The Official True Hearts Connection Launch and Appreciation Ceremony 1998
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It was well attended by teachers of the participating schools, pioneer and new mentors, pioneer and new mentees, invited guests and parents.
It was a BIG day. The executive committee members have committed much time and effort towards this mentoring scheme and they were excited to witness the official launch of the Scheme. The launch would reaffirm their vision and strengthen their determination to help the less privileged and would definitely inspire them to press on, despite their many other commitments. The pioneer mentors, who had courageously took up the challenge one year ago and had selflessly served their mentees, had now seen their efforts paid off and would receive their well deserved recognition and appreciation. And to the pioneer mentees, it was a big day for them to say ‘Thank you’!
| The ceremony started off with a speech from our BP partner, Mr Mathew Yap, Manager of Government & Public Affairs. Mr Yap, who was the initiator of the BP Mentoring Program, noted that mentoring is becoming more important as nuclear families face the challenge of having dual-working parents who are left with very little time to spend with their children. He also pointed out the fact that the success we now have with mentoring showed that young Singaporeans, contrary to popular belief, do care about their community and would actively take time out from their cluttered schedules to help the less privileged around them. |  |
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Then, the Guest of Honor, Assoc Prof Ho was invited to address the audience. Assoc Prof Ho, who is also the Chairman of the Inter-Ministry Committee for Juvenile Delinquency, described the role of mentoring in helping to curb the rise of juvenile delinquency in Singapore. He mentioned instances of how mentoring in other countries have helped teenagers and kept them from going astray. |
| After his speech, Assoc Prof Ho officiated the launch of the Scheme by completing the
Scheme’s logo with the missing piece (the mentor’s hand which crosses over the
mentee’s hand). By doing so, he connected the mentor and the mentee, forming a heart
shape which symbolized the brotherly love and friendship between a mentor and a mentee.
This act brought the ceremony to its climax after which, the audience was treated to a
multimedia presentation on the Scheme. Click here to have a peek at the Multimedia Presentation (in RealVideo) |
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To recognize the efforts of the pioneer mentors, each of them was presented a
certificate of appreciation. A special arrangement was also made for the mentees to put on
the exclusive True Hearts Connection collar pin for their respective mentors as a unique
and exclusive way of expressing their respect and gratitude. It was indeed a touching
moment … Aside from launching the Scheme officially and showing tokens of appreciation to our pioneer mentors, the newly selected mentors were commissioned during the ceremony. The pioneer mentors officially handed over the duties of nurturing and caring for the younger ones to the new mentors by putting on the True Hearts Connection collar pin for them. As the new mentors received their collar pins, they knew that they have committed themselves to a new challenge! |
| They further affirmed their commitment by taking a mentor’s pledge and signing the covenant which states their commitment to serve their mentee for one year. |  |
In appreciation of his support, our Executive Chairman, Mr Daniel Chew, presented a token to Assoc Prof Ho. He also presented tokens to the participating colleges, namely, Victoria Junior College and Tampines Junior College in appreciation of the strong support the institutions have shown towards the Scheme.
The ceremony ended on a high note with inspiring sharing by some of the pioneer mentors and mentee.
Click here to catch some of the excerpts of the Sharing from Mentors and Mentees...
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