Singapore, 2 September 2010 --- The Chinese Newspapers Division (CND) of Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) will be organising a fund-raising charity gala dinner for President's Challenge 2010.

The gala dinner, in conjunction with a Tang Style Fashion Show called The Timeless Da Ming Palace, will be held tonight, 2 September, 2010 at the Mandarin Orchard Singapore. President S R Nathan is the Guest of Honour for the event.

Held in Singapore for the first time, the fashion show features exquisite costumes inspired by the culture and fashion of the Tang Dynasty. Conceptualised by the team behind the Beijing Olympic Games Opening and Closing Ceremonies, this fashion showcase will include works by the great Italian designer Roberto Capucci, who has been called "the fashion architect". His works represent a western interpretation of the Tang costumes from the famous Da Ming Palace in Xi'an, China.

A sum of $150,000 has been raised through the sale of charity dinner tables, as well as direct donations from individuals and corporate donors. All proceeds will benefit the 36 appointed charities under President's Challenge 2010.

In addition, a limited edition GeYao F210 digital camera will be put up for auction at the charity dinner. Manufactured by China's leading electronic gadget company aigo using a patented technology combining the control of time, pressure and temperature, this unique camera comes with a beautiful surface consisting of fine crack patterns which are formed naturally on ceramic ware. The name GeYao refers to one of the five famous kilns in the Song Dynasty. Proceeds from the charity auction will go to President's Challenge.

President’s Challenge is an annual series of community-based activities initiated by President S R Nathan in 2000. The aims of President’s Challenge are firstly, to increase awareness about how the community can get involved in helping the less fortunate and secondly, to raise funds for the social service sector.

SPH's CND has been a strong supporter of President's Challenge over the years. Since 2002, CND has organised many community events to raise funds for charity, namely the National Treasure Hunt, Show You Care, Buy a Bear, the ZPop Charity Concert and a series of Youth Talent Concerts. The Youth Talent Concert held at the VivoCity Amphitheatre last November raised over $120,000.

Another long-time supporter of the Challenge is The New Paper. Since 2000, its signature fund-raiser Be Yourself Day has raised over $1 million. SPH, as a group, has also supported President's Challenge through the years with sponsorship of advertisement space in major newspapers such as The Straits Times and Lianhe Zaobao.

The President's Challenge 2010 Charity Gala Dinner is co-organised with Mandarin Orchard Singapore and the fashion show is produced by Qujiang News District and Qujiang Daming Palace National Heritage Park Management Company. The event is supported by Singapore Totalisator Board, Lee Foundation, PICO Art International Pte Ltd, Fairprice (Wine Sponsor), with ZbBz and NuYou as the supporting magazines.

Please see attached opening address by Mr Robin Hu, Senior Executive Vice President of Chinese Newspapers & Newspaper Services of SPH at the event.

• Download Robin Hu�s speech at PC2010 Charity Gala (44 KB)