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ChildAid to be First Event Staged at Resorts World at Sentosa

Travel News Asia Latest Travel News Podcasts Wednesday, 15 July 2009

ChildAid, a charity concert organised by The Straits Times and The Business Times in Singapore, will become the first major event to be staged at  Resorts World at Sentosa when it takes place on 19 and 21 December 2009.

The concert, which is celebrating its fifth anniversary this year, showcases the best of Singapore's young musical talents in support of two charities – The ST School Pocket Money Fund and The BT Budding Artists Fund.

ChildAid organising chairman, Mr Peter Khoo, said, “The economic recession has led to a rise in the number of children who need help to pay for a meal in school or to continue their artistic pursuits. Thus, we are extremely grateful to Resorts World at Sentosa for giving us this honour, which we believe will boost fund-raising efforts. Their decision also benefits Singapore's young musical talents for they will be creating history by being the first to perform at the Resort.”

Mr Han Fook Kwang, Editor of The Straits Times, said that the number of student beneficiaries on The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund had risen by about 40% since last year.

The ST School Pocket Money Fund helps around 11,000 needy children pay for a meal during recess or transport to school. It will require $5.7 million this year – the highest it has had to raise since its inception in 2000.

Mr Han said, “Our tie-up with Resorts World at Sentosa will bolster ChildAid's ambition to raise money for needy children and showcase the many talented youths here.

“We are determined to do our utmost to help the many children affected by the economic downturn.”

Mr Alvin Tay, Editor of The Business Times, said that ChildAid talents also serve as good role models.
Mr Tay said, “Singapore has many outstanding young musicians who want to help. They motivate the many children we support at the BT Budding Artists Fund.”

The BT Budding Artists Fund, initiated by The Old Parliament House Limited and adopted by The Business Times in 2005, aims to give underprivileged children a chance to nurture their artistic talents, be it in art or music.

ChildAid 2009 will be staged at Festive Grand, Resorts World at Sentosa’s very own theatre which can seat up to 1,600 people.

Festive Grand, which will host Resorts World at Sentosa's resident musical extravaganza Voyage de la Vie, is just one of the many attractions found within Singapore’s only island integrated resort.

Owned by Genting Singapore, the Sin$6.59-billion venture will include South-East Asia’s first and only Universal Studios theme park, the world’s largest oceanarium, six hotels, a casino, and a host of other entertainment options.

Ms Andrea Teo, Vice President of Entertainment for Resorts World at Sentosa said, “Besides being the first event at Resorts World at Sentosa, we will be dedicating our expertise and experience in the field of stage production, choreography amongst many other things.”

“The talents on display for previous ChildAid concerts were tremendous. We want to build on that success and ChildAid 2009 held at Festive Grand is going to present these talents on a grander and even larger scale.”

Ms Teo, a former Executive Producer and Director of television sitcoms such as Under One Roof, Phua Chu Kang and Happy Belly, will also be part of the ChildAid producing team, together with Mary Loh and Jason Ramsburg from the Resorts World entertainment team, Arts House general manager Colin Goh and reknowned musican Iskandar Ismail.

“Resorts World at Sentosa is not scheduled to open until early next year, but when SPH approached us with the opportunity to contribute to the cause, our different teams, ranging from Projects to Entertainment and Traffic, sat down and decided that we will pull all stops to make this happen. ChildAid will be the inaugural show in Resorts World, and the first performance that we will raise our curtains for at our Festive Grand theatre,’’ Ms Teo added.

Resorts World at Sentosa is on-track for its early 2010 soft opening, which will include Universal Studios Singapore, four hotels, part of FestiveWalk and the casino.

As in previous years, The Straits Times and The Business Times will be conducting a nationwide search for talents. Those who wish to audition must be Singapore residents and not older than 19 years of age.

ChildAid artistic director Mr Iskandar Ismail, who is last year's Cultural Medallion recipient, “Many ChildAid performers of the past have gone on to bigger things. Our search for the best fresh talent in Singapore begins today. So do write to us for an audition.''

He cited the opening ceremony of the Asian Youth Games as an example. “Three of the vocalists who performed at the Asian Youth Games opening ceremony came from ChildAid,” said Mr Ismail.

Teenagers Amni Musfirah, Lian Kim Selby and Nathan Hartono performed in ChildAid before being picked up by Asian Youth Games organisers.

It was the same for soprano Janani Sridhar, who performed at the first ChildAid concert in 2005. The 19-year-old sang the national anthem at last year's Singapore Formula One race.

The first three performers confirmed for ChildAid 2009 are 15-year-old singer Amni from School of the Arts as well as drummers Zidann Zalizann, 8, from Greenridge Primary School, and Aaron Lee, 13, from Queensway Secondary School.

“As this is the fifth anniversary of ChildAid, we wanted to bring back the best of the talent we have put on show before,” said Mr Ismail. “Amni, Zidann and Aaron were outstanding in last year’s sell-out show.”

Interested in Auditioning for ChildAid 2009? See: Audition for ChildAid 2009

ChildAid 2009 is seeking sponsors to help its charities. There are four sponsorship tiers – Diamond ($200,000 and above) Platinum ($100,000 $199,999) Gold ($50,000-$99,999) Silver ($30,000-$49,999) and Bronze ($10,000-$29,999).

See other recent news regarding: Travel News Asia, ChildAid, Singapore, Sentosa

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