Speech by Constance Singam, AWARE President

An inspiring speech by Ms Constance Singam, AWARE President... .

Sharing a real story about a girl struggling with her self-image and the way she looks. She eats only a banana for breakfast and upon probing, she said she didn't like her ears, your eyes, and face face, and if she saved enough money, shw would do something about it.
Constance: Once you start changing, you will never stop, because you will never be satisfied with yourself.... I'm very proud of these girls, they are empowered and strong enough. They don't need anything, they are good themselves. You are proud of who you are and what you are. This is what AWARE is trying to do in the long term - to be proud of who you are, to stand up for who you are. Never allow anybody, the media, the advertising agencies, those who sell you cosmetics, slimming pills... You must know that you are good enough. That's what AWARE does and hope to inspire young women to stand up for your rights, you are good as you are. And all that screaming should be for standing up for who you are and what you stand up for. *CHEERS*

These girls have done a marvellous job for raising funds for AWARE on their project and it is very relevant for women of their age group... And to share with you all, what AWARE has done over the last 21 years,...you go in and want to help other people, in fact, you help yourself, and you grow in that process. And if you ask these girls here, (if you have time), they will tell you that they have grown in the process. Everything that they have done in the last few weeks(4months), they have become empowered as a result. When you are doing something for others, you are actually helping yourself, you are growing in that process. And for all the Interact Club members (Interactors)..(come on up here.. in your beautiful t-shirts)



...in making a difference to your community and that is empowering in itself. Never let anybody tell you that you are less than themselves...Aware is trying to change the value system where every individual is respected for what they are - for who she or he is - respect for individual. Never let any young man dominate you...alright...~cheers~ You are as capable..it just means that you will be a better person in any relationship. (To young men in the crowd) And you treat your young women as equals and that's what is important.
And the BIG Thank you...


Thank you for raising funds for AWARE, to help us come up with more meaningful programmes. for you. And these wonderful young women did it all by themselves... can the interact club members please come up here.

It has been a long time since I was with young screaming women...
Thank you very much... it has been a night filled with laughter, fun and screams..
THANK YOU!



Team leader Synafina thanks everyone for their support and help in making this event a successful one :) 3 Cheers!!!


and a beautiful finale for the Interact Club, families and TKGS volunteers, sponsors, and supporters of this event and everyone who has helped in one way or another

Cheers to the GIRLGEMS Team!
Left to right: Siti nurbuwwah, Nadiah bte yuseli, Chai Pei Shan (AWARE and ex-TKGS),
Syafiqah syazwani, Nurul syafina

LET'S DO THE TK CHEER
hey everybody, we're from tkg
and this is our philosophy
it aint no matter who we fight
we don't shiver and we don't fear
with tk spirit we'll do no wrong
We'll show our courage and beat them all
so we dare you to come and fight
cause tk will never lose our pride

Come on everybody, let’s do the tk rap
we gonna boom boom shake the walls
we gonna boom boom shake the floors
You gonna get on get on down, you gonna get on down
you bet~
you gonna get on get on down, you gonna get on down
YEAH~ TK!!

peishan join in the tk cheer... a true tk girl at heart

AWESOME performance and concert by The Wonders and TKGS Interact club!

~beautiful finale~

photo gallery: http://picasaweb.google.com/girlgems/GIRLGEMS_TKGSAWARE25Aug07

and the WINNERS are ***DRUM ROLL*


3rd prize
$100 Angelface voucher with
The Body Shop goodie bags and
Precious Thots diary notebooks
2nd prize
great female vocalist aka Miss Mariah Carey
$200 Angelface voucher with
The Body Shop goodie bags and
Precious Thots diary notebooks

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE TOP PRIZE WINNER -'Syefiru'
(Syerah, Fiqah and Nouru)
$300 Angelface voucher with
The Body Shop goodie bags and
Precious Thots diary notebooks



tokens of appreciation to the judges


Mrs Gladys Hoy presenting to Paul Twohill
Left: Jamie and Nurl (JUDGES)

Highlights of fund-raising concert event

Programme commences with video screening of Girlgems auditions footage at 7pm
(done by Syafiqah-girlgems team)



11 talented female performers, soaring high with excellent vocals and vibrant dances moves...

Let's dance! (3rd Prize)

Brenda from NUS High School singing '听不到' by Fish Leong



Lynn Ng from TKGS
A lonely September by Plain White Ts

Trio doing an Avril Lavinge

Dancers from Syefiru performing

Guest band enchanting the crowd with Lifehouse songs (LIVE!)

Singapore Idol Finalist - Paul Twohill entertaining the crowd

Finale: Combined Performance by GIRLGEMS performers

Special guest performance by sleeQ

the duo is the crowd's favourite!sleeQ performed 4 tracks from their EP.
Check out hip-hop duo sleeQ>>www.myspace.com/sleeq



'Almost, But' by sleeQ
on Perfect 10 987 Charts - No. 18.

GOH Constance touring TKGS with Interactors

Chairman of TKGS Interact club welcomes the Guest-of-Honour, Ms Constance Singam

Constance touring TKGS with the Interactors

the Spirit of TKGS explifies what a TKGgian embodies: A determined, confident and accomplished young woman strving to excel, surging valiantly forward building on the past to meet the challenges of the future. Statue sponsored by the Advisory Committee The TKGS Alumni

reading about values of TKGS
creative canvas and artworks with themes and symbolism of values of a TKGian

Fellow interactors selling food to raise funds for AWARE

AWARE booth at TKGS Girlgems

in the news
Straits Times, 25 Aug (Sat)
Home H10, Charity at home

..............

Chen Siya
YOUTH@AWARE representative, and co-chair of AWARE's Body-image committee

Team 'Syefiru' - dance

Team Syefiru, hip hop dance act Syerah, Fiqah, Bouru

GIRLGEMS Finalists: Brenda

Participant: Brenda Tan Yue Lin (Solo singing)

Fish Leong's 听不到

back to school (part 2)

News Release

News Release Singapore, 21 August 2007

For Immediate Release

TKGS girls rocking the way into social entrepreneurship and creative fund-raising with a hip charity concert ‘GIRLGEMS 2007’ on 25 August 2007

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

“We believe that every girl is as unique, dazzling, sparkling and special in
their own way, just like a gem. Girlgems is about YOU and everything you CAN be.”
– Nurul Syafina, Team Leader of ‘The Wonders’

'The Wonders', a team of four students from Tanjong Katong Girls' School (TKGS) Interact Club will be staging a fund-raising concert on 25 August 2007 at TKGS. The event is in conjunction with the prestigious Citibank-YMCA Youth For Causes competition 2007 which allows schools to raise the most funds for their chosen voluntary welfare organizations. 'The Wonders' aim to raise $10,000 for the Association for Women for Action and Research (AWARE) youth programmes.

"I saw the extent of my peers starving themselves, going to extremes, and spending tons on makeovers, hoping to look like celebrities and their idols. I feel that they lack the confidence to present themselves. We are really tired of that, and know that something has to be done. We really hope to raise awareness and influence others to want to make the difference to their lives," said Nurul Syafina, team leader of 'The Wonders'.

By raising funds for AWARE's body-image sub committee, the girls hope to spread the awareness and articulate messages of self-affirmation and empowerment to young girls in Singapore.

Apart from special performances by Singapore Idol finalist, Paul Twohill, hip-hop duo, sleeQ and Norman Then, there will also be exciting song and dance performances by TKGS's own talents as well as other female performers from other schools. The event is a highly collaborative effort to involve and include as many young female talents as possible. Booths set up by TKGS’s very own entrepreneurial club, 'TK Towkay,' will be selling food and accessories to raise funds. AWARE’s President, Ms Constance Singam will also be attending as the Guest-of-Honour for the event.

For more information on GIRLGEMS, please contact:

Nurul Syafina

Team Leader, The Wonders

Tel: (65) 96574520

Chai Pei Shan

AWARE Volunteer/ Project Mentor
Tel: (65) 9823 8554

Email: girlgems@gmail.com

Blog: www.girlgems.blogspot.com

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………

The Wonders

'The Wonders' consists of four passionate and creative TKGS girls: Syafina, Nadiah, Syafiqah, and Siti spearheading this fund-raising event – GIRLGEMS 2007. They hope to raise $10,000 for AWARE's youth programmes. GIRLGEMS 2007 is a creative charity fund raising, social entrepreneurship for Citibank-YMCA 'Youth-for-Causes' 2007.

Tanjong Katong Girls' School (TKGS)

Tanjong Katong Girls' School (TKGS) has a vibrant and dynamic performing arts/sporting culture that exposes our students to a wide range of experiences and opportunities to bring about peak performances and for character development. TKGS runs a robust academic programme, and has also provided opportunities for our girls to participate in various community service programmes through leveraging upon their talents and interests.

Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE)

Association of Women for Action and Research AWARE is a Charity with Institute of Public Character status.

AWARE’s youth programmes include comprehensive education programmes and workshops.

AWARE's mission is to promote a society that provides optimal opportunities for women and men to realise their highest potential. AWARE believes that gender stereotypes and discrimination benefits neither women nor men, and that gender equity is a necessary component of healthy families and societies. Formed in 1985, AWARE is the leading women's advocacy group in Singapore. AWARE's strengths lie in identifying social issues that adversely affect women and families, and in researching the causes and possible solutions of these issues.

For those who need immediate support, AWARE's helpline and counseling services help over 2500 women each year. AWARE also has an education arm that provides training on diverse issues such as self-esteem, sexuality, gender stereotypes and assertiveness. AWARE is supported by a large group of committed passionate volunteers, mainly women, but with increasing numbers of men.

girlgems banner !

Research - "The Gift of Listening" blog

While I was researching on eating disorders among youths in Singapore, I found many relevant links to blog posts, confessions and sharing of experiences among the online community.These are some of the real issues facing teens today.

Would like to share this very meaning blog 'The Gift of listening" with you...

Letters to Forum
http://www.giftoflistening.com/2007/08/too_thin_teens_letters_to_the.html


There are online resources to seek help, support or a listening ear
http://www.giftoflistening.com/resources.html

Eating Disorders Helpline - Tel: 6345-3435 (10:00am - 4:00pm Phone Mail Mon-Fri

Links:
Anorexia Nervosa
Anorexia Nervosa And Related Eating Disorders

The story behind The Wonders

Four girls have always harbored an extraordinary wish to make a big difference to the youths in their community. In June, a unique opportunity came when Syafina, heard about Citibank-YMCA Youth For Causes competition from their school principal, alongside the call to raise funds for Voluntary Welfare Organisation.

"I saw the extent of my peers starving themselves, going to extremes, and spending tons on makeovers, hoping to look like celebrities and their idols. I feel that they lack the confidence to present themselves. We are really tired of that, and know that something has to be done. We really hope to raise awareness and influence others to want to make the difference to their lives," said Nurul Syafina, team leader of ‘The Wonders’ on the compelling reason behind this cause.

Her friends, Nadiah Bte Yuseli, 14, Syafiqah Syazwani, 14 and Siti Nurbuwwah, 13, also feel strongly against bingeing and purging in order to look or feel good about themselves. After hours of research, they discovered that eating disorder is on the rise among their peer. After brainstorming for ideas, they decided starting a campaign would be their first step.

‘The Wonders’, the passionate and highly-motivated team consists of four socially-conscious girls from Tanjong Katong Girls’ School (TKGS) Interact Club. Since June, the girls had embarked on this social enterprise project and ‘Girlgems 2007’ was born The TKGS girls behind this youth-initiative and fund-raising event hope to raise $10,000 for the Association for Women for Action and Research (AWARE) youth programmes.

Together with Peishan, AWARE volunteer from the body-image team, and Harmin, Centre Manager of AWARE, the team worked tirelessly with the help of the TKGS teachers, and principal, Mrs Phyllis Lim, to rally support from the whole school. Everyone did their part in gathering volunteers, calling for sponsorships and selling ticket.

The key fund-raising event is a concert held on 25 August at TKGS. ‘Girlgems 2007 – in aid of AWARE’, is a fun and hip youth event that invites young women from all walks of life to reaffirm their self-acceptance. It is an exciting event with talented female performers, vibrant dances, solo and group singing, which are held exclusively for youths ranging from ages 13 to 21.

It is a celebration of girls - Girlgems allows every young woman to appreciate herself for who she is and who she hopes to become. It is a validation of self. It's about being comfortable with who you are and recognizing your potential to be all that you can be. It is about being true to yourself. Casting aside archaic notions of women as Barbie dolls, or second-class citizens, the event encourages women to be first class citizens, to embrace new and healthier role models of success and beauty.

The event is graced by Guest-of-Honour - AWARE President, Ms Constance Singam. The line up of special performances includes Singapore Idol finalist, Paul Twohill, a hip-hop duo, sleeQ and Norman Then.

Their creative approach to social entrepreneurship involves a series of fun-filled entrepreneurial activities with ‘TK Towkay’ corner, booths selling food and accessories, and funds raised by wearing ethic costumes on Carnival Day and National Day celebrations. The resourceful girls tie in marketing efforts with self-designed blog (www.girlgems.blogspot.com), that features interesting footages of the auditions.

As part of the community and public outreach efforts, AWARE invites residents from the youth welfare homes, Pertapis Centre for Women and Girls (PCWG), in the hope that the message behind this meaningful concert resonates with the audience and builds on their self esteem.

For ‘The Wonders’ themselves, it is also a process of self-discovery and reaching out to the community and working towards a good cause. It is also a wonderful time to celebrate girls’ pride and forging new friendships!