Singapore, 20 July 2007 - Great news for all young musical talents looking to do their bit for charity: ChildAid, the annual charity concert which raises money for The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund and The Business Times Budding Artists Fund, is back once again!

The event, now in its third year, is organised by The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund and The Business Times Budding Artists Fund, with the National University of Singapore´s Centre for the Arts coming on board once again as the venue and production partner.

The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund provides needy school children with pocket money and The Business Times Budding Artists Fund provides the funding to nurture the artistic talents of underprivileged children.

ChildAid showcases Singapore’s top young performing talents below the age of 19 years and will be held on Nov 27 and 28 at the University Cultural Centre at NUS.

Thanks to the generosity of corporate sponsors, last year´s two sold-out concerts, which featured a diversity of musical talents such as pianist Abigail Sin, singers Janani Sridhar and Nathan Hartono and little drummer boy Ethan Ong, raised a record S$390,000 for both charities.

Naturally, the editors of both newspapers are hoping that this year´s concert will be a similar fund-raising success.

Mr Alvin Tay, Editor of The Business Times, said: “We were buoyed by the overwhelming support given by companies and individual donors to ChildAid last year.

“Clearly, the two causes do strike a deep chord with many people. We hope they will continue to give ChildAid their generous support this year.

“ChildAid also provides a good platform for talented young Singaporeans to perform on stage for a meaningful cause -- to raise funds for their less privileged peers.’’

Mr Han Fook Kwang, Editor of The Straits Times, added: “It´s wonderful to be able to present ChildAid once again.

“ChildAid would not have been made possible without the support from the public, corporations and NUS Centre For the Arts, our venue and production partner."

Ms Christine Khor, Director, NUS Centre For the Arts said that CFA is delighted once again to partner The Straits Times and The Business Times.

“This is the third year of CFA’s support for ChildAid,” she said. “This partnership has grown from strength to strength. CFA offers the venue, plus has a key programming, producing and promoting role.

“ChildAid is in line with CFA’s mission to develop and showcase young creative talent, part of a holistic spirit NUS instills on campus and beyond."

Corporations interested in contributing to ChildAid can contact Ms Shahrena Hassan at 6319-5097 (email shahrena@sph.com.sg), Mr Gerard Wong at 6319-5204 (gerard@sph.com.sg) or Ms Christine Ang at 6319-5119 (anglcc@sph.com.sg).

The return of ChildAid also means that this year´s search for more outstanding performing talents has also started.

The concert organisers are now looking for English-medium acts for the event. Talents must be Singapore residents less than 19 years old and should be outstanding talents in the fields of music, dance or emceeing. Youths who have won national or international competitions or awards in their respective fields should also highlight these.

The preferred format for audition material is VHS, DVD, VCD, CD or cassette tape format. Interested youths should include a photograph and a one-page write-up telling us about yourself and why you want to be part of ChildAid.

Audition materials can be mailed to:

“ChildAid 2007 Auditions”
NUS Centre For The Arts
University Cultural Centre
50 Kent Ridge Crescent
Singapore 119279

The closing date for submissions is 13 August 2007. Shortlisted youths will be invited to the auditions which will be held on 1 September 2007.

For more details on the auditions, contact Adeline Tan at 6516 6787 or email cfatet@nus.edu.sg.


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For more information, please contact:

Eric Ching
Manager
Corporate Communications
Singapore Press Holdings Limited
DID: 6319 1280
Email: chingsm@sph.com.sg


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