The Third World Kindness Movement Conference , Singapore The Singapore Kindness Movement (SKM) organised the Third Conference of the World Kindness Movement (WKM) in Singapore. A plenary session for WKM members and delegates was held on 17 November at the Ministry of Information and the Arts Building The official ceremony and conference proper was held on Saturday, 18 November 2000, 9.00 am at the Westin Hotel, Westin Stamford Ballroom. 4th level. The event was officiated by President S R Nathan.
The objectives of the WKM Conference are:
- To raise awareness of the World Kindness Movement
- To share ideas and experiences of kindness programmes in different countries
- To increase membership and to provide opportunities for members to network among themselves.
DAY 1
The Conference was held over two days. A plenary session for WKM members and delegated was held on the first day at MITA Building. Members discussed three papers prepared by the SKM secretariat. They were:
1. The adoption of the Cosmos flower as the official flower of the WKM.
In 1988 , the Cosmos bipinnatus flower was adopted as the flower of the Japanese Small Kindness Movement proposed that the WKM adopt the Cosmos flower as well. This was tabled for discussion and adoption.
2. The official implementation of a WKM logo and guidelines on its usage.
The guidelines on the WKM logo deals with its proper usage in relation to a WKM member's publications, collateral, funding projects and kindness activities.
3. The adoption of the draft constitution of the WKM.
The constitution touches on the vision, mission and procedural guidelines of the Movement. It also deals with issues such as the structure of the organisation, the formation of a WKM secretariat, decision making and voting procedures, membership and funding.
DAY 2
President S R Nathan's presence as Guest-of-Honour brought grace and significance to the official ceremony at the Westin Stamford. The warm and enthusiastic participation of the 600-strong audience also made it a memorable occasion. The highlight was the launch of the new WKM web site by President Nathan. SKM's new corporate video was also premiered. The Angklung group from Raffles Girls' Secondary School. The Guzheng orchestra from Dunman High School, and the Tabla ensemble from the Indian Classical Music Centre entertained the audience with their excellence performances.
Various WKM members also presented their kindness movements. The list of eloquent WKM speakers included Mr Ueno Akira from Japan's Small Kindness Movement; Mr Will Glennon, from the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation of the United States of America; Ms Debbie Riopel from the Canadian Kindness Movement Foundation; Mr Brian Willis, from the Australian kindness Movement and Mrs Margery Bruce from Kindness Scotland. In the afternoon, participants witnessed the 'Kindness Tree' (Samanea (Enterolobium) planting ceremony at the Marina City Park. The Guest-of-Honour was Mr Sidek Saniff, Senior Minister of State for the Environment. Jointly organised with the National Youth Achievement Award Council, the event was also witnessed by a 20-strong school contingent, which pledged to perform kind acts regularly in the four official languages of Singapore - English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil.
The delegates were impressed by SKM's organisational abilities. As Ms Nadine Marshall of KindActs, Canada, commented, " Being very familiar with what it takes to organise events, I can well image the tremendous amount of time and energy that it took to pull together an event of this scope. The professionalism of the conference, and your attention to detail, organisational 'savoir-faire' and generous hospitality, made this conference not only successful but incredibly special."
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