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IT was a dream, one might say, that brought Children for Children to life.
At the invitation of CHIJ (Kellock)'s principal Clara Lim-Tan, Alvin Tay, Editor of The Business Times, and Colin Goh, general manager of The Arts House, attended CHIJ (Kellock)'s 2008 Open House, which showcased a week-long arts and craft festival as well as an original performance, Dreamweavers.
"I was very impressed with the performance and told Clara that the children deserved to perform to a bigger audience. That opportunity came a few weeks later," explained Mr Tay.
At that time last year, BT was planning to celebrate its 32nd anniversary at the Singapore Flyer.
BT's anniversary falls on Oct 1, which coincides with Children's Day, and it also happened to be a public holiday that year.
Fuelled by the desire to do something meaningful for Children's Day as well as to raise funds for charity, Mr Tay and Mr Goh decided to invite 1,000 underprivileged children to celebrate Children's Day at the Singapore Flyer.
But the idea took on a life of its own and went beyond a simple community event.
"We thought that it would be most interesting to have children organising a fund-raising by the children and for the children."
"It was spontaneous rather than planned." "Sometimes better ideas come about this way and the success thus far is a testament to this", added Mr Goh.
Mrs Lim-Tan was keen to involve her students in what she saw as a platform for the children to take part in community service by tapping their talent.
The CHIJ (Kellock) students put together a performance for the children at the Singapore Flyer, and also packed goodie bags and made cards for them.
"An important takeaway for all of us involved in this project is that you are never too young to make a difference to the lives of others," said Mrs Lim-Tan.
This year's event took place at the Singapore Zoo and next year's event is also likely to take place at an "iconic venue in Singapore", she said.
Over $230,000 has been raised, and three-quarters of the proceeds - minus the costs of organising the event - will be channelled to The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund.
The rest goes to The Business Times Budding Artists Fund.
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