Active Agers Awards 2010..Winners and Presentation!

The much awaited 2010 Active Agers Awards winners were announced last week in the media and press. This is the 4th consecutive year that this Highest Honour and Public recognition for active senior agers has taken place. It was started in 2007 under the able Chairmanship of Gerard Ee from Council of Third Age ( C3A ).

In 2008, in addition to the C3A AA Awards, 2 other special Awards were newly created. One was the Infocomm Champion Award given out for the very 1st time that year. Unk Dicko had the honour of being recognised as the 1st Champion. The other was the Award sponsored by Prudential for adventure and zest.
In 2009, the same awards were also presented with the exception of the Prudential one.

This year's Award was held on Saturday 2nd October 2010, at the Copthorne Hotel.
President S R Nathan was the Guest of Honour.
The Master of Ceremony was again Mr Gold 90.5...Brian Richmond, my special friend.
It was a memorable night for one and all.
I'll have more pics and reports in coming posts.


L to R:
Jim Then, Chua Bee Tin, Lo Kwok Kwong, POSB Rep,
Gerard Ee C3A Chief, President SR Nathan, CEO Ronnie Tay IDA, Amy Chua,
Betty Wee, Zaleha Bte Akbar Ali, William Liu

Photos: Unk Dicko's archives


From CNA news online:
Seven senior citizens honoured with Active Agers Awards
By Lynda Hong and Milton Sau Posted: 02 October 2010 2117 hrs

Seven senior citizens honoured with Active Agers Awards

SINGAPORE :
Seven senior citizens were honoured with this year's Active Agers Awards. President SR Nathan gave out the awards to the recipients who exemplify active living. Retirement is not a word usually associated with the beginning of an exciting journey. But for Betty Wee, a retired teacher, that marked the start of a new chapter in her life.


"I've always been interested in arts, culture, fashion, music, paintings, heritage, history, nature but they were just in the background. But now, I can go into it full speed, you can say I'm diving into it," said Betty, a recipient of the Active Ager of the Year award.
Betty now spends most of her time volunteering as a guide in various places around Singapore. From national parks to museums, this is the start of her never-ending journey of discovery.
Betty said:
"Don't stop learning, because it is an ongoing journey. You never know what you will branch out into during your pursuit of learning a particular thing, and that's what happened to me."

For the first time, the Council for Third Age also presented the POSB ACTIVE Award, bagged by 64-year-old Jim Then Cai. The award is given to one who practices sound money management and is adept at using modern-day conveniences such as ATMs, Internet banking and credit cards.
For Jim, making the move from the financial investment industry into counselling allowed him to meet different people.
He said:
"When I was in the investment, I work with people whom you would call the high flyers. "When I move into the Family Service Centre, I worked with the other continuum of the society, people who don't have (enough), and I think that's a learning (point) for me about the world that we live in. And that also changed my value & beliefs, and my philosophical view of life."
Jim is also an avid brisk walker. In his free time, he likes to relax with his family and keep up with current affairs.
"I will never miss Channel NewsAsia for what's happening in the day. When I don't get that piece of news, I feel that I'm lost in the world, disconnected with the world. I must know what's happening around me to update myself, to be current," said Jim.
Not one to stand still, Jim is now currently pursuing a specialist diploma in Health and Promotion at Nanyang Polytechnic.


The Active Agers Infocomm Champion Award 2010 went to Lo Kwok Kwong, 69. Other Active Agers Awards recipients are Chua Bee Tin, 62; Amy Chua Seok Keng, 71; William Liu, 62; and Zaleha Bte Akbar Ali, 62.
- CNA