Building a resilient Singapore through the Outdoors

Building a resilient Singapore through the Outdoors

In line with the aspiration to engage youths and families in more varied sporting and physical activities, Singapore’s national movement for sport and physical activity – ActiveSG – announced today that it will be launching the ActiveSG Outdoor Adventure Club.

The ActiveSG Outdoor Adventure Club will offer an avenue for youths and families to partake in a suite of exciting outdoor activities. From March onwards, there will be a series of free outdoor events organised monthly which will feature outdoor activities such as Orienteering, Hiking, Night Cycling and even water sports such as Kayaking. The activities are designed to imbue in participants a sense of adventure as well as to strengthen their mental toughness and character, in a bid to build a more resilient Singapore.

The announcement was made today at Singapore’s iconic Green Corridor in Bukit Timah, where more than 800 participants made up of families and students from 15 participating schools took part in an adventure course as part of the Outdoor Adventure Club’s official launch. As part of the course, youths hiked along the six-kilometre long scenic heritage route while learning outdoor skills such as orienteering and fire-building along the way. The youths also completed activity stations by working together as a team to overcome obstacles.

Ms Yeoh Chee Yan, Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY), who was the Guest-of-Honour at the event said, “Through outdoor activities, you can pick up important life skills such as teamwork, personal confidence and resilience. So do join the new ActiveSG Outdoor Adventure Club. There will be activities for adults and seniors to participate in alongside our youths, for intergenerational bonding.”

The ActiveSG Outdoor Adventure Club is the fifth club/academy launched by ActiveSG since last year. However, it will be the first to take on a different setup from the other four. While the other club and academies have programmes targeted predominantly towards children, the ActiveSG Outdoor Adventure Club offers activities for adults and even seniors to participate along with the youths.

Mr Lim Teck Yin, CEO of Sport Singapore, said, “The aim of our ActiveSG clubs and academies is to provide opportunities for everyone to participate in sport and physical activities. Through the ActiveSG Outdoor Adventure Club, we extend these opportunities beyond the confines of sports centres or gyms. The variety of activities are designed to appeal to encourage more Singaporeans to enjoy the outdoors with families and friends while getting a workout.”

The ActiveSG Outdoor Adventure Club will complement the National Outdoor Adventure Education Masterplan, announced in 2016 to develop confident, rugged and resilient youths and provide a common experience for all young Singaporeans. As part of this masterplan, Outward Bound Singapore (OBS) will be constructing a new campus on Coney Island by 2020, to provide all youths with an outdoor adventure experience.

Mr Nicholas Conceicao, Executive Director at OBS said, “The ActiveSG Outdoor Adventure Club shares with us the same philosophy to use the outdoors and adventure to inculcate in youths values such as confidence, resilience and teamwork. The activities organised by the club will provide participants with more opportunities to strengthen their confidence and tenacity through outdoor adventure education, learn to work with one another and forge friendships from different backgrounds through shared common experiences.”

Mrs Tan Chen Kee, Divisional Director, Student Development Curriculum Division, Ministry of Education (MOE) said, “In line with our National Outdoor Adventure Education Masterplan, we believe that outdoor education plays an essential part in developing more well-rounded youths. The programmes offered by the ActiveSG Outdoor Adventure Club will enable our students to build on what they have learnt in school through their PE and outdoor experiences, and they are encouraged to continue participating in them with their friends and families beyond school.”

To find out more or register for your interest for the programme, you can visit ActiveSG Outdoor Adventure Club.