2^nd Family Day at Mempari Beach, Sentosa

The legal fraternity held its second Family Day on 4 September 2004 at Mempari beach in Sentosa. The theme for the day was ‘Apache Challenge’ with members and their loved ones segregated into two teams, each identified by their distinctive tiger/leopard skin head/arm bandanas.

As they say in soccer or and other sports, ‘Never change a winning team/formula’, so the Committee decided, based on the success of the first Family Day last year, to reprise similar activities, including the henna stall, face painting, inflated castles, hole in one golf, throwing the lasso on the cowboy horse, kicking a soccer ball through a hole, free flow of candy floss, pop corn and simply irresistible ice cream.

It was a delight to see so many of our members’ children enjoying themselves thoroughly. What made it even more enjoyable for the children was the fact that they knew they could play at each station to their hearts’ content without having to pay for each attempt, unlike at other fun fairs. The children were rewarded for each successful attempt with tokens of small gifts which made them all the more determined to permanently queue at stalls where they could win easily. The children’s avid participation at the various stalls, drenching themselves at the beach or with the toy water guns, running amok on the inflated castles, munching insatiably on pop-corn and candy floss were a testimony to the event being a resounding success. Not to mention the balloon sculptor churning out animal shaped balloons to the little ones’ delight. It gave the Social and Welfare Committee which organised the event, a sense of satisfaction to see the children having a great time.

There was also a ‘BBC show’ performed by an Englishman — a comedy act of hilarious stunts which drew laughs from both adults and children. Another highlight was a magic show with lots of birds appearing and disappearing to the amusement and fascination of the little ones. Stage contests were also held for adults and children who participated with much glee.

Following the shows were telematches at the beach. The two tribes were led by their ‘She-Indian Head Chiefs’, Ms Helen Chia whose team wore tiger skin bandanas and Ms A Sharma whose team donned leopard skin bandanas. The telematches ended in a tie and the winning team from the last game of Tug of War was declared the overall winner, that being Ms Helen Chia’s tribe.

As evening drew closer, with the children showing signs of fatigue, the pace of the activities slowed down and everyone started looking forward to the sumptuous barbecue buffet dinner. The dinner spread was a combination of local and western food and in keeping with the theme, the two She-Indian Chiefs lighted the camp fire.

During dinner, children were called onto the stage to perform several dances and the ever popular game, musical chairs, was played. Latecomers were not forgotten and had to perform a ‘Raindance’. It was comical seeing the adults dancing one after another to the rhythm of music made by a group of three women.

After dinner and having ‘recharged their batteries’ the children made a beeline for a stall giving out luminous colourful plastic tubes which could be shaped into bangles, bracelets or necklaces. The event organisers were mindful of the needs of the young children and took care to stagger the events to avoid any risk of heat stroke/sunburn or exhaustion. The positive response from participants to the event was heartwarming and some members took the opportunity to book into Hotel Rasa Sentosa to stay for the night whilst others stayed behind to enjoy the ebb and flow of the tide, sitting by the campfire chatting with friends.

Anuradha Sharma

Social and Welfare Committee

The Law Society of Singapore