Mr Tan Boon Piin, General Manager of YTL Starhill Global Property Management Pte Ltd
Ms Low Khah Gek, CEO / ITE
Deputy CEOs and Principals of ITE
ITE students
Ladies and Gentlemen
1. It is my pleasure to be a part of the beautiful Christmas Light-Up and Prize-Giving Ceremony. It is a collaboration between Wisma Atria and the Institute of Technical Education (ITE).
2. The Covid-19 pandemic has tested our resilience and adaptability. Businesses have had to adapt to various safe management measures and disruptions in manpower and supply chain. Our teachers and students adopted more online teaching and learning. Despite the challenges, ITE has found ways to continue to deliver quality skills training in authentic industry settings for our students. Through industry partnerships such as those with YTL, our ITE students continue to learn useful and industry-relevant skillsets.
Importance of Industry Partnerships for Real World Learning
3. Every year during Christmas, many of us look forward to the kaleidoscope of decorations lining Orchard Road, a wonderful reminder that the festive season is round the corner. This year, Wisma Atria's decorations, titled "Whims And Fancies", are designed by students from ITE College Central's School of Design and Media, in collaboration with Wisma Atria.
4. 110 students across three classes from the Higher Nitec in Visual Merchandising course participated in this design project as part of their coursework. The students were given the theme "The Season of Giving" and challenged to create Christmas decorations for the façade of Wisma Atria Shopping Mall. The students also designed a festive gift wrapper which will be given out to shoppers as part of a promotional campaign from November to December this year. In addition, the LED lightshow which we will enjoy shortly and be prominently displayed as part of the decorations, arose from proposals from our ITE students. All these initiatives are an amalgam of the key elements from the top three winning design proposals. The project not only offers our ITE students a canvas to display their talent and creativity, but the chance to learn from industry practitioners, who inspire them to explore career paths in retail and creative industries.
5. Students who designed the shortlisted proposals had the opportunity to attend a design clinic co-organised by DesignSingapore Council, Wisma Atria and ITE College Central. At the design clinic, students presented their work to four President*s Design Award recipients, received feedback on their designs, and gained insights into the design profession from the personal stories of the design practitioners. I am sure our students have been inspired and I thank the President*s Design Award recipients for their generous sharing.
6. Beyond the design stage, the students who conceptualised the top three proposals also had the opportunity to visit a factory to witness the production of the decoration materials. To be able to experience the entire design cycle from conception to implementation helped students gain a better understanding of the practicality of design work, and how designers work together with the client and vendors to bring their designs to reality.
7. YTL Starhill Property Management Pte Ltd's kind donation of $8,000 to the ITE endowment fund will help ITE to continue to support students from vulnerable backgrounds and help fulfil their aspirations to pursue their dreams.
8. Finally, I would like to thank Wisma Atria for working closely with ITE students for this real-life project, as well as ITE staff for their strong support and guidance given to our ITE students. I encourage more industry players to work closely with our Institutes of Higher Learning to create more opportunities for hands-on and applied learning. To our ITE students, I look forward to seeing your creativity flourish through this and more industry projects.
9. Thank you.