Singapore’s only non-competitive walk in slippers returned to East Coast Park, Singapore for a third installation on Saturday 31 August 2013 to fundraise for the education of underprivileged kids in Singapore and Cambodia. More than 2,000 participants and volunteers turned up (in slippers!) to support the event, which raised in excess of SGD70,000 by the close of the event.
The Project Happy Feet Slipper Race is inspired by the many school children living in rural places in countries such as Cambodia who walk more than 3km to school either barefoot or in slippers – if there is a school within walking distance.
“By getting participants to walk a similar distance in slippers, we hope people will put themselves in the shoes (or slippers) of these children and do their part to contribute towards them having a chance at education,” says Deborah Chew, Director and Co-founder of non-profit organisation Project Happy Feet. Deborah was on stage to give a short address, where she extended sincere appreciation to HP Singapore, the Principal Partner for the event, Community Partner South East Community Development Council, and Youth Activist Young NTUC.
Deborah’s thank you words on stage were followed by a warm-up session led by celebrity trainer Jackson Tan from RISE. Jackson was accompanied by Team Singapore athletes: Gymnast Lim Heem Wei, Para-Equestrian Maximillian Tan, Shooter Jasmine Ser, and Hurdler Dipna Lim Prasad, who
For the first time in the history of the Slipper Race, the event was joined by Singapore’s national cheerleading team from Cheerleading Association (Singapore). The official cheerleaders for the Slipper Race not only wowed the audience with their routine (specially designed for the event), they also wrote a cheer just for Project Happy Feet.
With everyone pumped and ready to go, the Guest-of-Honour Dr Maliki Osman, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for National Development & Defence and Mayor, South East District climbed a podium and counting down from 3, blew an air-horn and flagged everyone off. Dr Maliki had supported the Slipper Race since its inception in 2011, and like the years before, he joined the walk with all the participants.
The participants – who were all decked up in different colours and wearing all sorts of slippers and armed with multi-coloured PHF balloons – were made up of individuals and groups from various corporate and non-profit organisations. The three largest groups this year were (3) Zonta Club of Singapore, (2) HP Singapore and (1) Knight Frank Singapore, all of whom were presented with an award for “Largest Participating Group”. This year, a special award was created to honour Standard Chartered Bank for supporting the event for three consecutive years.
En-route, participants were engaged in a treasure hunt where they could win themselves a pair of Crocs shoes if they found the winning coupon. They were also greeted by Woody the Cow from Ben & Jerry’s, and was even treated to cups of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream.
Upon their return, participants picked up their goodie bag with items sponsored by Ben & Jerry’s, Gardenia, Knight Frank, Kirei Kirei, I-Plus Lingzhi, Skinlab Medical Spa, SLT Well-care, BodyReveso, Origo Creation, Slimming 101 and Fesver Beauty. Inside each bag was also the 2013 limited edition HAPPY.
Across from the goodie bag tent was the Shop@PHF, which was abuzzed with people buying up special merchandise produced by Project Happy Feet. These included notebooks, button badges, stickers, Tshirts, and more. The 2013 Limited Edition PHF Slipper Race Lolly Mix pack produced and donated by LollyTalk was also on sale. Demand was high and some of the items were quickly sold out.
For the first time at a Slipper Race, was a Happy Zone presented by Crocs Singapore. The zone not only had a Crocs Care corner for people to drop off their pre-loved Crocs, but also two interactive games – Hit the Poverty Monster and Memory game, where patrons could win for themselves Crocs premiums.
Meanwhile, talented musicians took to the stage and took turns to entertain the participants. These included Marcel Lee Pereira, Elaine Lam, Jessica Irawan, Li-ONN, Aaron Lim – all of whom are vocals from ‘Tomorrow’, the PHFSR theme song produced by Intune Music; and Daniel Ong and friends from Music Box.
As the event drew to a close, the 541 volunteers coming from schools, corporate organisations and the public, helped to clear up the event space so the organisers can hand a clean and green field back to official venue sponsor NParks on Monday. Everyone had a great day, knowing that they played a part in helping raise funds for underprivileged kids in Singapore and Cambodia.
Beneficiaries for this year’s event are This Life Cambodia (based in Siem Reap, Cambodia), as well as Compassion Found and the Special Education Financial Assistance Scheme by Community Chest, both based in Singapore. In accordance with regulations, funds raised will be split three ways: 40% to each of the two Singaporean organisations and 20% to This Life Cambodia.
The Project Happy Feet Slipper Race is organised entirely by volunteers so that 100% of funds collected from registration fees, spill-over sponsorship and outright donations can go directly to the beneficiaries. Public can continue to donate to the cause through the event website www.phfslipperrace.org. The fund-raising period ends on 20 October 2013.
