Kids learn through play. And parents could learn to play better with themEDUCATION AND SCHOOLSPARENTING We have been experiencing some problems with subscriber log-ins and apologise for the inconvenience caused. Until we resolve the issues, subscribers need not log in to access ST Digital articles. But a log-in is still required for our PDFs.Each child could pick only two toys from a "toy buffet". Despite being faced with many choices, Sengkang Primary School pupil Cheng Siew Ying had already planned to give one toy to her cousin. "I don't always get toys, so I'm very happy to be here because I get to choose what I want," Siew Ying, 11, told The New Paper. The Primary 5 pupil was one of more than 2,500 needy children from 45 schools and welfare homes who got their fill of toys and games at the annual Toy Buffet on Friday. The event, which is in its 13th year, was organised by Food From The Heart (FFTH), a non-profit organisation that helps the less fortunate through a food distribution programme.
Yesterday's event was hosted at Maris Stella High School and is the largest one held to date. ViewsSkills deepening: Crux is bringing strategy to life In the end, Siew Ying picked up the game Connect 4 and some soft toys, which would go to her baby cousin. She lives with her two older siblings and mother, a housewife who earns some income by taking care of Siew Ying's little cousin. The event aimed to bring joy to underprivileged children by giving them toys and the chance to have some playtime, said FFTH executive director Anson Quek. He told The New Paper: "We want the children to feel special, enjoy a fun-filled day and go home with toys of their choice." Another Sengkang Primary pupil, Darylyn Tan, 11, who picked up a scooter and an accessory maker, told TNP that she does not get to buy toys often as they are expensive. She said: "My mother works very hard for the family. When I go home, I will use the accessory maker to make accessories for her."
About 600 corporate and student volunteers were also at the event. The volunteers included Primary 3 pupils from Maris Stella High School, who said they were eager to help out. Some admitted they were not aware that there were children in Singapore who could not afford to buy toys. "I hope through this, we're able to show love and joy to the children," said volunteer Christian Lee. Presenting sponsor NTUC Fairprice Co-operative said its greatest wish was to make the event enjoyable for the kids. Mr Tng Ah Yiam, NTUC Fairprice Co-operative's deputy CEO of merchandising, said: "We have the resources and network, so why not use it to help the less fortunate?" A spokesman for corporate sponsor Dell Technologies, which donated about 3,000 toys, said: "We brought in toys such as bicycles, and Lego and board games to ensure that the kids will be able to share the joy with their siblings." My mother works very hard for the family. When I go home, I will use the accessory maker to make accessories for her.
SQUEEZED between the boutique cafés and posh handbag shops in a Singapore shopping mall, Joey Tan is offering something very different, even radical, to the city-state’s consumers: play. Her shop, a franchise of “bricks4kids”, is selling classes for children to play with Lego bricks, and her idea is clearly taking off.Her initial outlet, the first in South-East Asia for the American franchiser, opened only in January, but already Ms Tan has opened two more and has several others in the pipeline. She has been invited to give Lego classes in schools, and has been prepping potential bricks4kids franchisees from elsewhere in the region.Ms Tan says that she had to overcome some scepticism at first. After all, she lives in the homeland of the “tiger mum”. Asking parents to pay extra for their kids to learn to play with coloured bricks flies in the face of some deeply held values. Singapore’s children, like those in Asia’s other aspirational societies, are often whisked off after school to yet more classes—in music, maths, anything traditional and serious-sounding—to keep them away from play, synonymous in their parents’ minds with idleness and failing exams.
Yet Ms Tan had a hunch that for a younger generation of parents, born in the 1980s, those prejudices in favour of piano-bashing and rote learning might be waning. She believes that these younger pussycat mums might instead appreciate their children learning the creativity, teamwork and problem-solving that, she argues, come from playing with Lego.The Danish firm that makes the coloured bricks certainly agrees with her. Lego has been enjoying extraordinary growth in Asia, much more so than in the rest of the world. Jorgen Vig Knudstorp, its chief executive, attributes this success directly to the well-documented rise of an Asian middle class (who can afford such a relatively expensive toy) coupled with a new-found willingness of these parents to let their children learn through play.All the bricks in ChinaAfter a strong 2012, Lego’s sales to Asian consumers have risen by 35% so far this year, outperforming the Asian toy market by a factor of five. Sales have grown by 70% in China, 35% in South Korea and 20% in Singapore.
The company will start building its first factory in China next year. Anything associated with Lego seems to flourish in Asia at the moment. The year-old Legoland theme park in Malaysia, just across the border with Singapore, is Asia’s first. Run by Merlin, an entertainment group which floated successfully on the London stockmarket on November 8th, it has already had 1m visitors.James Button of SmithStreet, a business consultancy in Shanghai, says Lego has found a receptive audience among some Asian governments, which agree with pussycat mums that traditional Asian education techniques do not foster the creativity and independent thinking that are increasingly needed in the modern global economy. The firm has teamed up with the Chinese government to open officially sponsored after-school Lego centres. There are now 20 of these in China, and over 100 in South Korea.The lesson for toymakers is that in the Asian market fun alone may not be enough if they are to persuade parents to buy their products.