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GetActive! Singapore programme draws 800,000

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2018 edition featured more than 300 activities, including pillow flights

More Singaporeans have heeded the call of the GetActive! Singapore programme this year with over 800,000 people taking part over 11 days, up from 680,000 last year.

The third edition of the annual event featured more than 300 activities and 12 sports festivals, with activities ranging from conventional sports to competitive pillow fights.

As part of the finale for GetActive! Singapore, some 3,000 pre-schoolers turned out for a sports day at the National Stadium yesterday. They tackled simple obstacle courses and tried out children-sized yoga, among other activities.

Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Grace Fu was the guest of honour and joined the children for the group workout, which was choreographed to this year's National Day theme song, an updated version of the 1987 classic We Are Singapore.

"We want our children to have a strong foundation so they can reach out for the world and be the best they can be.

"And for them to do that, we need them to grow up physically and mentally strong. Sports and exercising are great ways to do that," she said.

HELP

Singaporeans have also been getting more active when it comes to helping their neighbours under the Active Enabler Programme, which this year saw close to 90 per cent of its community activities featuring a charity component.

One such event saw more than 6,500 participants run 700-metre laps around the perimeter of the Chinese Garden, with each lap contributing a household product furnished by corporate partners for underprivileged families in the area.

It was organised by the Taman Jurong Zone B Residents' Committee Youth Chapter.

Said its chairman Caleb Lee, 24: "We went door-to-door to reach out to residents and what was really surprising was some of them asked us if they could volunteer as well and support the event in their own way."

The biennial Singapore National Games saw more than 15,000 sign-ups this year across 23 sports including nine para-sports, with $250,000 in prize money on offer.

Both the sign-ups and prize purse are the highest since the Games was introduced in 2014.

The festival line-up this year included the inaugural YouthX - an umbrella event for three youth festivals - and the Inclusive Sports Festival, which offered people the opportunity to step into the shoes of a para-athlete through sports tryouts.

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