5 takeaways from MCCY’s Committee of Supply Debate 2022

The local sports scene is making a $20 million-funded comeback, said the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) at the Committee of Supply Debate on Mar 10.

Themed A Strong, Caring & Inclusive Singapore, the MCCY also announced preservation projects for Singapore’s heritage as well as a new volunteering initiative benefiting local communities.

Here are five takeaways from the announcement, which saw Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong, Minister of States Alvin Tan and Low Yen Ling, as well as Parliamentary Secretary Eric Chua speak on behalf of MCCY.

MCCY announced that $20 million will be committed to facilitate the reintroduction of mass participation events, ramp up programmes and optimise facilities and play spaces.

One major focus mentioned is the return of sport festivals and mass participation events for individual and team sports like cycling and football, all spearheaded by Sport SG.

To help event organisers with funding, Sport SG will have an open grant call to be rolled out from March onwards, with applications open for four weeks. Called Blended Events Grant-Bring Sport Back edition, a maximum of $50,000 will be awarded to support an estimated 40 blended events or festivals throughout the year.

In efforts to ramp up programmes, ActiveSG will roll out new programmes from April 2022, such as five new practice zones for Street Dancing and enlarging capacities of ongoing academies. 

The new dancing zones will provide opportunities for about 10,000 participants, and the capacities of ongoing academies like Canoeing and Water Polo will see an increase in programme offerings and locations.

SportCares hopes to reach out to an estimated 28,000 children and youth across 300 public rental housing blocks by 2027, providing them resources beyond sporting programmes.

In partnership with Comlink, SportsCares intends to launch the flagship programme Saturday Night Lights and Project Kind in 21 different towns including Queenstown and Bukit Merah. 

To help its constituents through different life stage transitions, SportCares will roll out a mentoring programme to benefit more than 100 youths over five years.

Having completed training its first batch of 15 mentors at the end of January, they will be matched with 15 mentees from its programmes by this month. 

Beyond that, SportCares will instil Social Innovation Scholarship, along with industry attachment opportunities and a bursary scheme.

The scholarship will enable its youths to pursue a NITEC, Higher NITEC, or Diploma course in a local polytechnic, or an undergraduate degree course in a local recognised university. 

SportCares will also offer at least 180 of its youth with flexible industry attachment opportunities in Sport Singapore (SportSG) over a period of five years.

With the SportCares’ Bursary Scheme, up to 1,400 children, youth and persons with disabilities from low-income backgrounds can participate in any ActiveSG Academies & Clubs programme for at least 10 weeks.

After launching school football academies in ten secondary schools in January this year, programmes for both boys and girls will be piloted this year.

With 10 for boys and two for girls, the programmes will be helmed each by a dedicated Head Coach with extensive experience in youth development, alongside assistant and zonal Specialist Coaches. 

For this, more than 300 coaches and Ministry of Education teachers have been trained under the National Football Curriculum to ensure high-quality coaching and learning. 

The aim is to expand up to 16 academies over the next two to four years. 

The project’s existing partnership with Spanish football league La Liga will also be expanded, with regular exchange programmes and potential scholarship placement opportunities in La Liga clubs for identified talents. 

A coach development programme and workshops for promising youth coaches will be run by German football team Borussia Dortmund, to be launched this year. 

A wider conversation with Singaporeans on Singapore football will be carried out in due time, to find ways to improve the project.

The National Heritage Board (NHB) also made known of new and ongoing preservation works to Singapore’s historic sites.

Leading up to National Day 2022, NHB is seeking to gazette Padang as a National Monument.

Based on consultations with cultural representatives, heritage experts, and members of the public, it has observed a clear preference for the nomination to be multicultural in nature and relatable to Singaporeans. 

The shortlist of potential elements include Thaipusam, Getai and Traditional Medical Practices.

The nomination will be carried out after further engagement with key stakeholders and the public. 

Along with the upcoming reopening of the Children’s Museum Singapore and Peranakan Museum, NHB announced a travelling exhibition in April this year. 

Titled Share Your Story, Shape Our Memorial, it will have a public call for objects and stories related to encounters with Singapore’s founding leaders or a national policy or milestone. 

Singaporeans will be asked to submit pictures and information through the Founders’ Memorial’s website, where an online version of the exhibition will also be placed. 

The items and stories selected from the public call, as well as updates on the building’s architectural design, will be featured in the Memorial’s galleries when it opens in 2027. 

MCCY said it will work with community partners to create more opportunities to volunteer, through establishing SG Cares Community Networks and Volunteer Centres within each town. 

Connecting with social service agencies, the volunteer centres are better able to match volunteers to needs on the ground and encourage professionals to use their expertise to contribute to the community. 

SG Cares also partnered with five professional bodies, including Law Society Pro Bono Services and Singapore Medical Association, to grow the culture of volunteerism in professional sectors. 

Interested individuals can sign up for meaningful volunteer opportunities through the volunteer centres, the SG Cares app, or the Giving.sg website.

In similar fashion, People’s Association also will launch a new Community Volunteering initiative, supporting projects with enabling grants and the use of Community Club facilities.

Joining hands with SG Cares, Youth Corps Singapore and other agencies, volunteering opportunities and resources will also be cross-shared to create a deeper sense of belonging.