2000 Students and Parents Come Together for Harmony In Celebration

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16 July 2005

2000 STUDENTS AND PARENTS COME TOGETHER FOR HARMONY

IN CELEBRATION

1. Some 2000 students from 150 schools came together to celebrate Racial Harmony Day 2005 on Saturday, 16 July. This joint celebration serves as an anchor event to Racial Harmony Day, which all schools will celebrate in their own way in the coming week. Mr Chan Soo Sen, Minister of State for Education, was the Guest of Honour at the event, which was held at Pioneer Junior College.

2. The theme for this year’s Racial Harmony Day, Harmony In Celebration, features a celebratory element that ties in with Singapore’s 40th birthday. Adding to the party atmosphere was a series of fun and meaningful games played by student participants. These games allowed them to exchange ‘gifts’ of friendship with their fellow team mates, as well as celebrate the common spaces that the different races share in Singapore.

Several ‘Firsts’ for Racial Harmony Day 2005

3. Racial Harmony Day 2005 features several ‘firsts’ – making its exciting debut is the Parade of Floats, which will feature unique buggy-floats decorated by students and teachers from the junior colleges and Centralised Institute. Also participating in the Parade of Floats are prize-winning rope-skippers, and a kick-boxing and hip-hop dance contingent.

4. Another first in the programme this year is ‘Cultural Extravaganza- A Special Gift from Parents’. For the first time, 60 parents from Parent Support Groups of different schools are supporting Racial Harmony Day by setting up 11 booths to show aspects unique to different cultures in Singapore. Some items that will be featured in the booths include ronggeng, Chinese tea appreciation and henna painting. The participation of the parents also bears testimony to the strong collaborative bonds between our schools and parents in students’ development.

5. Mr Andrew Chew, Chairman of the Racial Harmony Day organising committee noted, “This year marks the first time we are involving parents on such a large scale. We are delighted with their strong support. For our students to fully understand the importance of racial harmony requires the joint effort of not just our schools, but also parents and the wider community.”

Background

6. Racial Harmony Day 2005 aims to:

§ Emphasise the importance of racial harmony for peace, cohesion and stability in Singapore;

§ Showcase schools’ innovation in developing new and diverse initiatives to help our young forge closer bonds with one another; and

§ Highlight the role that schools, parents and the community have to play in deepening racial harmony among our children.

7. Since 2002, Racial Harmony Day has been commemorated annually with an anchor event based on a theme. Last year, Racial Harmony Day was based on the theme Harmony in Discovery.