United Overseas Bank (UOB) today celebrated the traditions of Mid-Autumn Festival with 40 children from underprivileged backgrounds from the Care Corner Student Care Centre. The children, aged from seven to 12 years old, together with 30 volunteers from UOB, were treated to perennial favourites at Mid-Autumn Festival such as a traditional tea ceremony performance and mooncakes. Their afternoon was also made more colourful with a lantern-painting art workshop at which they could design their own lanterns for the occasion.
The tea ceremony was performed by tea master Mr Yu Wei from Chinese restaurant Si Chuan Dou Hua. As the children enjoyed these freshly-brewed cups of tea paired with mooncakes, Mr Yu also explained the history in which the traditional tea ceremony is steeped and the significance of mooncakes to enable the children to understand the stories behind Mid-Autumn Festival.
Following the mooncake feast, the children participated in a lantern-painting workshop, where they learnt painting techniques from Ms Jamie Teo, who was the Silver Award winner in the Emerging Artist Category at the 2018 UOB Painting of the Year competition Singapore. During the workshop, the children were encouraged to draw on their imagination and express their creativity by designing their own lanterns. They proudly displayed their lanterns after the session during a walk along the Singapore River.
Ten-year-old Adonica Tan, who was one of the participants of the workshop, said she enjoyed the Mid Autumn Festival celebrations and being able to design her own lantern.
“I really enjoyed the mooncakes and painting my own lantern. When we carried our lanterns outside, I was very happy because my lantern is different from everyone else’s lanterns. I am excited to take it home to show my family and friends. After today’s art workshop, I also want to learn more about drawings and art when I grow up.”
One of the volunteers, My Jimmy Tay, Senior Vice President, Group Channels and Digitalisation, UOB, said the Bank’s community-based activity was an opportunity for him to give back and to encourage the next generation to appreciate cultural traditions and their influence on art. “Mid-Autumn Festival is a joyous celebration with brightly-lit handcrafted lanterns and feasting on mooncakes and tea. The festival is made more meaningful this year as I could share the significance of the Mid-Autumn Festival with children from Care Corner Student Care Centre. Seeing the children’s bright smiles as they created their own lantern artwork and as they carried their lanterns around reminded me to adopt the same childlike enthusiasm for life’s simple pleasures this festive occasion.”
UOB’s Mid-Autumn Festival lantern painting workshop is part of the UOB Heartbeat Volunteer programme which focuses on giving back to the community in the areas of children, art and education. This is the sixth year UOB has celebrated Mid-Autumn Festival with underprivileged children through its annual lantern-painting workshop with a UOB Painting of the Year award-winning artist.
Additional Notes
About Ms Jamie TeoAdditional Notes About Ms Jamie Teo
Ms Jamie Teo is the 2018 UOB Painting of the Year Singapore, Silver Award winner, Emerging Artist Category. Her art practice specialises in the blending of colours to create movement and balance in an abstract art composition.
About Care Corner Student Care Centre
Located in Admiralty, Toa Payoh and Woodlands, Care Corner serves over 15,000 beneficiaries annually through social services that reach out to the disadvantaged in the Singapore community. Its Student Care Centres are designed to provide a learning environment for children aged from seven to 14 years.
