(2024) 13 people with disabilities honoured at 2024 Goh Chok Tong Enable Awards
The awardees of the 2024 Goh Chok Tong Enable Awards with President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong on Dec 3, 2024.
SINGAPORE: Thirteen people with disabilities were honoured on Tuesday (Dec 4) at the 2024 Goh Chok Tong Enable Awards (GCTEA).
The awards ceremony was attended by guest of honour President Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong and Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Social and Family Development and Culture, Community and Youth Eric Chua.
Launched in 2019, the GCTEA is a key initiative of the Goh Chok Tong Enable Fund (GCTEF) that provides opportunities to persons with disabilities to actively contribute to society and lead socially integrated lives through providing financial aid, supporting aspirations and conferring awards. The community fund is administered by SG Enable and supported by Mediacorp.
Speaking at the ceremony at Marina Bay Sands, Mr Chua applauded the award recipients for their hard work and resilience, and encouraged attendees to continue building a more inclusive society.
“There are no limits to what persons with disabilities can achieve when given the right opportunities and support. As a society, we must deepen our collective commitment to build a more compassionate and inclusive Singapore,” he said
However, Mr Chua highlighted that more must be done to bridge gaps in the community that affect persons with disabilities.
“There (remain) areas where we as a community must and should continue to make progress on. And we can do more to improve public attitudes towards persons with disabilities, especially at workplaces, and towards those with less visible disabilities, such as intellectual (disabilities) and autism.”
The GCTEA comprises two categories: The GCTEA (Achievement) category which celebrates persons with disabilities who have made significant achievements in their own fields and served as an inspiration to others, and the GCTEA (Promise) category which recognises awardees for their potential and commitment to serve the community.
Team Singapore Boccia Athlete Jeralyn Tan is one of the awardees of the Goh Chok Tong Enable Awards on Dec 3, 2024. (Photo: CNA/Lim Li Ting)
PARALYMPIANS IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Ten individuals, including Paralympian Jeralyn Tan, were awarded GCTEA (Promise) awards and S$5,000 (US$3,710).
“I was surprised that I won the award. I’ve never won such awards before so it’s a first time for me. I’m very grateful and blessed, and I feel proud that I’ve done a good job,” Ms Tan told CNA.
Ms Tan, who was nominated by the Singapore Disability Sports Council for the award, clinched a boccia silver for Singapore at the Paris Paralympics in September – the country’s first medal in the sport.
Despite being diagnosed with spastic quadriplegia – the most severe form of cerebral palsy – when she was six months old, Ms Tan never let the condition stop her from pursuing her goals. She started playing boccia in 2002 when she picked up the sport as a student at the Cerebral Palsy Alliance Singapore (CPAS) School.
She has clinched numerous medals over the years, including a bronze at the 2022 ASEAN Para Games and a silver at the 2023 event.
With training for the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympics already kicking off, Ms Tan is determined to do even better.
“I feel happy to bring back the silver medal to Singapore. I want to work harder for the next Paralympics,” she said, adding that she is striving to be more composed during the next competition.
“I was nervous during the games so I will be working with my team on how to keep calm.”
Paralympian Maximillian Tan is one of the awardees of the Goh Chok Tong Enable Awards on Dec 3, 2024. (Photo: CNA/Lim Li Ting)
Mr Maximillian Tan, 37, was another Paralympian who shared the stage with Ms Tan.
The Team Singapore para-equestrian was born with cerebral palsy and started horse-riding lessons as a form of physiotherapy.
He had previously represented the country at London in 2012, Rio in 2016 and Tokyo in 2020, but told CNA he missed out on Paris this year as he is “still in the process of finding the right horse” after retiring his former partner in 2020.
“An athlete without disabilities can use their legs to direct the horse, but I have to use two whips to signal my horse on each side. Some horses are very sensitive to it, so it takes time to find a horse that is comfortable,” Mr Tan explained.
Nevertheless, he is determined to get back in the saddle to compete again, and encouraged aspiring para-athletes to take bold steps to achieve their goals.
“You celebrate victory, but you learn much more from defeat. It’s something that they have to be prepared for. If you’re prepared to commit, all you need is the right mindset and to keep going. You will eventually get there,” he said.
Motor Neurone Disease Association Singapore co-founder Toh Kok Peng was one of the awardees at this year’s Goh Chok Tong Enable Awards. (Photo: CNA/Lim Li Ting)
USING TECHNOLOGY TO BRIDGE THE GAP
GCTEA (Promise) award recipients also included those that drove innovation to better the lives of persons with disabilities, such as 40-year-old Toh Kok Peng.
Diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in 2020, Mr Toh is the co-founder of the Motor Neurone Disease Association Singapore (MNDa Singapore), which strives to improve the lives of patients with motor neurone diseases (MND) and their families through assistive technology.
“This community provides patients and caregivers a space to share and address any issues they are facing, as well as provide support to one another. We also raised funds to create some programmes to aid patients,” he told CNA.
Mr Toh took months to come to terms with his diagnosis, finding it the most difficult to accept the inexorable decline of his body.
“I went from being a physically fit and active person, one who ran marathons and was independent, to one who needs help for all the physical aspects of my life,” he recounted.
“I was fortunate that I was diagnosed quite early in my condition, so I was able to prepare myself for the difficult journey ahead.”
Mr Toh uses an augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) device controlled by his eye movements to communicate with those around him. This device gave him the opportunity to work for another three years despite his declining fine and gross motor skills.
“Technology has evolved significantly in the past few years, and I am thankful that I am able to leverage on technology to regain some independence in my life, such as communicating with others using my computer, despite my disabilities,” he said.
He now encourages others with similar conditions to do the same after kick-starting a programme at MNDa that loans out eye-tracking AAC devices to those who cannot afford them.
“We wanted to address the gaps that we experienced after diagnosis, due to the rarity of this condition in this country. We wanted to create more awareness for the condition and bring everyone whose lives have been impacted by MND together in one community,” he said.
OTHER AWARD RECIPIENTS
Three individuals were awarded GCTEA (Achievement) awards and received S$10,000, one of whom was Ms Cassandra Chiu, the first female guide dog handler in Singapore.
The 45-year-old was diagnosed with Stargardt’s disease at the age of eight and experienced progressive vision loss which led to blindness.
Currently the executive director of K9Assistance and president of the Disabled People’s Association (DPA), Ms Chiu is a strong advocate for disability empowerment and championing disability inclusion.
The DPA will also receive S$5,000 as the nominating organisation in Cassandra’s journey.
Ms Cassandra Chiu, the first woman in Singapore to use a guide dog, receiving the Goh Chok Tong Enable Award (Achievement) on Dec 3, 2024. (Photo: CNA/Lim Li Ting)
The other two awardees under this category were Mr Andrew Tay, a Singapore Sign Language (SgSL) specialist with disability consultancy firm Equal Dreams, and Mr Pek Kian Aik, assistant vice president of Deutsche Bank and vice president of HWA, formerly known as Handicaps Welfare Association.
Also in attendance at the ceremony was Mediacorp CEO Tham Loke Kheng.
“We are privileged to join in the celebration of the awardees today to recognise their outstanding accomplishments in their respective fields. Their unwavering dedication and resilience serve as an inspiration to us all, and we hope that everyone will join us in applauding their achievements,” Ms Tham said.
The Goh Chok Tong Enable Fund is a community fund that aims to provide persons with disabilities the opportunities to actively contribute to society and lead socially integrated lives through providing financial aid, supporting aspirations and conferring awards to recognise the achievements and potential of persons with disabilities.
The Fund is administered by SG Enable and supported by Mediacorp. ESM Goh Chok Tong is the Patron of the GCTEF. To support persons with disabilities through the GCTEF, please visit GCTEnableFund.sg.
Source: CNA/cj(kg)
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