1. Hello everyone. I hope you have had a good break and a smooth start to the new school term. I am excited to join you today at this year's Singapore Youth Festival Opening Event to celebrate the artistic creativity of our students, and Youth Day.
2. This year, despite the ongoing pandemic, we've prepared an exciting line-up of activities to continue engaging our students in the arts.
3. Before the June holidays, we rolled out SYFgoesOnline! – a series of fun and easy-to-follow online arts projects to engage students during their break. Some of these interesting projects involved writing monologues that told stories of optimism and hope. Others involved jamming with our local band, MICappella, by using a mobile app. Through these activities, our students found new and creative ways of expressing themselves, and to collaborate digitally with one another. They showed us that COVID-19 will never wear us down and they demonstrated their grit and resilience, and through this process, they discovered their own unique artistic voices as well.
4. For the SYF Art Exhibition, over 500 artworks by more than 3,500 students from 188 primary schools and special education schools will be showcased on the SYF website. In addition, this year marks the first time that the Art Exhibition is using immersive 360-degree technology. Centred around the theme of 'Artist & Technology', some of our students' artworks are also featured virtually against the digitalised backdrop of gallery spaces within the National Gallery Singapore.
5. I am glad that students in our performing arts co-curricular activities were able to take part in the SYF Arts Presentation earlier this year, with stringent safe management measures in place. Although our choirs were not able to perform 'live', they were still able to present their singing through audio recordings. Kudos to the 31,000 students from 166 secondary schools and junior colleges for overcoming the numerous obstacles to deliver outstanding and memorable performances. This is a testament to our students' hard work and the commitment of our teachers and instructors. And now, it is time to experience some of these special SYF moments. Are you ready to join me? Let's go!
6. COVID-19 has thrown the world a curveball – its impact has been far-reaching, and the arts have certainly not been spared. Despite these challenges, the arts will continue to play a critical role in the development of our youths, and in nurturing a future-ready generation. While the road to this year's SYF has not been easy, we have been encouraged by the positive responses that we have seen from our students, who rose to the occasion and created new opportunities.
7. With many of you returning to school this week and the Primary One to Three students soon after, I hope all of you will continue to support one another and stay strong together.