Cheered on by family, special-needs youths take part in mass cycling event
TODAY reporter Louisa Tang cycling with a participant at a mass-cycling event for special-needs youths that is part of the OCBC’s Teach A Special Needs Youth to Cycle programme, which aims to teach different disadvantaged segments of society to cycle.
SINGAPORE – Despite the warm weather, with the sun high overhead, 14-year-old Perry Lim was excited for his first mass cycling event to start.
Clad in a red t-shirt, he was one of about a dozen participants from SG Enable, an agency dedicated to helping people with disabilities, the Movement for the Intellectually Disabled of Singapore, and The Spastics Association of Hong Kong taking part in a special segment of this year's OCBC Cycle event on Saturday (May 5).
"I am extremely excited for the race to start. It's already an exhilarating start to the end of my examinations," said Perry, a Pathlight School student who was accompanied to the event by his grandfather.
The mass cycling event for special-needs youths is part of the OCBC's Teach A Special Needs Youth to Cycle programme, which aims to teach different disadvantaged segments of society to cycle. It is an extension of the bank's community engagement programme for its annual mass-cycling event.
The TODAY Enable Fund (TEF), which focuses on efforts to enhance the education, skills and employment prospects of persons with disabilities, is one of the banks's charity partners.
Flagging off Saturday's event was Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong, the TEF's patron. As he mingled with the crowd before the race, participants excitedly took photos and chatted with the former prime minister.
Mr Goh said that he was happy that OCBC is "contributing to making Singapore a more inclusive society".
"I hope to see more corporations supporting similar events, and not necessarily in (just) cycling. They can do whatever they want to do to raise awareness of the importance of giving these people an interesting life, (and supporting) their activities," he said.
Mdm Jarita Ignatius, whose son Adrian cycled at Saturday's event, echoed Mr Goh's call for more such activities for special-needs youths.
"We came to know of the OCBC Cycle event through his previous teacher at Pathlight School, who liked to have such activities for the autistic children," said the 46-year-old IT professional who works at Republic Polytechnic.
Staff from TODAY took part in Saturday's event, cycling alongside the youths. The TEF also took part in the charity bazaar held at the OCBC Arena over two days. There, merchandise produced by the Fund's beneficiaries and other members of the special needs community were sold to the public.
The Fund was launched in December 2016 to support efforts to enhance education, skills and employment prospects of people with disabilities. Part of the S$460,000 raised to date has also been used to help fulfil the aspirations of persons with disabilities.
