Posts filed under 'Celebrations'
Contributed by: Joan Ow Hui Chen
This year, a total of 507 outstanding young men and women received their Gold Award, the pinnacle of the NYAA Programme. An Award Presentation Ceremony was held on 2 October 2009 at Temasek Polytechnic Convention Centre, which was graced by His Excellency President SR Nathan. The ceremony was attended by more than 800 invited guests, which included Mr Mah Bow Tan, Minister for National Development and Chairman, NYAA Advisory Board, foreign ambassadors, corporate and community leaders, principals and heads of organisations, parents and members of the NYAA Gold Award Holders’ Alumni.
It was my first time helping out at the NYAA Gold Award Presentation Ceremony and being the biggest award ceremony ever, it was a totally new experience. I was assigned to be the recipients usher, where I would lead the recipients to the stage to collect their award. Along the way, the recipients were all very anxious and were trying to rehearse every single step that they should do on the stage, such as shaking hands with the President, receiving the award and smiling to the cameras! Seeing the recipients anxiously rehearsing the steps, asking lots of questions on where they should stand and how they should bow, these reminded me of how I was when I received the Award!
After 18 months of hard work, the fruit of labour were reaped. To stand on stage and receive the NYAA Gold Award from President SR Nathan was what everyone had been looking forward to. The NYAA journey has definitely shaped many of us into a better person; letting us know our strengths and weaknesses and allow us to give back to the society in different ways.
Two Award holders had the honour of sharing the experiences that they have gained through the NYAA Programme. They were Mr Randall Ong, 2009 Gold Award recipient, Temasek Polytechnic and Ms Patricia Chia, member of the NYAA Gold Award Holders’ Alumni. Both of them gave passionate and humbling speeches on how the NYAA had shaped their life and allowed them to contribute back to the society. I believe almost all recipients would agree with both of the speakers that the NYAA Programme has indeed provided many opportunities for youths to explore themselves in greater depth.
Getting the Gold Award is not the end but a beginning of a new chapter. Like the GAHA motto, “Service beyond Gold” we would like to encourage all the Gold Award Holders not to stop here but to continue contributing to the community together with other passionate and like-minded young people who are eager to make a difference.
The 9th NYAA Gold Award Presentation Ceremony was indeed a meaningful and memorable event that had not only recognised the achievements of youths from diverse backgrounds, but also showed the continuous effort of youths striving together to build a better community.
October 10th, 2009
The GAHA Orientation is the main project GAHA embarks on each year, to welcome our new batch of Gold Award recipients. I was given the opportunity to head this project with Gary, one of the GAHA Executive Committee members and working together with a team of friends from GAHA. This year, 99 Gold Award recipients participated in the event held at Temasek Polytechnic on Saturday, 26 September.
Mr James Soh, Executive Director of NYAA Council delivered the opening address, followed by Mr Terence Chia, Chairman of GAHA who introduced about GAHA and shared with our new GAHA members the various projects that GAHA has been involved in.
The main focus of this year’s orientation programme is mainly on engaging our new members, to allow them to understand more about GAHA, emphasizing on our organisation’s motto ‘Service beyond Gold’ and in addition, providing them with opportunities to work with GAHA for future projects in the areas of Environment, Youth and Elderly and International Youth Programmes.
Ice breaker games were planned for the new batch of GAHA members to interact with each other. At the end of the day, what we hope for is that the new batch of GAHA members will remember the friendship that they had built and continue to keep in contact with one another, exploring the possibilities of future collaboration in community projects.
Interacting with a few new GAHA members, it reminded me of the time when I first received my Gold Award and joined GAHA. It was exciting and fulfilling to work on the various projects like the Boys’ Home Mentoring Programme and PACT (Promise to Act against Climate Change Threat) with other GAHA members. Regardless of age and other differences, we have a common goal that is to continue to contribute back to society and implement these projects to benefit the whole community. We work together to achieve this goal and in the process, we get to learn from each other and broaden our horizons. These invaluable skills like leadership skills, communication skills and teamwork which I pick up allow me to work effectively with others and give me ample preparation for work in future. These are definitely not taught in textbooks but only through experiential learning.
“The orientation was short, but it was a fun, enjoyable and beneficial one. The people I’ve met are all motivated and passionate individuals. I have also gained a better understanding of what GAHA is and what GAHA does.”
- Yap Jia Wei, GAHA 2009
Some thoughts shared by the organising team:
“Working together with like-minded people in organising this project is a whole new experience for me. From being a participant in the GAHA orientation 2 years ago to organising this project this year, it is a refreshing experience as I see the whole orientation from a different perspective. It is definitely satisfying to see youth actively contributing to our community and emerging as youth leaders. I hope we can keep in touch and see one another again in future GAHA events.”
- Soh Seow Fong, GAHA 2007
“This year, the orientation is organised and we managed to have group consolidation at the end of the programme. I hope that there will be continuity, for our new batch of GAHA members to organise an event together and recruiting them into our current ongoing projects.
- Mark Cheng, GAHA 2007
Last but not least, I’d like to congratulate our new batch of Gold Award recipients on attaining the National Youth Achievement Gold Award. We welcome you to our GAHA family and look forward to working with all of you in future GAHA projects!
October 10th, 2009
by Charles Phua and Ong Ying Shya
The 8th NYAA Gold Award Presentation Ceremony was held on Friday, 3 October 2008, at the ITE College East Auditorium at 3.00pm. President S R Nathan graced the event as Guest-of-Honour and presented the NYAA Gold Award to 168 recipients. The ceremony was hosted by Mr Zainudin Nordin, Mayor, Central Singapore District and member of the NYAA Advisory Board. Close to 800 Dignitaries, Members of Parliament, Guests, Parents, Teachers and recipients attended the ceremony.
Welcoming the President was a group of NYAA Gold Awardees from the ITE College East, whose booming overtures gave the event a rousing start. Master of Ceremony William Xavier, volunteered his services once again for the event, seamlessly blended regal recitations with witty retorts. Commending the award recipients for their hard work and accomplishments, Mayor Zainudin Nordin, in the Opening Address, also reminded the recipients that there were opportunities for them to serve beyond Gold. Citing two examples of Gold Award Holders – Mr Ong Chee Siang and Ms Regina Oon – he stressed that the NYAA programme provided a level playing field for all regardless of their backgrounds. The audience was then given a glimpse of the activities and achievements of the Gold Award recipients through a short video. After which, the President handed the Gold Awards to 168 recipients from a swathe of backgrounds, ranging from ITE to the Singapore Police Force.
Two award holders had the honour of sharing their experiences that they have gained through this youth programme. They were Mr Mohamed Ashraf Bin Abu Bakar, 2008 Gold Award recipient, ITE College East and Mr Ramanathan Thurairajoo, NYAA Gold Award Holders’ Alumni Executive Committee Member. Both gave passionate and humbling speeches on how the NYAA had changed their lives and allowed them to serve the community.
The 8th NYAA Gold Award Ceremony in 2008 was a meaningful and memorable event that had not only recognised the achievements of youths from diverse backgrounds, but also shown the continuous effort of youths striving together to build a better community.
November 13th, 2008
Dear Vintages of GAHA,
How time flies. We are already into the second half of the year! There have been a whirlwind of activities on all fronts: regular health walks for the elderly, mentoring of youths at the Boys’ Home; exchanges with countries like Hong Kong and Russia; conferences at the regional, ASEAN, Commonwealth and UN level; talks and programmes for youths in schools; environmental forums; photography events and more. And for each event, GAHA members have came forward to lead, to serve and contribute in diverse ways. For instance, GAHA was involved in the inaugural ASEAN+3 Youth Festival – key members of the Organising Committee, delegates, liaison officers, facilitators and volunteers were from GAHA. And in the pipeline, we have more exciting programmes lined up including plans in support of the 2010 Youth Olympic Games!
GAHA members also shared their rich and varied experiences with other young people. GAHA members were invited to speak at various events this year including the Asian Young Leaders Forum in Jurong Junior College (Mar 2008), the North Vista Secondary School Prefects’ Investiture Ceremony (Apr 2008), MOE’s CIP seminar (Jun 2008), the Nanyang Girls’ High School Affective Education Seminar (Jun 2008), the Student Network Forum (Jul 2008 - as a panellist together with Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports) and more. As GAHA grows, so will the invitations and opportunities to share. If any of you receive invitations to speak in your capacity as a GAHA member, do keep us posted at info[a.t]nyaagaha.org so that we can coordinate our responses collectively as GAHA.
But all volunteering and no food make GAHA a stick in the mud. There were informal meet-ups with many of you over coffee and tea to chat and find out more about your interests and passions. We hope to continue with more of such social interactions to bring GAHA members closer together. Let us know at info[a.t]nyaagaha.org if you are interested in joining the fun or even helping to organise!
Cliff Koh
Deputy Chairman (2007/09)
GAHA @ NYAA
September 4th, 2008
Every second Monday in March, we celebrate Commonwealth Day. As a
citizen of the Commonwealth, this is a good time and opportunity to
think about what the Commonwealth means to you. To encourage this
process, two competitions are being organised in the coming months:
(i) A Commonwealth-wide Logo Design Competition is being organised by
the Government of Sri Lanka, for the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Ministers
Meeting to be held in Sri Lanka in April. More information about the
competition is available at:
http://www.thecommonwealth.org/news/152865/175044/060208art.htm
(ii) A National Website Design Competition has been organised by the
NYAA Council, with the support of the British High Commission in
Singapore, to mark Commonwealth Day. More information about the
competition is available in the accompanying attachment.
If you are interested in participating in either/both of the above
competitions, please email Natalie (natalie.morris[ at ]gmail.com).
The Commonwealth, at their meetings, and in their institutional
set-ups, places great importance on youth participation and youth
views, so you can be sure that the following competitions are not ends
in themselves, but are avenues for your much desired input into the
Commonwealth youth process!
February 15th, 2008
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