PROJECT GIVE BUMPER ISSUE

Events at a Gla

nce

May to August 2010

contents01 Events at a Glance 02 Letter from the CEO03 Tribute to our late President, Dr Balaji05 Maximising Educational Opportunities for All09 Special Feature – Project Give 201013 Nurturing More Enlightened Families15 Strengthening Partnerships, Community Engagement and Outreach17 Developing the Potential of Our Youth19 Special Feature – What Type of Parent are You?

Upcoming SINDA events

November

Project Give Charity Show

Distribution of Festive Gift Packs for Christmas

Holiday Enrichment Programmes

December

Back to School Festival and Indian Community Bursary Awards Ceremony

SINDA Project Give Flag Day 2010

Launch of Project SPARK – 30 May

Project SPARK (Successful Parents and Resilient

Kids) for single parents was launched by Ms Ho

Ching, Executive Director and CEO of Temasek

Holdings. Project SPARK is a collaborative

effort between Temasek Cares (a charity arm

of Temasek Holdings), Chinese Development

Assistance Council, Eurasian Association,

SINDA and Yayasan Mendaki.

Ng Lao Chik Study Awards – 11 June 10 students were awarded the Ng Lao Chik - SINDA Secondary Study (NLC- SSS) Award. This award is presented to deserving Indian students studying in mainstream secondary schools in Singapore to support them financially to pursue excellence in studies and sports or arts.

SINDA Chairman’s Visit to

Project Victory Centre – 8 May

Minister for Finance and Chairman,

SINDA, Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam,

visited Jurong Primary Project Victory

Centre where he interacted with

students and participated in the

classroom activities.

Distinguished Speaker Series (DSS) – 5 May SINDA Youth Club held the DSS with Mr Gautam Banerjee, ex-Nominated Member of Parliament and Executive Chairman, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Singapore. Mr Gautam spoke on ‘The Global Game of Change’ to 100 youth. He addressed two key issues - the key drivers of change and leadership attributes needed in a modern world.

Recruitment Drive for Professionals,

Managers, Executives and Technicians

(PMETs) – 21 June

A recruitment drive for PMETs from

various sectors was held in partnership

with Global Recruitment Holdings.

Heritage Trail – 10 July

80 Indian students from public and

international schools took part in a

Heritage Trail titled, ‘Amazing Race @

Labrador Park’. This trail aimed to reach

out to international students (potential

new citizens) at an early age, inculcate

friendliness and understanding amongst

their schoolmates and more importantly,

strengthen their sense of belonging

towards Singapore.

Festive Gift Pack Distribution for Hari Raya Puasa – 14 August Mr Tharman, together with members of the SINDA Board of Trustees, Executive Committee, staff and volunteers, distributed festive gift packs for Hari Raya Puasa to 20 families. The distribution took place at three different locations at the same time. A total of 300 packs were distributed for Hari Raya.

For further details and confirmed dates, visit www.sinda.org.sg.

Special Thanks We thank you for your contributions to the SINDA CPF Fund. Your contributions enable SINDA to organise programmes and services that benefit our students and families.

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Your feedback mattersWe welcome feedback on SINDA connections and on how we can serve you better. Email us your ideas and suggestions at connections@sinda.org.sg. Join our mailing listIf you want to be included in our mailing list or if you are receiving duplicate copies of this newsletter, please email us at connections@sinda.org.sg. Do your part for the communityTo be a volunteer or to donate, call us at 1800 295 4554.

It is with a heavy heart that I write this message. President of SINDA, Dr Balaji Sadasivan, passed away on 27 September 2010 and SINDA has lost a good guide, mentor and friend.

His loss will also be deeply felt by many other Indian organisations that he helmed such as Singapore Indian Education Trust (SIET) and Narpani Pearavai.

The wake and funeral have passed and we may pick up where we left off. We have given our heartfelt eulogies, interviews to media and shared with each other about his contributions. But, the real memorial to Dr Balaji is how we carry on with his vision of creating a more successful Indian community. He was passionate about reaching out to less-privileged Indians, especially students, and about integrating the various sub-ethnic communities into a stronger Indian community. We now have to achieve these objectives.

September to December are festive months. It is also a moment to think about those who cannot be in a joyous mood due to the lack of resources. Children from needy families wish to celebrate the festivals just like their friends. Many may not believe that there are families in Singapore who do not have the money to make the festival

Editorial Team Advisor Mr T Raja Segar, CEO, SINDA

Writers Orbital Group

Editors Corporate Communications Team, SINDA

Printer Stamford Press Pte Ltd

day different from an ordinary day.

SINDA reaches out to children who may need that extra help in studies, finances and motivation. To ensure that we can bring some festive cheer to them, we are distributing 1,200 Festive Gift Packs this year during the three major festivities that Indians celebrate. We have also launched Project Give, the annual fund-raising initiative. The intent of this campaign, which is in its tenth year, is to encourage the community to contribute towards the educational expenses of children. SINDA manages about 1,500 bursaries annually for children from Primary / Secondary schools and Junior Colleges, worth about $1.2 million. Of these bursaries, about 30% are through the Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund (SPMF). The rest are funded by the donations that you make during Project Give. We hope that you will continue to donate generously towards this fund.

To give a brief overview of SINDA’s educational efforts, the STEP Tuition and other educational programmes have reached about 4500 students this year. STEP is run at 21 centres nationwide and employs about 350 tutors. Our Project Teach programme is at 51 schools and employs about 80 tutors. We have organised holiday programmes, PSLE seminars and motivational seminars for Primary 5 and 6 students. These initiatives prepare our students to do better in their upcoming examinations. We also

need parents’ support to make the home conducive for children to focus on their studies.

We at SINDA are planning for 2011. We want to enhance our programmes to ensure that students deliver better results. We want to reach out to more students, parents, teachers and members of the public. Like us, plan your 2011. The year-end is a time of joy but make the beginning of next year a great one for yourself and your family. Parents with young children should plan to send them to the nursery or childcare. Parents whose children are entering Primary 1 should prepare them well in literacy and numeracy. Parents whose children are sitting for the PSLE or GCE ‘O’ or ‘A’ level exams should ensure that the home is a great place to study.

SINDA is not an organisation that works by itself to address the issues of the Indian community. It is the Indian community’s agent to ensure that those of us who are better off help those who are not. In a way, we are the community’s secretariat to carry out the community’s self-help agenda. As such, all should see SINDA as a collaborative partner, a friend, a catalyst and an organisation that carries the vision and mission of making the Indian community well-educated, resilient and confident. So let us work better together. We certainly can achieve greater success in all that we hope for in the Indian community.

Letter from the CEO“Working Together”

The Self-Help Groups’ Joint Tuition Awards Ceremony 2010 celebrates the success of students.

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Riders Aid Singapore, a group of bikers, did a charity ride for SINDA’s Project Give and donated their collections towards the cause

Visits to the SINDA Project Give booth at the Deepavali Bazaar at Campbell Lane in 2009

Find out what your parenting style is and the impact it has on your child’s development.