History
The SYF was first launched on 18 July 1967 by then President of Singapore Yusof Ishak, and was initially a two-week affair involving 24,000 students that year. The launch was part of a drive at that time to "cultivate the human resource" as espoused by then Minister for Education Ong Pang Boon, although nation-building agendas were not too distant. The SYF Art and Crafts Exhibition was introduced in 1968, and local compositions by youths were showcased, such as the composition by Cerise Lim, then a Secondary 3 Methodist Girls' School student which was performed in 1969. Sports was also featured, such as the Track and Field championships which were held since 1967.
The festival grew every year in scale, until complains that it was over-emphasised in place of academics led to its scaling down to a one-night event in 1975. The event's programme ballooned again soon after, however. Drama was introduced in 1976, the Singapore Youth Orchestra was featured in 1980, and the Choral Festival became part of the programme in 1990. Public performances at locations such as the National Museum of Singapore, the Chinese Garden, the Jurong Bird Park and shopping malls such as Parkway Parade were introduced from 1991. A mass jog was held in 1992, the Youth Flying Club was featured in 1996, and the National Heritage Trail was introduced in 1997.
In 1994, the SYF was elevated as an official national-level event, and the festival was expanded to include youths in tertiary institutions, youth groups and clubs, the National Youth Council and the People's Association. Corporate partnerships were also forged to help finance public performances and to sponsor prizes for key events, such as the cash incentive prizes for the Best Display Band Competition and the Best Drum Major award which was sponsored by Royal Dutch Shell.
In more recent years, the SYF emphasised theme-based festivals, such as "Opening Hearts" in 2002. It also reached out to include youths with special needs, with the Singapore School of the Deaf, the Tanglin Special School and the Delta Senior School being involved since 2002, and it was involved in fund-raising efforts for the President's Challenge in the same year.
Read more about this topic: Singapore Youth Festival
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