07
August
2015
|
16:19
Asia/Singapore

S$451,120 raised for charity through NUSSU Rag & Flag Day 2015

Dazzling celebration of Singapore 's 50th birthday, NUS ' 110th year of founding as well as the tradition of giving attracted more than 26,000 revellers

Students from the National University of Singapore (NUS) raised S$451,120 through the annual NUS Students' Union (NUSSU) Rag & Flag Day 2015. The donations will benefit 19 charity programmes supported by Community Chest. The funds raised will be matched dollar-by-dollar by the Government, under the Care & Share Movement led by Community Chest.

A tradition which began more than 50 years ago, Rag and Flag is a signature NUS event that unites the entire NUS community. On Flag Day, NUS students approach members of the public for donations in aid of the beneficiaries. Students put up performances on Rag Day, celebrated after Flag Day, as a show of appreciation to the public for their contributions to the less privileged.

This year, NUSSU Rag Day was held at The Float @ Marina Bay, where NUS students, staff, alumni and the wider community converged at to celebrate Singapore 's 50th birthday, the University 's 110th year of founding as well as the tradition of giving back to the community. Themed "Where I Belong", NUSSU Rag Day 2015 was also held as part of the SG50 Golden Jubilee Weekend and in conjunction with the National Day Parade Celebrations 2015. More than 26,000 people participated in the celebration, which was graced by Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Environment and Water Resources, as the Guest-of-Honour.

Prior to NUSSU Rag Day 2015, more than 7,000 freshmen and seniors from NUS collected donations from members of the public islandwide on 4 August 2015. Members of the public also made donations at NUSSU Rag Day event on 7 August 2015. The 19 beneficiaries of this year 's NUSSU Rag and Flag are:

  • AWWA School
  • AWWA TeachMe Service
  • Care Corner Family Service Centre (Queenstown)
  • Eden School
  • Fei Yue Family Service Centre
  • Hougang Sheng Hong Family Service Centre
  • Lighthouse School
  • Lions Befrienders
  • MINDS Clementi Training and Development Centre
  • MINDS MYG
  • MINDSVille @ Napiri
  • Pathlight School
  • PPIS Family Service Center (West)
  • Rainbow Centre - Margaret Drive School
  • St Andrew's Autism School
  • Student Cares Services (Clementi) – Enhanced Step-Up (ESU) Programme (Service A & B)
  • The Ang Mo Kio Family Service Centres (Sengkang)
  • The Singapore Cheshire Home
  • Touch Community Services Limited ESU (Service A & B)

Mr Lim Kok Seng, President of NUSSU, said, "We are delighted and proud to see fellow friends and youths caring for our community through active engagement with our beneficiaries, extending over traditional flagging methods that has spanned over decades."

NUSSU Rag Day 2015

This year, NUSSU Rag Day featured a dazzling showcase of 14 stunning performances put up by some 1,750 students from 17 NUS Halls of Residence, Faculties and Schools. The enthusiastic crowd were also entertained by performances put up by YouTube star Christina Grimmie, homegrown talents The Sam Willows and Gentle Bones, Chronos from the People 's Association Youth Movement and MINDS Towner Gardens School 's Kool Kidz.

To commemorate Singapore 's Golden Jubilee, NUS students designed and built a 3.5-metre tall "birthday cake" decorated with a few thousand messages of love for Singapore from the public, including primary school and special needs students. The giant birthday "cake" also doubled up as a donation kiosk where members of the public tapped their EZ-link cards to make a donation for charity.

NUSSU Flag Day

Since 2000, NUS students have raised more than S$6 million in donations for its beneficiaries through the annual NUSSU Flag Day. For their efforts, they had been receiving the Community Chest Special Events Gold or Platinum Awards on an annual basis since 2003.