13 minute read
Programmes & Events
Never Too Early to Learn
A baby’s brain may still be growing but there’s no better time to start nurturing inquisitive new minds than now! SINDA gifts eligible new parents with a Hello Baby Gift Bundle that takes care of baby’s early development. Filled with interactive playthings for dad and mum to bond with their child, the hamper, worth $160, is being sent to an expected 300 families this year.
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The tiny tots won’t miss out on enjoying their babyhood, with an activity gym, a ball pit and baby blocks to accompany their growth in the first year. There are also baby books for reading to baby, while parents, too, get a baby-care book to guide them. Sakthi Surampara was one delighted mum. “The baby hamper was great,” she said. “My baby was enjoying herself, playing with all the colourful balls that came with it.”
Two- and four-year-olds aren’t left without presents, either — their families will be sharing the wonders of discovery through the world of books. The Hello Toddler Hamper, consisting of $100 worth of age-appropriate storybooks, will make its way to some 450 disadvantaged families this year, to spark youthful imagination and nurture learning.
“My son is obsessed with books and story time thanks to this hamper,” shares recipient Misriya. She adds, “Even though he can’t read on his own yet, he is starting to point out familiar letters and even tries to pronounce words.” Misriya’s son is two — at a stage where he quickly absorbs what his mother reads to him, so this hamper has certainly arrived at the right time, she says!
Sign up for our Hello Baby Gift Bundle at www.sinda.org.sg/hellobaby. Terms & Conditions apply.
A Warm Welcome Back for the Little Ones
It has been two years since our kindergarteners have been able to join us on-site, so what joy it was to receive them again in April! By the end of the month, 101 five-and six-year-olds were back at SINDA and partner venues for their Pre-School Tamil Enrichment Programme.
With lots of creative, play-oriented activities holding their attention, picking up their Mother Tongue is made sunny and simple. By the time the 20 weeks of classes are done, they will be more than ready for Primary 1!
Parent Rajeswari notes how teachers put in much effort to make the lessons interesting. “My son, Vijesh, enjoys going to his Tamil class and has learnt a lot from there too.”
Joining our kindergartners on-site are our young participants of SINDA’s Literacy and Numeracy (LYNN) programme. The 20-week programme for pre-schoolers helps them to pick up both maths and reading skills painlessly and naturally as they prepare for primary school. When classes are this jolly, learning really is as easy as ABC!
Sign up for our children’s enrichment programmes at
www.sinda.org.sg/children
Let Her Shine!
What can a girl do with the right knowledge, tools and resources? Why, just about anything! That’s why SINDA is out to empower our young ladies this year, with our ‘Let Her Shine!’ initiative.
We are putting the spotlight on women, with a series of long-term programmes and workshops that will fit them out with lifelong skills and self-confidence. Based on the insights garnered in the national Conversations on Singapore Women’s Development series, which resulted in a recently presented White Paper, we aim to close the gap for Singaporean Indian women as they strive for success.
SINDA’s President, Minister Indranee Rajah launched the initiative on 7 May. The pilot, which will engage Indian females from age 7 to age 30, aims to impact over 1,000 of them in 2022.
Starting off, the focus is on three principal approaches: Empower, Inspire and Nourish. Awaking resilience and ambition in girls while helping them cultivate healthy minds and lifestyles are all part of the plan.
A new generation with higher aspirations? SINDA’s right there. Some 20 courses scheduled for the year include topics on career building, leadership, public speaking and financial literacy, as well as nutrition and self-defence. A particular emphasis is being put on promoting STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics)-related studies, where career opportunities beckon.
These will add on to SINDA’s other women-centric activities, such as Project Athena for single mothers and the Women Empowerment Fund. Prior to the unveiling of Let Her Shine!, three programmes were already held for the ladies, in tandem with International Women’s Day. Healthy Eating for Women showed young adults how food and drink choices they make every day might affect their health later in life; Women and Self-care assured them that self-care is not selfish; and a Virtual Art Therapy session gave single mums a strategy for stress reduction and selfexpression while bonding with their kids.
SINDA is proud to be leading the cause for women’s development in the community, in partnership with close to 20 national agencies and women’s groups. Ms Indranee affirms: “We very much hope with this initiative, we will be able to help our Indian women fulfill their potential, stand shoulder to shoulder with other woman and let them all shine!”
You can find out more about upcoming workshops, at
www.sinda.org.sg/LetHerShine
STEP-ing Back Into the Real World
Scholarship Boost
Despite the constraints of the pandemic, SINDA students had a disruption-free start to the year, thanks to the STEP tuition team’s versatility. Ever-ready to adapt, they had brought lessons smoothly online to keep the kids up-to-date.
But STEP centres are buzzing back to life! With the easing of safe management measures, classes have had a buoyant return to in-person sessions once more. In April, some 3,400 students met their classmates in the flesh, and more are making their way back. A total of 3,568 students are enrolled across SINDA’s 25 STEP centres to date.
Higher education is within reach for those with the aptitude and resolve to excel — SINDA and our partner institutions offer a host of scholarships to help fulfil ambitions. Last year, 21 individuals were awarded partial or full scholarships worth up to $170,000. Covering diploma and degree courses, these include the:
APU-SINDA Scholarship Dr Balaji Sadasivan Study Award KAPLAN-SINDA Scholarship Lighthouse-SINDA Scholarship Optimum Solutions-SINDA Scholarship PSBA-SINDA Scholarship SCCCF-SINDA Scholarship SIA-SINDA Undergraduate Scholarship SICCI-SINDA Scholarship SIMM-SINDA Scholarship
Now, a brand new tie-up is offering more individuals in the community a boost towards their self-development goals. On 19 January, TMC Academy solidified its partnership with SINDA by offering the first-ever Masters scholarship offered by a private education institution through SINDA. As the only organisation accorded the privilege, we certainly are honoured!
The TMC-SINDA Scholarships will be bestowed annually until 2024, and provide 50% funding for a total of 20 courses, from Preparatory Courses for ‘O’ Levels to Masters programmes.
Govinden Pamela Leah, 49 PSBA-SINDA Scholarship and SIET study loan recipient, Bachelor of Arts in Business Management, Edinburgh Napier University
Hari Raya Holiday Cheer
Breaking fast with the family is a ritual our Muslim brothers and sisters look forward to during Ramadan, and SINDA was glad to be a part of the tradition this year.
On 10 April, 50 Indian Muslim homes opened their doors to find SINDA volunteers bearing some 240 iftar meals for all in the family. Each household also received Celebrate! Festive Gift Packs from sunny volunteers making the rounds.
Two weeks later, a further 400 beneficiaries were presented with the festive goody-bags laden with Hari Raya treats and essential items by our community partners and volunteers, as well as $120 worth of grocery vouchers.
The iftar meal-and-gift pack distribution was part of SINDA’s Celebrate! Festive Gift Pack initiative, which has been running since 2001. Together with a host of partner organisations and volunteers, SINDA ensures that the main festive seasons — which encompass Hari Raya Puasa, Deepavali and Christmas — can continue to be enjoyed, even in financially trying times.
The easing of Safe Management Measures at this time also was opportune, and many came forth to help bring cheer. Individuals, Indian and religious organisations were ready volunteers, all looking forward to the chance to strengthen community bonds after a prolonged period of insulation.
Mahesh Mogan, 32, has been taking part in these distributions and door-knocking exercises for four years. “Engagements like this are very close to my heart,” he enthuses. “We get to talk to the beneficiaries and see how they are doing. I see the impact on their lives, especially with the pandemic going on. We volunteers are able to bring a little sparkle and joy to them during the festive season!”
SINDA’s Family Service Centre continues to follow up with these families, providing additional support where needed.
MEMORABLE MOMENTS IN MARCH
A breather between school terms is always welcome, no matter how short! SINDA packed the one-week March holidays with enough fun to make the break a brilliant one. Here are how kids and youths made the most out of their holiday:
Super Thrills at the SuperPark
Upping the GAME with a New Script Releasing Superpowers
So much to try, the time just zipped by… two hours at the SuperPark indoor activity sports venue left SINDA youths on an adrenaline high. Team building never was so fun, with adventure areas, games arenas and freestyle halls to conquer! Six groups had a blast putting their skills and confidence to the test over three days at Suntec City.
Three days, three acts — 30 youths with stories to tell learnt how to script screenplays, from outlines to character arcs and denouements. The GAME Scriptwriting sessions were part of the Guidance and Mentorship Programme (GAME), which introduces youths to a medley of activities under the guidance of a mentor or peer leader. This year, the line-up for GAME offers shorter bursts of sessions for each programme, allowing a wider variety of interests for the youths to sample. What’s your superpower? Sometimes it takes a conversation with your peers for it to surface. For the 20 young people taking part in this Mentor Me workshop, learning to confidently share their stories was a first step towards making a professional pitch or acing an interview. The Superpower Youth workshop was held at the Civil Service Club at Tessensohn Road.
Primary-schoolers having fun with team-building activities at the SINDA Holiday Enrichment Camp.
SINDA Goes to Camp!
Capturing Creativity through their Stories And a Holiday Workshop for Parents, too!
Fond moms and dads need not have worried about their young children surviving away from home — the kids were happily learning how to survive out in the field! Pitching tents and cooking outdoors was an experience to remember, besides the rambunctious high jinks of laser tag that followed. Other games interspersed guided tours, which included the immersive ‘Through the Lens of Time’ Singapore exhibit. Another tour on eco-sustainability introduced the children to urban farming and a floating solar panel installation, too.
All activities were held on-site at the Singapore Discovery Centre, where not one, but four camps accommodated 78 primary schoolers from SINDA. The lower Primary camp participants were no doubt sorry to leave after a day, while the older kids enjoyed a second day of activities, in which they took on the role of sustainability advocates.
The imagination never runs as wild as when you are a fiveyear-old, so a Children’s Creative Writing Workshop was a wonderful chance for a small group of pre-schoolers to unleash their creativity through stories.
A Zoom workshop engaged the little ones and drew out their confidence as they shared ideas. They also learnt about what makes a good story — a great foundation for when they one day write their own tales! Does a pre-school education really matter? That’s a resounding “Yes” from the Pre-School Starters workshop, held online for 29 parents. And to help parents slip their moppets into the flow of learning, the facilitators taught them to ease their own anxieties by being prepared, and preparing their children too. This workshop was conducted in collaboration with KidSTART.
Can’t wait for more? Keep a look out for our upcoming programmes by visiting www.sinda.org.sg or follow us on our social media pages! @mysinda
Calling All Overseas Graduates! Grateful for the Giving
It is a longstanding tradition for SINDA to show our appreciation to stalwart supporters with a biennial Donor Appreciation Lunch. This year, we hosted 25 benefactors at the Royal Palm at Clarke Quay.
Through the years, we have seen more and more wellwishers coming forward with their contributions, in service to the community. We see it as proof that SINDA’s work resonates with the public. Your contributions — both monetary and in-kind — help the community to be selfsustaining, and have an impact that spans initiatives from family development and financial assistance to scholarships. Each year, some 25,000 individuals and families benefit from your generosity.
In 2021, 43 organisations and individuals in particular gave to the tune of $939,000 in value, a sum that comprised 68% of all donations received for the year.
At the appreciation lunch on 25 February, both SINDA’s Chairman and President, Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam and Minister Indranee Rajah, were warm in their acknowledgement of our donors.
Among these was the Goh Keng Swee Foundation, which donated $200,000 to SINDA to support students in need. The gift, a tribute to Dr Goh’s vision of a Singaporean society with equal access to opportunities for all, was made to commemorate the 11th anniversary of Dr Goh’s passing.
25 esteemed donors were honoured at the SINDA Donor Appreciation Lunch for their meaningful contributions.
Also making a donation last year to mark a special day was Mdm Angappan Manonmani, who bestowed $7,000 upon SINDA for her 70th birthday.
“When we work together,” Ms Indranee told guests in her address, “not only do we develop stronger compassion and empathy but importantly, such efforts strengthen the community spirit and bring us closer — we develop a stronger understanding of our fellowmen’s experiences and we readily pitch in to do what needs to be done, so that those who are less-advantaged can achieve their life aspirations.”
Your donations ensure a strong social safety net is in place. SINDA is here to support not just the vulnerable but also those for whom additional resources make all the difference towards achieving their goals. A community thanks you!
