CS2023: The Young Artist Behind The Design

Palette to mix and match

As Club Rainbow’s very own young artist, Jonas has drawn many pieces of artwork and created figures using clays during his free time. Artworks Jonas and his brothers, Lucas and Titus have created over the years have added more colours and uniqueness to the house. As much as he loves all his artworks, names were made for some of his artworks such as a sunflower clay he created. According to his mother, the first piece of artwork created by Jonas was at the age of four and he has been constantly creating pieces of art since then.

Jonas managed to have his artworks exhibited in an exhibition through his school. Not just that, he was also featured in a lifestyle magazine for his artwork. Happiness was reflected on Jonas’ mum’s face as she shared about his achievements and milestones. As the artist of the design that was printed on Travel 2.0: The Travel Organiser, Jonas is the first person to unbox it (Catch the release of the video on Club Rainbow’s Youtube Channel!). The Travel Organiser is a 6-piece set that comes in grey with the design printed in yellow. The designs are small icons Jonas created, including earth, flowers, a blue recycle bin, trees, etc.

Being a recipient of the CRS Talent Development Fund (TDF), Jonas was offered the opportunity to discover his abilities and gradually develop his skills throughout his journey with CRS, attaining accomplishments in the Arts. The fund supports art workshops, and programmes, giving him the lead in assignment opportunities.

For more details on Travel 2.0: The Travel Organiser, visit our Charity Merchandise page.

A son's first hero

Featuring 2022 Exemplary Caregiver Awardee, Mr Gan Keng Aik

Mr Gan, the father of Aloysius Gan, 16, has been awarded the Exemplary Caregiver Award for his efforts in taking care of Aloysius. Mr Gan currently works in physical security at the management level, overseeing the company operations while juggling his responsibilities with his son.

Aloysius, who attends a special needs school, was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at birth. Due to his condition, Aloysius uses a wheelchair and does not have clear speech. But while his motor skills are affected, resulting in reduced finesse in his hands and fingers, Aloysius can independently handle basic tasks in his daily life.

Just like any child, Aloysius’ daily routine revolves around waking up and going to school. Typically, his mother would send him to school and when Mr Gan gets to go into the office later, he spends his morning sending Aloysius to school. In the afternoon, Aloysius’ mum picks him up and sends him to Boccia training until the evening when he will return home for dinner and homework before going to bed. Admirably, Aloysius’ condition has hardly gotten the better of him and against the odds, he has succeeded in representing Singapore on the national team for Boccia and is a Gold medallist in the recent ASEAN Para Games and Asian Youth Para Games.

When Mr Gan takes care of Aloysius, he mentions that one of the most challenging times was the preparation for Aloysius’ Primary School Leaving Exam (PSLE). While his condition does not impact his IQ, Aloysius takes a longer time to grasp concepts and requires lots of practice papers. It was a tedious and repetitive process as Mr Gan had to go through a concept many times. Fortunately, Mr Gan and his wife divide and conquer as they split tasks to efficiently help Aloysius; Aloysius’ mother tackles Mathematics and English while Mr Gan teaches Science. Due to his condition, Aloysius cannot write and has to use a special keyboard that significantly slows him down, warranting almost double the time for each exam paper.

While it can get arduous at times, Mr Gan shares that the most important aspect of caring for Aloysius is finding out how to nurture and mentor him to inculcate the right attitude toward life; to ensure Aloysius has resilience and determination such that despite other people viewing him differently, he can nonetheless rise above it and accomplish his goals. Whether Aloysius succeeds or fails at doing something, Mr Gan always encourages Aloysius. He commends him or motivates him to try again so that Aloysius learns and grows from his experiences.

As a father holding a full-time job, Mr Gan may need to travel overseas for work once every 1 or 2 months. However, he finds that there is always a choice in life and does not feel stressed or burdened to take care of Aloysius. Although Mr Gan may be busy, he actively spends time with his family when he is off work or entire Saturdays with Aloysius in Boccia training. Whether it is family, friends or hobbies, he believes it is a personal preference to choose how time is spent and he chooses his family. Mr Gan feels the most joy when he bonds with Aloysius. Going overseas for competitions allows him to spend quality father-son time with Aloysius. Some of the most meaningful experiences Mr Gan holds dear include the adventure and little moments he shares with his son because whether it is victory or defeat, he sticks by his son. They will win, lose, suffer and share the glory together.

To him, it is the journey that counts, not the destination.

Thanks to Club Rainbow’s support, Aloysius has been receiving funding through the Talent Development Fund (TDF) over the last few years, enabling them to purchase better Boccia equipment and balls for training and competitions that boost Aloysius’ gameplay.

Lastly, Mr Gan wants to tell the world that whether it is cerebral palsy or other illnesses, it remains up to the individual to decide what it means for their life. With the support of family and friends, any child can realise their dream and not let their condition limit them. Mr Gan believes that everyone has the right to chase their dream and live a fulfilled life.

Among other competitions, Aloysius will be playing for Singapore in the 2023 ASEAN Para Games. We wish the father-son duo the best of luck and hope that you can share their story with your friends and family to raise awareness and support them in their journey.

Written by: HCI Project Butterfly Effect
Edited by: Club Rainbow (Singapore)

Dreaming The Future!

1, 2, 3! and we are in 2023!

In a blink of an eye, we have concluded our 30th-anniversary celebrations with three cheers! Hooray!

Looking back over three decades, we have served numerous children with chronic illnesses and their families. Some of who have made a tremendous breakthrough and become independent, active contributors to the community whilst co-existing with lifelong illnesses. Others have gone before us, having loved ones work through grief and loss workshops with the support of Club Rainbow’s dedicated team of social workers.

From caring for the beneficiaries’ well-being and basic needs to ensuring the deliverance of relevant services based on curated individualised care plans, we see harmonious collaboration between caregivers, social workers and supporting partners. Last year, we welcomed the opening of Sandbox where the heart of creativity, confidence and talents are discovered and nurtured through various programmes held at the centre. Believing in equal opportunities for beneficiaries with medical conditions or developmental issues, the launch of the early childhood programme prepares children for school in areas like reading, writing, etc. The programme embodies our values of respect and resilience, providing a sense of belonging for the beneficiaries all while preparing the children for compulsory education. It ran its first intake in January 2022 and is in its 3rd run this year.

Before the yearend, we introduced a new 3-part series programme under Vocational Development, Bake under the Rainbow. The new initiative covered the basics from Food Safety, Baking sessions to the Bake Sale. The first run of the bake sale was in conjunction with Ride For Rainbows 2022 and the 30th Anniversary Birthday Bash at the Marina Barrage.

Truly this is the ecosystem we want for the children and their families. Dreaming the future with a network of support from the community who comes together as donors, volunteers, partners and corporate to pull resources from various aspects to engage with the beneficiaries and their families.

We have come this far, so what’s next?

Look out for

• New charity merchandise coming in Q2 2023!
• Pre-order of patisserie by our very own caregivers.
• More events coming back, and more volunteer opportunities!
• And what is #CRSUnited? Find out in our next news scoop!

To support our initiatives, begin your journey with us by contacting us via contact@clubrainbow.org.

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Charting the Course Through Creativity

by Rachel Kok Chian Yee, Content Contributor

As our beneficiaries enter their teenage years, it is exciting to watch them develop their means of self-expression and their aspirations for the future. 17-year-old Kai Ann has found his calling in creative work and is especially intrigued by the design process of animation films. Similarly, 13-year-old Lisa has developed an interest in design, but while Kai Ann is considering undertaking a college-level course in design animation, Lisa hopes to learn more about the mechanics of mobile games.

Both Kai Ann and Lisa share a gift in creating artistic presentations through the Microsoft PowerPoint application. For Kai Ann, this skill was honed in secondary school, where he started converting the learning notes provided by his teachers to presentation slides to expedite his revision processes. Thereafter, he began to explore the use of PowerPoint in creating digital art. He has used his expertise to create ZOOM backgrounds for his online classes and notes for religious purposes.

“PowerPoint has a lot of stock images, and I like to design images and put them together to create something very beautiful,” he told us. “I find beautiful images very motiva[ting], and I feel very fulfilled when I can help my friends convert their notes to soft copy too. I’m very interested in designing things, [especially] when I get to activate my design knowledge to create useful [content].” - Kai Ann

At the same time, Lisa enjoys her Info-Comm Technology (ICT) classes in school, where she has performed spectacularly in her software-related assignments. In an interview with Lisa and her mother, they shared that Lisa was particularly adept in using PowerPoint slides, where she designed a presentation deck on her pet dog, Angel, and her process of training her pet, to be presented in class. This process was enhanced by her keen interest in cameras and photography, where she has recently become a member of her school’s Media Club.

Beyond learning how to use the Microsoft applications, the two continue to cultivate their creative interests beyond the academic realm. As part of a project for his co-curricular activity (CCA), Kai Ann started to examine the use of mobile applications such as CapCut to create and edit video skits, a skill he hopes to further develop as a church volunteer. This self-teaching process has been facilitated by the accessibility of video editing tutorials on Youtube, which has also become his primary source of inspiration. Given his interests, Kai Ann’s school career counsellor has recommended him to enrol in a polytechnic diploma course in design animation upon graduation.

“I am very interested to learn how to sketch and combine images of cartoon characters in different motions,” he explained, “watching animation films has inspired me to learn more [about them], and hopefully, I can work for such companies [in the future].”

When asked the same question, Lisa delightedly held up her mobile screen to show us her progress on Roblox, an online game platform where users are invited to program and play games created by each other. Lisa has been actively practising her design skills on this platform, such as designing novel-looking avatar characters and, most recently, a murder mystery game that she hopes to share with her friends.

“I like these thriller games,” she piped, “it’s basically like police and thief, where [users can search for] clues to find the murderer.” - Lisa

In fact, Lisa discussed her hopes to develop her own mobile game someday, where she comically emphasized her desire to create “a fun murder mystery game”. As an enthusiast of hands-on activities, she is very interested in understanding how game developers create and process gaming-related systems and is particularly enthralled with the prospect of recreating real-life situations in gameplay.

As someone who considers himself an artistic individual, Kai Ann also hopes to create animation films with novel cartoon characters which have not appeared on television. His lifelong ambition is to work for a renowned media and entertainment organization such as The Walt Disney Company, inspired by his favourite Disney film, Zootopia. He explained that he was moved by the story of Judy Hopps in the movie, whose small size and limited capabilities enabled many of the characters to despise her. Ultimately, her ability to overcome her circumstances and prove herself as a worthy police officer compelled Kai Ann to research more deeply into his design interest.

“I want to create animation films that can engage the audience by teaching them such life values, [such as] trying your best and not giving up. Zootopia really motivated me; it taught me that even if I fall, I can climb up again.”  

Kai Ann is working hard to develop himself creatively, as he considers it his strongest suit and a necessary ingredient for success.

“I think creativity will help you go further in life,” he expounded. “If you keep following the less creative way, it will lead to a dead end. But if you are creative, you can succeed and even expand your capabilities. I want to create cartoons that can inspire people too.” 

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Rachel Kok

a marketing university student in Singapore who loves bubble tea and coffee more than anything. She also enjoys music and film, and tries her best to read as much as she can.

As a language lover, she is proficient in English, Mandarin and Japanese, and enjoys the occasional debate about the areas these 3 languages have in common, especially when it comes to dissecting song lyrics.

Rachel identifies her purpose in life as engaging with like-minded people and bringing joy to others through her words.

Talent Development Fund Insights

A peek into this year’s Talent Development Fund (TDF) shows an overall 15% increase in applications received as compared to last year with 55% coming from 2017 applicants, and for this year, we see at least 13% chose a new genre.

Over the years, our Programmes Development (PD) team have been reviewing and curating workshops, allowing beneficiaries to discover and develop their interests. This year a number of new programmes were added as Annabel Lee of PD indicates their focus is to look beyond from just creative workshops to programmes that act as a bridge to allow beneficiaries to take their interest and pursue it as a possible career option. This will create an impact on the beneficiaries’ lives by helping them to identify opportunities for social integration, develop their capabilities and ultimately to be independent today and ready for tomorrow, the future that awaits them.

‘We have been proactively identifying beneficiaries who display great interest, potential to commit in pursuit of discovering and developing that area of interest.’ commented Annabel. She is also happy to share, ‘for those who did enrolled in courses, a good majority have been making significant progress.’

The PD team works closely with the Social Work Department (SWD) who identifies and assists in reaching out to beneficiaries whom they felt has potential in the Arts; Community and Partnership Marketing (CPM) supports by spreading the awareness of TDF.

The TDF application for 2018 is closed now; do keep a lookout for our next round of TDF next year!