EMBRACING A MULTI-COLOURED WORLD January 2020 Beyond the Meet our MNC Recruitment Four Walls Donation Firm Hudson Box Uncle Trains APSNians 1 MCI (P) 061/02/2019 CONTENTS 04 Beyond the Four Walls 07 Meet our Donation Box Uncle 08 CEO’S MESSAGE Events & Outreach Developing Polymaths Some of the world’s most remarkable figures have been polymaths – Winston Churchill, Leonardo da Vinci, and our very own Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Polymaths refer to individuals who have achieved expertise in a significant number of fields. Churchill was a great British statesman, Nobel Prize Laureate for Literature, and gifted painter. Da Vinci’s areas of expertise 10 included invention, art, architecture, music, mathematics, science and cartography. PM Lee was the top mathematics graduate in his year at Cambridge University, created a source code for solving Sudoku puzzles, is an astute leader, and his Facebook MNC Recruitment Firm photography is widely loved. Hudson Trains APSNians In a similar vein, APSN educators aim to develop human beings holistically by exposing them to the many facets of life. This is done by giving them opportunities to perform and showcase their creative talents (e.g. at Purple Parade and TS Artistry), to develop various work proficiencies (e.g. through Hudson training in interview, CV skills), and to expand their worldview and 11 hearts by giving back (e.g. NTUC FairPrice’s Walk for Rice fundraiser). Make an Impact A standout example of an APSN polymath is APSN Centre for Adults’ Gabriel Mendoza who is a talented photographer, film- maker, barista, cashier, cook and all-round sweetheart. A special needs community made up of polymaths like Gabriel can not with Every Dollar You Give only contribute to the advancement of our country, but also humanity as a whole. My APSN team has been hard at work to provide many more opportunities for our beneficiaries to explore their vast polymathic potential. Stay tuned for updates! And have a happy Lunar New Year! Dr Christopher Tay Chief Executive Officer of APSN INTRODUCTION 3 BEYOND THE FOUR WALLS APSN does not just focus on vocational training and education, but also exposes its beneficiaries to the worlds outside the classroom. The purpose of this exposure is to develop them into well- rounded individuals and arm them with the right values to take on life in a diverse society. Students hard at work creating their centrepiece at the Floral Arrangement challenge station. People from all walks of life took part in NTUC FairPrice’s Walk for Rice. Connecting over Cultures Five schools – APSN Katong School, APSN Tanglin School, APSN Delta Senior School (DSS), Rainbow Centre Yishun Park School, and MINDS Towner Gardens School – participated in 2019’s Inter-SPED Creative Challenge (ISCC) held on 28 September. The event’s objective was to encourage participants to embrace and celebrate Singapore’s multi- ethnic culture and heritage. Participants served up a multitude of colourful and traditional cuisines, beverages, floral displays and handicrafts from different cultures – the Peranakan culture, Thai culture and a fusion of Singapore’s four major cultures. To strengthen the SPED family bond, engaging hands-on activities were also conducted during the event. “Participants gained a greater appreciation for their own culture and the diverse cultures in Singapore, as they researched on the unique facets of these cultures to come up It was very early in the morning, but they had fun giving back! APSN Katong School students were cheerful with their creations for the challenge,” said Ms Zalina Ahmad, helpers, handing out goodie bags after the walk. an ISCC committee member from APSN DSS. Walking = Rice for Needy? In late September, more than 100 participants from APSN Dr Maliki Osman, Mayor of South East Katong School (KS) and APSN Centre for Adults trekked District and Senior Minister of State, from Wisma Geylang Serai all the way to the NTUC Fairprice Ministry of Defence & Ministry of Foreign at SingPost Centre. Several APSN KS students volunteered Affairs, graced the event as Guest- at the event by handing out goodie bags at the end of of-Honour and joined in the flag-off the walk. together with NTUC FairPrice CEO Mr Mr Paul Tan of Paul T Expresso Consultancy, one of the judges, Seah Kian Peng. giving his views at the mocktail-making challenge station. “I felt that the initiative was good as I could exercise, and for every kilometre that I walked, I could contribute several Mr Seah said, “We are indeed heartened bowls of rice to the needy,” said Kadin, a student volunteer that the initiative empowers people from all walks of life from APSN KS. Kadin shared that he has participated in Walk to contribute and do their part in building a more caring for Rice for 8 years, since he was 7 years old. He would walk community for all.” around the school in the early morning before the start of class, during recess and PE lessons. For the past 8 years, APSNians have been given the opportunity to give back to society through this event, proving once again that persons with special needs are able Students’ creations inspired by the Thai culture. to give of themselves too. 4 TOP FEATURE TOP FEATURE 5 MEET OUR DONATION BOX UNCLE Painted Houses, Principled Hearts With the aim of developing greater camaraderie, teamwork and healthy competition among the APSN Chaoyang (CYS) students, the school introduced a House System in 2019. Every student, as well as staff in the school, was allocated one of the four houses in the school. The houses are identified by colours – Blue, Green, Red and Yellow; and APSN donation boxes are placed at all Pizza Hut, Simply Wrapps, SKECHERS and Swensen’s outlets around the island. assigned one corresponding school value of Commitment, Integrity, Respect or Resilience. To help our students to Meet Uncle Sunny Tan, 47. He manages the donation boxes for APSN. Currently, there are over 150 boxes all over Singapore better identify with their houses, four mascots were chosen at places such as Pizza Hut, Simply Wrapps, SKECHERS and Swensen’s. to represent each house: Butterfly (Blue), Dragonfly (Green), Ladybug (Red) and Bumblebee (Yellow). The former policeman drives 100km twice a week on Mondays and Tuesdays to collect and replace the boxes. Wednesday is the money-counting and banking day. The last two days of the week are for him to do paperwork, donation box Throughout the year, there were competitive inter-house maintenance and reaching out to potential partners. events and activities where students could represent their house to compete against students from other houses. He oversaw the evolution of the donation boxes from a simple “Thank you for your kind donation” message to one with a The events and activities, organised by the various school more engaging story and picture, and introduced the QR code donation option to go with the boxes. departments, included a mathematics quiz, speech and drama performances, a life-skills competition, Sports Day and termly Model Pupil Awards. Uncle Sunny is also a single father, taking care of his 9-year-old daughter, Winners were awarded points depending on their finishing Janntra (“moon” in Thai). “My ex- position in the competition, and these points were added wife left when my daughter was 2. to a cumulative score. The house with the highest score at Initially, it was tough. But I learnt the end of the year was House Champion for 2019 APSN CYS house meetings in action! to juggle bringing back the bacon, and was awarded a Championship Trophy. doing housework and taking care of Congratulations Ladybugs! my daughter. Luckily, my daughter is obedient.” Look out for Uncle Sunny in the newly decaled APSN van driving around the island and remember to give generously when you see our APSN donation boxes. As Uncle Sunny would say, “Just do it. Don’t think so much.” Uncle Sunny and his 9-year-old daughter Janntra jogging together at an APSN event. 6 TOP FEATURE UNDER THE LIMELIGHT 7 EVENTS & OUTREACH APSN Dinner and Dance 2019 Purple Parade 2019 5 September 2019 | Gardens by the Bay 2 November 2019 | Suntec City As always, APSNians came together in support of the Purple Parade mass celebration of persons with special needs and The various APSN school/centre staff cheered their abilities. passionately for their colleagues throughout the night. This year: 1. APSN Chaoyang School’s Merry Melodies choir and APSN Delta Senior School’s Rhythmic Krew hip hop dancers performed during the concert; APSN’s Merry Melodies’ singing brought the crowd to soaring heights. The APSN crew has weathered another year together. Cheers to the next one! 2. All APSN schools and centres were represented in the All aboard! marching contingent; and In early September, APSN held its Annual D&D with the theme FantaSea. 3. APSN Centre for Adults sold out their cookies, purple taro ice cream and popsicles. The APSN staff were thoroughly entertained by emcee Sherman Tang, whose cheeky humour helped rouse the crowd with games, performances, long-service award During the first Purple Parade Conversations event, Mayor presentations, and a mass dance at the end. for Central Singapore Community Development Council and Special Advisor to the Purple Parade Ms Denise Phua One of the highlights of the event was the Best Dressed segment, where there were emphasised, “Persons with disabilities don’t want to just be staff who came as Jack Sparrow, Aqua Man and Ursula from The Little Mermaid. They takers, they also want to contribute and be givers.” were asked to improv scenes inspired by famous shows and their antics were met with raucous laughter.