Active SG: Getting active to mark S'pore's 51st

A young athlete clearing some miniature hurdles at the GetActive! Singapore festival yesterday. The event at Jurong East attracted around 18,000 participants.
A young athlete clearing some miniature hurdles at the GetActive! Singapore festival yesterday. The event at Jurong East attracted around 18,000 participants. PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO

National runner Dipna Lim-Prasad was challenged by an unlikely contender at the final GetActive! Singapore sports festival yesterday - a Primary 4 boy.

As she recalled with a chuckle to The Straits Times at the festival in Jurong East, Lim-Prasad said the boy at the athletics station warned her that he was "very fast".

She added: "He really was very fast. I think he was only in Primary 4. So I told him, since he's so fast he must join track and field."

The light-hearted exchange between the 25-year-old and the boy was just a slice of life at yesterday's festival, which marked the end of the nine-day sporting bash celebrating Singapore's 51st birthday.

Apart from the athletics station, the festival also featured inflatable bungee basketball, floorball and traditional games like chapteh.

Among the estimated 18,000 people who attended yesterday's event was programme executive Tracy Tan, there with her mother, husband and two daughters.

Said the 32-year-old: "It brought the family closer, as it's been a while since we last played a game together. It is very important to have such activities in order to lead a healthy lifestyle."

The past nine days saw over half a million people participate in activities such as the Singapore National Games and ground-up initiatives under the Active Enabler programme. Sport Singapore chief executive officer Lim Teck Yin was heartened by the numbers.

He said: "The whole idea of GetActive! Singapore was to rally Singaporeans to come out and play, and to celerate National Day through sport and physical activity."

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on August 08, 2016, with the headline Active SG: Getting active to mark S'pore's 51st . Subscribe