Release Date : 04 Jun 2011
Mr Zainudin Nordin, Member of Parliament for Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC
Mr Arthur Fong, Member of Parliament for West Coast GRC
Ms Yeoh Chee Yan, Chairman, NLB
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
1. A very good afternoon to all of you and welcome to the launch of the National Library Board's (NLB) 10,000 & More Fathers Reading! 2011 reading initiative.
2. This marks the fifth time that this unique initiative has been organised. This is an initiative that is close to our hearts for it not only aids the literacy development of a child but also deepens the bond between father and child. This initiative's objective is simple - to encourage fathers to read with their children on a regular basis. But its benefits are far reaching for reading is a gift that does not perish nor spoil. That is why our theme for this year's edition is billed as “Reading - Your First Gift to Your Child”.
3. Over the past five years, we have reached out to over 60,000 fathers from all walks of lives through a wide range of programmes that offer opportunities for families to bond while reading. These include storytelling sessions, workshops on parenting and reading as well as a video contest aimed at inspiring father figures to capture their significant moment engaging in literacy-related activities with their children.
4. As part of the initiative, the NLB has organised a series of exciting reading-related events and activities for families over the next few weeks. Today, you can look forward to activities which include storytelling sessions, performances, games, crafts and many more designed to offer you with more opportunities to read and bond at the same time.
5. The NLB will also be working with various partners to further enhance the appreciation for reading. For example, we have collaborated with the SEED Institute to organise learning journeys for pre-school educators to selected public libraries to raise their awareness on the various library programmes and resources for pre-schoolers .Through this, we hope to reach out to the fathers of these pre-schoolers. We have also distributed multilingual storybook review cards to all children of pre-and-primary schools in Singapore to get them and their fathers started on the reading journey.
6. In closing, on behalf of the NLB, I would like to thank our partners, and sponsors for their generous support. I would also like to thank our Guest-of- Honour for gracing this occasion today.
7. Thank You.