Trees of the World 2012!

Operation Smile Singapore is very proud to be invited once again to Trees of the World organised by the Singapore Botanic Gardens! The NEC'13 brought their materials down to the Singapore Botanic Gardens and started decorating their Christmas tree!

NEC'13 with their Christmas tree!

Our beautiful Christmas tree at night!

In 2011, Trees of the World saw the participation of embassies, schools, societies, NGOs and corporate partners who came together to decorate and light up over 200 trees, which event transformed the Gardens into a magical wonderland. The event was a visual feast for all participants and visitors. 

In 2012, Trees of the World was officially launched on 30th November, and the 200 beautiful Christmas trees will be on display till 6th January 2013. Do visit the Tanglin Core of the Gardens to see these trees before they are replanted after the event!

Do visit our Christmas tree and Join us in changing lives one SMILE :) at a time! 

Say Cheez!! - Operation Smile concert!

On the 3rd of August 2012, Operation Smile Singapore Student Chapter @ River Valley organised a fundraising concert ‘Say Cheez!’ at Boon Lay Community Centre. The event was graced by Mr Lawrence Wong, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Education & Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts.  

It was a meaningful and fulfilling experience for the audience, performers and organising committee alike. It was the first time for many of the organising committee members to put together such a large scale event and the performers also made time to come down for rehearsals after school to practice for their performance. The thought of being able to raise funds to help these children receive medical treatment to give them a new lease of life spurred us on through difficulties.  

Everyone present on Friday night definitely enjoyed themselves and was treated to the spectacular performances prepared by their peers despite their busy work schedules. Performances ranging from singing, dancing to even diabolo and beat-boxing!  The Silent Sirens, Amber, Glenvicia,Yunqi and Heather’s band, Okaycan, Nicole and Shao Hao engaged the audiences through their beautiful voices. The D.lab Crew and J-ream liven the atmosphere with their dance. The performance of diabolo was an eye opener for many and kept the audience in awe. One of our organising committee member, Tze Chong, even beat-boxed and got the audience to join in along with him. 

We would like to thank the following groups of people, without which Say Cheez! would not have been such a huge success. Our utmost gratitude goes to: Bridge Learning, our sponsor for the event; the Boon Lay CC Youth Executive Committee for their help; Operation Smile Singapore Student Chapter Excos for offering help and advice; Raimie and Livia, our emcees for the night; Samuel and Michelle, our PA crew; Ashley, Brandon and Morgan, our backstage crew; and of course all our friends, parents and teachers for supporting us in one way or another.  

All the time and hardwork put in for the past few months were definitely worth it, and we are happy to know that all the funds raised will go a long way in helping the kids be able to ‘Say Cheez!’  

OSSSC@RV

Evolucion Operation Smile Concert at RI(JC)

On the 21st of April, Operation Smile Singapore Student Chapters @ Raffles Institution (JC) and Hwa Chong Institution co-organised a fund and awareness raising concert called Evolucion at RI(JC). It was a truly amazing night with Joel singing, Chris & band rocking away, Valesha & Rachel with their amazing voices, Isabelle and Remus with their Latin Dance, Catherine & Adeline with their refreshing voices and the Diabolo Duo with their one-of-a-kind talent. It was an honour to work together with such talented and passionate people.

Despite a few setbacks, we managed to pull through as one team for one cause. Knowing that we were of help to the children with cleft lips/palates in one way or another, we persevered to successfully conclude the concert.

Finally, we would like to thank Mr. Justyn Olby, the national exco, the Student Chapter @ HCI, members of the audience and finally the performers for their hardwork and support.


-Catherine
President
OSSSC @ RI(JC)

Op Smile volunteers @ Youth Got Heart

Youth Got Heart is an annual event organized by the Raffles Interact Club of Raffles Institution (Junior College), aimed at exposing youths to community service opportunities available and therefore serving as a platform for them to translate personal passions into action by forming partnerships with VWOs. Each year, VWOs from across the country gather at YGH, helping to spread the spirit of volunteerism through the sharing of ideas and personal experiences with the youths. This year's YGH took place on 10 March 2012 at the National Library, and featured approximately 50 VWOs and student-initiated projects. Operation Smile Singapore was one of the VWOs featured and has reached out to almost 100 interested youths, bringing them in to our cause!

Here's a reflection from Student Chapter @ RI:

Although the Operation Smile Singapore booth at YGH this year was manned only by two people, Catherine and myself, the results have certainly been a pleasant surprise and exceeded our expectations. Though it was tiring manning the booth for close to 10 hours and interacting with the hundreds of youths as well as other members of public, it has certainly concretized our commitment to the cause. Being committed to the cause is not simply a matter of doing things in your own capacity, or within your own group(s) - being committed is also about drawing other people in to follow your footsteps so that they may carry on contributing to the cause and that what you achieve may be sustained in the future. This is why we feel that spreading the spirit of volunteerism, particularly for Operation Smile Singapore was so important: to find the individuals who will eventually carry on our work. We certainly hope we have achieved that!

-Kevin

Vice President

OSSSC@RI

Local Updates

Stitch for Smile Workshop

During the 2011 December Holidays, Operation Smile Singapore conducted 2 Stitch for Smile workshops at the Operation Smile Singapore headquarters. More than 40 participants attended the workshops and had a wonderful time as they utilise their creativity to create kawaii soft toys out of socks! Each toy, hand-sewn, is sold at S$10 with all proceeds going to Operation Smile Singapore. Look forward to more workshops in the future!

(Photo credit to Fong MC)

T SHIRT DESIGNING COMPETITON

Greetings to all OPERATION SMILERS,


As part of our efforts to increase the range of official Operation Smile merchandise, which currently only includes the SMILY shirt in 3 colours, OSSSC is having a T-Shirt Designing Competition for the next official Operation Smile Tee! That's right! Your design may be featured! :D

All current & ex-student volunteers are welcome to participate and best of all, lucky person(s) stand to win ATTRACTIVE PRIZES based on the following criteria: Aesthetics, Creativity, & Audience Appeal.

Want to know more?

Here are some details that may help you to formulate your designs! ><

Aim: To create new signature Operation Smile merchandise that is designed by our very own passionate Operation Smilers!

Target: People of all ages! (Mainly teenagers)

Must include: Operation Smile official logo (can Google to find it) and the word “Operation Smile Singapore” in its ORIGINAL FORM (or your design will get disqualified!).

Good to have: A catchy phrase! Eg. The one on the current shirt: We are bringing the Smileys back. Or other phrases like ‘Changing lives one smile at a time’.

Other requirements: Your design (front & back) can only consist of 4 colors (inclusive of front and back design : 2 + 2; 1 + 3 or 3 + 1), due to printing costs.

Judges: Justyn Olby, Student Chapter Adviser. Michelle, Operation Smile HQ manager, Ke Yu He, Student Chapter President.


Feeling INSPIRED?


We welcome all designs and ideas! Contribute to Operation Smile and submit your design(s) to osssc.nec@gmail.com by 31st March 2012.

Student Chapters

Operation Smile Booth @ RVHS

As part of our joint effort to create more awareness for Operation Smile amongst teenagers, we encourage passionate students to not only volunteer for Operation Smile, but to spread his/her passion to others around!

We are very fortunate to have such a group of girls from RVHS (college section) whom, despite their busy schedule, managed to share their experience with Operation Smile with their school mates. We think such act is truly inspirational and would like to call out to all who are interest to do the same! Drop us an email at osssc.nec@gmail.com if you are eager to share your Operation Smile experience with your fellow school mates!

Here’s the reflection from the leader of the group:

On 6th Feb, I represented Operation Smile in RV's Service Learning Fest where I was given a booth and shared with my fellow schoolmates about OP smile -- particularly the Student Chapter. The highlight of the booth was none other than the touching video of Son's mission, where students were especially inspired by it, and some of them even expressed their interest for the Student Chapter on the spot. While the event was a small-scale one, it was an enriching and fun-filled experience as I got to publicized something which I'm very interested in and see more people knowing about it. And now, I feel an even stronger calling to do something for the kids and I look forward to organizing events for OP smile. (:

Suzanne Tan

RVHS (College)