as those who joined this evening. He is also grateful for the evidence of kindness and graciousness around us and would like to extend his sincere gratitude to their partners organisations. Singapore Kindness Movement have also worked very closely with partners from MCCY (Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth) and MOE (Ministry of Education). Lastly he gave a sincere thanks to Team Kindness, who have worked hard behind the scene.

Dr William Wan, General Secretary, Singapore Kindness Movement giving the welcome speech. He introduced the theme for Kindness Day SG this year as well as appreciating the Ground-Up Movements, corporate partner and schools for the collaboration. 

Guest-of-Honour, Ms Grace Fu, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth giving the last speech. She emphasized on why it is important to have a movement like this to remind us to make graciousness our norm and how kindness builds a caring community. She also recognized the effort of the Group-Up Movements and gives special mention to Dipa Swaminathan who started "It'sRainingRaincoats", an initiative to spread kindness to construction workers. 

A total of 9 new GUMs who have championed kindness over the past year were presented with the Kindred Spirit Circle (KSC) certificates and are inducted into the SKM's Kindred Spirit Circle, in recognition of their independent effort to spread kindness in Singapore. They are #Itsrainingraincoats, Familiar Strangers, Peter Draw, Roti for Homies, SamaSama, Sin Yong, Strangers of the Night, The M.A.D Race and U Cares.

Commencement of dinner was accompanied by special kindness performance by GUM - Syros (Sin Yong), Singing and movie impersonations by Emcee Alfred George and a short Q&A with Zhang Zhen Huan. It was super entertaining. 

"No act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted."

Sharing a quote I always believe in to end this post. However to be able to help others, we ourselves must have the ability as well. You can't pour water to others from an empty cup either, so I'm always grateful for what I have and what I can share. 

XOXO