Virtually Towards A Stronger Singapore

2020 National Day Celebrations

National Day celebrations at Singapore Sports School took on a different format this year, but was no less significant. Aligned to this year’s National Day theme, Together, A Stronger Singapore, Sports School planned class-based activities for student-athletes to reflect on the important role they play in pushing Singapore forward.

Leading up to National Day, interesting videos were shown to student-athletes to share Singapore’s history and invoke a sense of national pride. Among the online material that was put together for them was the Lessons From The Champions series. In the school’s first online Lessons From The Champions series that is typically held through a face-to-face session with sport champions during assembly, badminton player Loh Kean Yew and swimmer Pang Sheng Jun, were featured.

The alumni shared their competition experiences, challenges, and their motivation to work towards achieving their goals. Their candid sharing aimed to inspire and motivate student-athletes to continue chasing their dreams to don the national colours to represent Singapore, despite the changes that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought to their lives.

National Day celebrations culminated on 7 August 2020, with a video presentation of the National Day Observance Ceremony and an online Learning Journey Programme. The online Learning Journey brought student-athletes through the lives of migrant workers, particularly those from Bangladesh, to help student-athletes understand their background, challenges, struggles and even prejudices faced in Singapore.

The online learning experience was a timely one as COVID-19 has shed light on the living conditions and issues faced by migrant workers. As COVID-19 has also taught Singaporeans the importance of having solidarity and inclusivity in our society to fight the disruptions caused by the pandemic, the learning journey was relevant to the current times, and necessary for student-athletes to have social awareness and role model in showing respect and empathy for all in our society.

The Learning Journey was a good start for them to embark on Project Dhan'yabāda, which means "Thank You" in Bengali. Student-athletes wrote appreciation notes and hand-made picture frames using ice cream sticks for migrant workers.

The appreciation notes and pictures frames were included in the care packs that were prepared by Year 5 student-athletes from IBDP as part of their Values In Action project. The care packs were given to about 350 migrant workers who are currently residing at the former Innova Junior College.

Student-athletes also engaged in an interesting session with their Academy mentors where they watched videos about Singapore’s past, how Singapore has overcome past crisis and how it came together to fight COVID-19. The videos helped student-athletes reflect and share their thoughts on what it means to them to be a Singaporean, and how they can contribute towards a stronger future. At the end of the interactive session, student-athletes sang two popular National Day songs – Home and Count On Me Singapore – with gusto and pride. The enriching morning ended with student-athletes enjoying their bento sets with a good mix of local flavours.

This year’s National Day celebrations tugged the heartstrings of student-athletes. The enriching programme was meaningful and helped them to open up their minds and hearts, and think about the importance of building Together, A Stronger Singapore.