Dream Big, Dream Often: A Children's Day Event at Angsana College

By Lim Xiao Qi

Year 1, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences


The primary students with the University's mascot LiNUS

When did you last celebrate Children's Day? Children's Day may seem like a distant memory for many of us, but for a group of 17 students at Angsana College, it was celebrated a couple of days ago. On 4 October 2012, 85 low-income Primary 5 students from Farrer Park Primary School and the group of 17 volunteers had gathered at Angsana College for a sui generis Children's Day event.

The group of boisterous students from Farrer Park Primary arrived at Angsana College in the morning. The students, already divided into their different groups, were first greeted by the affable volunteers for each group, and then brought to Angsana College's dining hall. The event commenced with a welcome speech by Zul Hakim, President of the 1st College Student Committee (CSC), followed by a palatable breakfast prepared by the College's dining staff. Notably, every breakfast set was made possible by Angsanians pledging their breakfast tokens for the children. These Angsanians also penned a personalised message for every child whose breakfast they had sponsored to motivate them to work assiduously towards their goals. The kindness of these Angsanians is greatly appreciated, and no doubt, the sight of the children enjoying their breakfast would imbue their hearts with warmth and joy.

After the delectable breakfast, the different groups were brought on a tour around University Town (UTown). The highlights of the tour included town green, town plaza, the Education Resource Centre (ERC) Starbucks and Mac and PC Commons, UTown Residences and Cinnamon and Tembusu Colleges. Throughout the tour, some of the trivia of UTown were shared. The children were astonished, for instance, to find out that the ERC Starbucks is Singapore's largest Starbucks in terms of seating capacity. In general, the children were impressed by the inimitable environment UTown provides for studying, recreation and living. It was, and still remains, our hope that the children's favourable impression of UTown will encourage them to dream of having a university education and to work pertinaciously towards that goal.

The students were brought back to the auditorium at Angsana College after their short tour around UTown. To illustrate the vibrancy of university life, videos on Rag Day and Tembusu College were screened. In addition, there was a sharing session by two students at Angsana College, Jacqueline Woo and Isaac Lim. Their unwavering determination to confront all the impediments they faced in life and to make it to university should not only be extolled, but also be a source of inspiration for all of us. At times, the way ahead may seem daunting, but let us remember these positive examples, and never lose sight of our destination in spite of the arduous journey.

The event ended on a happy note, with a quiz and lucky draw which saw the children participating with great verve, clamouring for themselves to be chosen. Clearly, the children had revelled in the Children's Day event, and we hope they will not forget the enjoyment they had and more importantly, the lessons they learnt and the dreams they have.

As much as the event was for the children, it was also for us to draw inspiration and learn from. For many, children have a certain je ne sais quoi which tugs at the heartstrings. The ebullience they have and the genuine joy they feel not just for themselves but others as well seem to serve as a foil for the banalities and the occasional falsity of adult life. During the transition to adulthood, maybe we should pause and cogitate about what we have lost, and what is not worth losing. At the end of the day, let us all remember this quote by Eleanor Roosevelt, "The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams." May the pulchritude of our dreams always remain with us.