Singapore Kindness Movement (SKM) conducted the second edition of the Kindness Carnival, which celebrated and promoted kindness on the road through educational and fun-filled activities suitable for the whole family.
The family-friendly carnival is the first event organised by SKM to focus on kindness on the roads through various games such as the hourly circuit game where participants were reminded of good road etiquette through fun and play.
Held on 25 May (Saturday) at the Road Safety Community Park, the event also featured funfair staples like bouncy castles, hopscotch and a giant twister game to keep the children entertained, whereas volunteers cycled along East Coast Part on SGBike’s bicycles to raise awareness of the carnival and give out yellow gerberas to passer-by.
Minister of Culture, Community and Youth Grace Fu, who was the guest-of-honour at the carnival felt that such events are great in promoting a more gracious Singapore, but also said, “It is not just limited to an event, but it is for us to bring this energy that can be put to great use in shaping the kind of society we would like to see.”
In addition, new Ground-Up Movements (GUMs) and Voices of Loving Kindness (VoLKs) were also inducted into the Kindred Spirit Circle, and SKM hopes that more ground-up initiatives will be inspired to make difference in our society.
Two of the inducted VoLKs this year are television personalities, Li Nanxing and Constance Song. With their sphere of influence, these two local actors hope to contribute by promoting gracious behaviours both on the roads and in daily lives, sharing these values in their personal capacity and events that they are involved in.
“I am honoured to be recognised as a VoLK this year. A driver myself, I aim to be understanding and patient towards other road-users and will continue to spread this cause on social media,” said Song.
In addition to that, throughout the month of May, SKM also organised many different initiatives leading up to the Kindness Carnival like a social experiment titled ‘Your Grandfather’s Road’ to see if Singaporeans would help someone in need on the road.
Besides that, SKM also handed out their merchandises to drivers in five Shell stations and encouraged them to pledge their commitment to be kind to all road users, as well as partnered with Grab SG to raise awareness of Kindness Day SG by branding the car icons in the app with yellow gerberas. Apart from that, SKM’s partner Gardenia Food(s) also produced a Kindness overband on some of their products in order to gear up for the carnival.
