1,500 students recognised at Kindness Awards
Concerned about the lack of awareness of dementia among Singaporeans, Cadburina Ng, 15, and her fellow cadets from Red Cross Youth initiated a campaign to de-stigmatise the condition.
During the five-month-long campaign called The Silver Project, they designed and distributed 200 bookmarks, which debunked myths about dementia, to the public.
They also created sensory kits - boxes containing spices such as cloves and cinnamon - and wooden jigsaw puzzles for dementia patients at Ci Yuan Silver Circle Senior Care Centre.
Cadburina and her fellow cadets were among the 1,494 awardees from primary, secondary and special schools at the Kindness Awards 2017 held at Our Tampines Hub yesterday by the Singapore Kindness Movement.
Over the past five months, these students developed projects to promote kindness and graciousness within their schools and the community.
Cadburina said: "When we learnt about the stigma against dementia, we realised we had to play a part to help the elderly because we will grow old and be in their shoes one day."
Minister for Environment and Water Resources Masagos Zulkifli, who was at the event, said: "Education goes beyond tangible academic results. We must ensure that young Singaporeans are imbued with the right values, moral integrity and kindness while growing up."
Cadburina added: "We feel honoured to receive this award and also a sense of accomplishment for being able to help the elderly."
Tan En, 11, was another award winner yesterday.
Together with seven schoolmates, the Bedok Green Primary School pupil led a Hansel and Gretel-inspired kindness campaign to encourage their fellow schoolmates to do kind deeds.
They created a candy house wall mural where students pasted well wishes for their friends as well as appreciation notes for teachers and non-teaching staff.
Tan En said: "We hope to show our friends the importance of being kind and how they can sweeten a person's day with a kind act."
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