Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen
A very good evening to everyone!
It gives me great pleasure to welcome all of you this evening to FunTasia – an event organized for the community in conjunction with Tote Board’s 20th Anniversary and Singapore Pool’s 40th Anniversary. I am very honoured to have Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Minister for Finance, to be our Guest-of-Honour. I am also delighted that Ms Grace Fu, Senior Minister of State for National Development and Education is here for this event.
Looking Back
The Tote Board has come a long way since 1988 when it was established and was tasked with managing and distributing the surpluses of the Singapore Turf Club towards good cause programmes and activities. In May 2004, Singapore Pools became part of the Board – a move that saw the consolidation of all donation activities at the Board.
Over the past 40 years, Tote Board together with Singapore Pools and Singapore Turf Club have been supporting worthy causes in the six sectors of Arts & Culture, Charity, Community Development, Education, Health and Sports.
Tote Board has funded a diverse range of big and small programmes such as the computer programme for schools, national health screening programmes, funding strategic and critical services for the social service sector, building and renovating of community centres, National Day Parade and President’s Challenge, to name just a few.
Of course, the list of beneficiaries also includes the Singapore Chinese Orchestra, our anchor performer for this evening, as well as the Chinese Theatre Circle, Bhaskar’s Arts Academy, the Sri Warisan Som Said Performing Arts, Voice Association, the Finger Players, MINDS and Yong Siew Toh Conservatory who are all here this evening at the Chinese Garden to perform for
the community and to showcase their artistic talents.
Going Forward
I am also pleased to announce that we have a new logo and corporate identity since 1 April 2008. Our new motto, ‘Giving Hope, Improving Lives’ together with our Smile graphic signify the caring aspect of the Tote Board and the joy and happiness which we hope to bring to people’s lives. The blue colour stands for professionalism and trustworthiness while the orange
represents warmth and humanity.
With the new corporate identity, it is our goal to take a more proactive approach to identify new areas that need our support. We will also continue to fund infrastructures and activities that will make for a stronger and better Singapore; and to work closely with our beneficiaries to develop high-quality programmes and activities that will benefit all segments of our community.
Our 40 years of giving would not have been possible without the support of our beneficiaries, volunteers, customers, business partners, friends, stakeholders and in particular our staff in the Tote Board, Singapore Pools and Singapore Turf Club. FunTasia is an opportunity for us to say a big thank you to all of you.
I must also thank our friends from the trade unions, People’s Association, Jurong Town Corporation, PUB, S.League Football Clubs, Photographic Society of Singapore, Girl Guides of Singapore, Singapore Scout Association, Opera Asia, the NUSS Choir, Singapore Association of the Visually Handicapped, Viriya Community Service, Republic Polytechnic, and the many artists and volunteers for helping us to stage this community event. I would also like to acknowledge and thank the following commercial organizations that are supporting this event - Khong Guan, Nestle, Tong Garden, Yeo Hiap Seng, Pere Ocean, Gold Kili, Mentos, Wanin Industry Pte Ltd and Hup Seng Singapore. Last but not least, my deep appreciation to the many staff from the Tote Board Group who had worked tirelessly for this event. The success of this event judging from the huge
crowd that is here could not have been possible without your support.
Thank you and have a most pleasant and enjoyable evening. Thank you. |
