News Releases
President Halimah Yacob to launch President’s Challenge Memorabilia during Istana Chinese New Year Open House
17 February 2018
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The Istana grounds will be open to the public on Saturday, 17 February 2018, from 8.30am to 6.00pm, in celebration of Chinese New Year.
Launch of New Series of President’s Challenge Memorabilia
President Halimah Yacob will be launching a new series of President’s Challenge (PC) Memorabilia at the upcoming Istana Open House.
A collaboration between President’s Office and various VWOs and social enterprises, the new PC Memorabilia showcase artwork of scenes within the Istana and are hand drawn by beneficiaries. During her recent visits to various PC beneficiaries, President Halimah was inspired by how art was able to bring colour and expressions to the lives of the beneficiaries. President Halimah therefore wanted to create this new series of memorabilia to help raise awareness of the social causes as well as give the beneficiaries a greater sense of pride and achievement in their artwork.
“All of us are able to make meaningful contributions to society regardless of our abilities. That was why I invited beneficiaries from various organisations to showcase their talent through art. This also creates a unique opportunity for me to share the Istana with Singaporeans because with every donation made to the President’s Challenge, you will get to bring a piece of your fond memory of the Istana back home with you,” said President Halimah.
The PC Memorabilia will be available to visitors who make a donation to President’s Challenge during the Istana Open Houses. The series of memorabilia includes leather key chains, luggage tags, notebooks, bookmarks, and magnets. Details of the PC Memorabilia series can be found in Annex A.
Istana Open House Programme Highlights
Visitors will be able to immerse in the Chinese New Year celebrations with a Lion Dance performance by Shan Long Dragon and Lion Dance Troupe, a Chinese Acrobatics performance by Liuqin Troupe of Jiangsu Theatre, and a Wushu performance by Dunman High School. The public can also look forward to music performances by Anderson Secondary School, Woodgrove Secondary School and yIN Harmony. There will also be dance performances by Sheng Yi Dance Group, PA Talents and a contemporary dance item by SOKA.
Other features include a display of invertebrates by Wildlife Reserves Singapore, Chinese calligraphy art activity by The Chinese Calligraphy Society of Singapore, and other art activities by School of the Arts. The programme line-up can be found in Annex B.
Members of the public can choose to sign up for the Nature Guided Walk at the Istana, a collaboration between the President’s Office and the National Parks Board (NParks) which will showcase the Istana’s flora, fauna and biodiversity. They can also take a guided tour of the Istana main building led by volunteers from the Preservation of Sites and Monuments division of the National Heritage Board and view select function rooms and display of State gifts presented to the President and the Prime Minister by foreign dignitaries.
Visitors can also do a self-guided tour with the help of the “Istana Garden Walk” mobile application, which includes features such as a self-guided Plants Trail to discover 10 types of beautiful plant species in the Istana Gardens and maps of Places of Interest.
The Istana Heritage Gallery (IHG) at the Istana Park (located opposite the main gate of the Istana along Orchard Road) will also be open from 10am to 6pm. At the IHG, visitors can learn more about Singapore’s history and heritage. For a self-guided interactive tour of the IHG and the Istana Park, visitors can download the LocoMole mobile application to embark on the Istana Mobile Educational Trails and gain more insights to the lives of our past Presidents, the heritage, flora and fauna of the Istana.