Refreshed President’s Challenge to nurture arts and sporting talents, give up to 5 years’ funding for projects
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President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and his spouse, Ms Jane Ittogi, with boccia players during the launch of the refreshed President's Challenge at Delta Sports Hall on Sept 4.
ST PHOTO: ARIFFIN JAMAR
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SINGAPORE - Talents in the arts and sports, which President Tharman Shanmugaratnam described as areas in which success “depends greatly on chances and even surprises”, will get a leg-up under a refreshed President’s Challenge.
Charities will also be getting up to five years’ funding at a time from the President’s Challenge, instead of the current one year’s worth, to help them make a bigger impact. This is part of a move to focus on longer-term rather than one-off funding.
Launching the refreshed President’s Challenge on Sept 4 at Delta Sport Centre, Mr Tharman said the funding changes will give charities time to build their capabilities and scale up social innovations. They will get mentoring and guidance to do this, he added.
“Its basic aim, going beyond immediate needs, will be to achieve sustained social impact: by uplifting aspirations and potential, especially amongst those who start with greater odds,” he said of the refreshed movement.
On nurturing potential in the arts and sports, Mr Tharman spoke of how many of Singapore’s best talents “first stumbled upon something by chance, discovered they could be good at it and got some joy out of it, and then spent years developing themselves in the art or sport”.
“We want to widen those chances and opportunities for every talent to be discovered, and help them sustain their development over the years,” said the President, himself an avid sportsman in his youth.
He gave the example of para-archer Nur Syahidah Alim, who was born with diplegia and exempted from physical education in school. At age 18, she discovered archery by chance after attending an event by the Singapore Disability Sports Council (SDSC).
Mr Tharman added that the President’s Challenge will work to nurture such talents, especially among the less advantaged, as well as to enable budding talents to sustain their development.
The focus on sports also aims to thicken the pipeline of future talents, including by supporting Sport Singapore’s partnerships with schools, he said.
New President’s Challenge fellowships will also aim to develop young civic leaders – for instance, fresh graduates looking to work in the social, sports or arts sectors – and give second chances to former offenders.
Mr Tharman cited the example of former offender Robin Tay, who had completed only his PSLE.
He had been in and out of detention barracks and prison six times by the age of 18, and then served another 12 years behind bars. Now 48, he holds a master’s in counselling and counsels inmates and at-risk youth in prisons and schools.
Making reference to the Forward Singapore movement
Para swimmer Colin Soon, who is visually impaired, said his mother enrolled him in swimming lessons to learn water safety, after he fell into a pool when he was three.
The 19-year-old has since clinched multiple medals at the Asean Para Games.
Speaking to The Straits Times at the launch of the refreshed President’s Challenge on Sept 4, he said people with disabilities should be given more exposure to sports.
“Sometimes they might not know that they have an interest in these sports, and it’s a bit hard to get in because it’s not broadly advertised as something you could pursue,” he said.
“So there’s a lot of potential missed opportunities for these people who don’t take the first plunge into the sport, and realise that they really like it.”
SDSC vice-president James Chia said his organisation has limited funding for fundraising and community outreach, and the President’s Challenge funding helps hire staff to do these.
“Our staff can also be freed up to focus on more core activities, to put in more resources to support our athletes, so that they can actually perform better in competitions,” he added.
Under the refreshed President’s Challenge, projects with potential that need support to grow further can get up to three years’ funding, while projects that have made an impact and can be scaled up and be self-sustaining can get up to five years’ funding.
The 2025 grant call will be open for applications from Sept 19 to Nov 22 on the President’s Challenge website.
