Celebrating Team Nila Volunteers and the Future of Sport Volunteerism

1. Good morning. It is such a pleasure to join all of you this morning to commemorate Team Nila's 7th Anniversary. I think all of you deserve a tremendous amount of applause, this time for yourselves. 

Celebrating volunteers for their efforts and resilience during COVID-19

2. Singapore hosts many sporting events and programmes every year, and very often you can feel a force, which is Team Nila working tirelessly behind many of these events. You contribute in many ways, not just operationally, but also through your own unique skillsets and most importantly with your heart. 

3. We can see many of the events that Team Nila did last year, all in the midst of the pandemic. I want all of you to know that throughout this period of time, all of us appreciate the work that you do very much. We appreciate your time, your commitment, your energy, and your enthusiasm, how you feel for the community through what you do. 

4. Over the past two years, COVID-19 has meant that we have not been able to do sports and community gatherings in the same way as we have done in the past. It's a bit of a shame. This also led to the rescheduling and cancellation of many sports events and programmes. Those allowed to take place are also done very differently.  

5. But despite all of this, you, all our Team Nila volunteers, all of you have adapted to these unprecedented circumstances and rolled with the punches easily.

a. There was, for example, the inaugural Team Nila Giving Marathon in November and December last year.

b. Over 42 consecutive days, 1,200 Team Nila volunteers spent some 36,000 hours contributing to causes such as International Migrants Day, Food from the Heart, and Walk for Rice.

c. What you do goes beyond sports, goes beyond your own community and you pay it forward. And I think, to be able to do it in the time of the pandemic is all the more amazing. Thank you all very much.

6. And also, more importantly, at many events including overseas events before the pandemic, you cheer on participants through the voice that you have created as Team Nila. Together as a team, you continue to engage in important community causes. 

a. Your game-on attitude, exemplified by Ethen, his passion and rousing speeches, is an inspiring demonstration of what we can do through compassion, friendship and dedication. 

b. I most recently met with some of you at the GameOn Nila! Total Defence Trail. Even on that occasion, by launching a trail, I could feel your passion, and dedication. Those of you who were there took such pride to show me the different checkpoints and also, showed me how to download the app and made sure that I walked the trail too.

7. This year, as the COVID-19 situation stabilises and we hopefully see a downward trend on the number of cases, we can look forward to a richer calendar of sporting events. When we can do that, I am sure that Team Nila will, once again, be back in full force. 

The future of sport volunteerism

8. Let me touch a bit on this year's theme for Team Nila Anniversary, which is “Transforming sport volunteerism for the future”. 

9. All of you are very familiar with sports and volunteerism. all of you do it day in, day out, as part of your DNA in your blood. But how do we look at sports volunteerism for the new normal and in the future? 

a. All of you are volunteers. I think you know that you are a very important partner in the way we have shaped how society views sports. Take, for example the 2017 SEA games in Malaysia. Some years ago, I went there as a spectator. I walked around the corner and I could hear this cheer. I turned around and I saw the full force of people in our purple jerseys in Malaysia. I think this transforms the way a participant feels when he or she is competing. He or she is going through that last mile, pushing himself or herself to hear this cheer and to see the support from Team Nila. I think that makes a tremendous difference. At the same time, you have all been contributing in different ways, and as I said, sometimes behind the scenes. 

10. Take Gold Award recipient Michael Lee, for example. Michael embodies the spirit of volunteerism. He was:

a. Virtual Liaison Officer at the ATP250 Singapore Tennis Open, 

b. Camp Facilitator at Queenstown Sports Centre Outlast Outdoor family camp,

c. and a volunteer in nation-wide efforts such as the distribution of TraceTogether tokens, Fast and Easy Testing Call Centre operations and many other things that are associated with keeping Singaporeans safe. Thank you very much, Michael.

11. Angela Sim and Merry Hui, two other Gold Award Recipients, have also shown us how sport volunteers are contributing to the community in meaningful and impactful ways. 

i. Merry distributed Community Development Council (CDC) vouchers to her fellow residents. She is afraid that people do NOT know about the CDC vouchers or do NOT know how to get them or use them. Hence, she volunteers to give them out to her fellow residents.  She volunteers at her neighbourhood Sport Centre's farm each week.

ii. Angela, an active Team Nila Silver Champion, has volunteered by distributing National Day Parade fun packs, face masks, and even Active Health mats, in the North and Northeast zones. Thank you very much for all of this.

iii. Like Merry, Angela also volunteers at several Active Farms in Woodlands, Toa Payoh, and Bishan.

iv. Angela, like all our Team Nila Silver Champions, embodies the spirit of active aging, active giving, to give back to the community and pay it forward. She demonstrates that age is only just a number. 

v. In the coming years, we are introducing more programmes and activities for people of all ages and abilities. It is important that we do that. Whether you are able bodied or not able bodied, we all have to make sure that everyone in Singapore has a place that they can have access to. It doesn't matter that you are not an elite sports person. As long as you want to take part in sports, we have to help Singaporeans to take part in sports. 

12. I also want to recognise Arumugam Pradeepan and Margaret Pang. They form part of a growing base of volunteers, trained in certain spcialised areas, who contribute specialised skills as part of Team Nila.

i. Arumugam volunteers as a photographer, documenting the action of sport events. That is something that is close to my own heart.

ii. I can tell you that taking photographs is years and years of experience. It takes you one minute to learn how to click the button, but it takes you many years of experience to know when to click the button, what angle and which moment to do so, and how to capture that human spirit in sports.

iii. Margaret shares her knowledge in wellness as an Active Health Ambassador, promoting healthy habits in the areas of exercise, nutrition, screen time, and sleep, through her work at Bishan's Active Health Lab. 

13. I am very happy to share with you that Team Nila will be offering more training programmes to enable volunteers to take up extra skill sets and learn new things, to apply them in the community and pay it forward. I encourage you to consider signing up for them.

Inspiring the Singapore Spirit through sport

14. I think all of you will agree with me that there are very few things that can galvanise and inspire the community the way that sports can. Just look at all the sports events and how Singapore as a country reacts to all sportsmen. It does not even have to be when we win. As long as we do our best, we compete, and we play with pride. We put it all out there and I think Singaporeans get behind them. It is such a unique way of inspiring and galvanising our country.

a. In the same way, I hope that through volunteering in Team Nila, you will gain fulfilment and satisfaction. From helping to inspire Singaporeans take part in sports, cheer Singaporean sportsmen and athletes on, to overall contributing to the uplifting of sports standards and sport wellness in Singapore.

b. I also hope that in turn, you will pay it forward and inspire yourself, through the enthusiasm and participation in the community. Many of you have told me, that the reason you do this is not because you want to clock in the hours. But because you see value in what you do, and you see such tremendous value when the community responds positively to what you do. I think that is your greatest fulfilment and that is also the greatest payback. And I also think that is truly the spirit of volunteerism.

15. So, I hope that you will share your experiences with your family members, loved ones, friends and colleagues, anybody around you, and encourage them to join the Team Nila. Team Nila will continue to make a difference. We will continue to grow Team Nila, and will continue to ensure that people know about Team Nila. 

Closing

16. Please continue to be the role models and the force for good. Not just in sport, but in the community, leading the way through your work, volunteerism and always doing it with a smile on your face. 

17. Once again, congratulations. Happy birthday to Team Nila. And I really think all of you deserve one more big rousing round of applause for yourselves. Thank you.