SINGAPORE - The Community Chest (ComChest) raised over $16.7 million with a charity show on Sunday to support over 200 critical social service initiatives.
They include programmes that empower children with special needs and youth at risk, adults with disabilities, those with mental health conditions, and families and seniors in need of support.
The Uniting Hearts 2023 Charity TV Show, which was held at Mediacorp’s The Theatre and screened on Channel 8, also marked ComChest’s 40th year holding fund-raising activities and supporting those in need.
The show featured a star-studded line-up, including international performers The Wynners and Ricky Hsiao, local singers Rahimah Rahim and Kit Chan, and actresses Kym Ng and Zoe Tay, as well as beneficiaries and corporate partners.
For three hours, they sang, danced and performed for over 1,200 people, including the guest of honour, President Tharman Shanmugaratnam, and his wife, Ms Jane Ittogi.
Veteran actor Edmund Chen was the architect behind the final artwork – Trees of Hope.
It saw a diverse group of people put the finishing touches to a garden of cardboard trees and animals that they started making in July.
A total of 200 people were involved in the community project, including staff from banks and hotels, students from institutes of higher learning as well as special needs children.
Chen said the idea was to bring “different layers of society” together at the garden.
“I chose cardboard for the trees because I wanted to use the weakest material. I wanted to show that with perseverance and hard work, we were able to build a very sturdy tree,” he added.
Earlier in the evening, President Tharman got involved in the show when he passed the ball back to wheelchair-bound basketball players who were having a match on stage.
The night also saw actor Desmond Tan and singer/songwriter Annette Lee pair up for a duet titled The Sun.
Tan, who won Best Actor at the Star Awards for his role in When Duty Calls in 2018, said he started singing while in secondary school and continues to exercise his vocal cords in the shower.
The Sun, sung in Mandarin, illustrates how the star illuminates all life on earth.
Tan said: “All of us have our dark moments in life but we all have the quality to shine through people’s shadows and brighten up their lives.”
Madam Thilagarani, 54, who did not want to give her full name, was among those who took part in the Trees of Hope finale.
In the last 20 years, her family has received support from organisations like the National Kidney Foundation, community self-help group Singapore Indian Development Association, and ComCare, which is the Government’s primary financial aid scheme for needy families.
The former kindergarten teacher is diabetic and needs dialysis three times a week. Her husband, who wanted to be known only as Mr Ramesh, is also unable to work due to medical conditions that affect his knees, shoulders and arteries.
Madam Thilagarani, whose 10-year-old daughter receives bursaries, said: “When most people see us, they think we are very healthy. They wonder why we’re not working. But we have many medical issues.”
She said her life would have been much harder without financial help and support from volunteers, who also provide them with food supplies.
Real estate consultancy PropNex, a corporate partner of the show, said its staff and agents have been pledging a portion of their commissions to the Share programme since 2013.
The programme is one where donors give each month to ComChest.
PropNex executive director and deputy CEO Kelvin Fong said: “The fact that we have the capacity to give means we are very fortunate. Not everybody has the opportunity to do so.”
