Community Ready to Celebrate the Extraordinary

Community Ready to Celebrate the Extraordinary

Singapore, 4 June 2015 – More than 3,000 people from all walks of life joined in the final community event before the official opening of the 28th SEA Games. A culmination of all community engagement programmes that have taken place in the past 18 months, the event took place at The Promontory @ Marina Bay and was graced by Mr Lawrence Wong, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth.

Minister Wong witnessed the completion of the final public art installation under the Torch Up! programme as 28 symbolic ‘flames’ were placed on it by representatives from the various community efforts to date – from the School Modular Programme, Torch! Up Programme, Community Sports Festival constituencies, Songs of the Games contest winners, (digital game) NILA’s Quest participants, to partners such as SportCares, MINDS, Go50 runners as well as sponsors.

The SEA Games torch was then lit by Minister Wong and passed to the first Team NILA team member, Mr Charles Eu, 83, and the torch was paraded around the Marina Bay area on a 2.5-kilometre route passing iconic landmarks namely Clifford Square, Merlion Park, Esplanade Outdoor Theatre, The Float @ Marina Bay and the ArtScience Museum.

One of the community torch-bearers, Jayaprasad Jayaguru, 34 said, “I am very honoured and excited to be a part of the Torch Parade. As a lecturer, I want to inspire my students to actively volunteer at sports events and to keep the love for sport alive.”

Tan Shu Qin, 24, echoed similar sentiments and said, “Volunteering has been an enriching experience for me and I hope to do my part to encourage more to step up and volunteer.”

The Torch Parade ended at the Marina Bay Sands Event Plaza where participants and members of the public were treated to a host of activities and stage performances. The Torch Up! Art Installations around the Marina Bay area were also unveiled. For more information on the 28th SEA Games Torch Up! Programme.