The Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Singapore in partnership with the High Commission of Canada in Singapore, the Canadian Association of Singapore, the Canadian Alumni Network Singapore and the Canadian Dragons Singapore hosted its annual Canada Day virtually. We had over 200 people registered for this event, which served as a nice opportunity to bid farewell to H.E. Lynn McDonald, High Commissioner of Canada to Singapore. Each of the pillars of Canada said a few words of thanks to Her Excellency, followed by a slideshow paying tribute to her five-year tenure in Singapore. H.E. Lynn McDonald continued with an address, where she acknowledged that our celebration comes at a time of great sadness, as we mourn the indigenous children who's remains were found on the sites of former residential schools in BC and Saskatchewan. Unfortunately, these incidents are not isolated. Her Excellency encouraged everyone to learn and educate themselves and their children about the rights, perspectives, rich and diverse cultures and histories of the First Nations, Métis and Inuit people in Canada. Her Excellency then asked that we all take a moment to observe a brief moment of silence.
Virtual Canada Day 2021 began with a Canada Day Kid's Quiz, hosted by quiz master, Dave Millard. He did a fantastic job incorporating many educational questions about Canada and six lucky winners walked away with Herschel bags! This was followed by an incredible live singing of O Canada, by Celeste Krochak, who we unfortunately just moved back to Canada. Next, we were joined by Canadian Lauren Sosnowsky, Senior Bartender at Atlas for a Canada Day Original Cocktail Class. This helped get everyone warmed up for the Canada Day Adult's Quiz, hosted by quiz masters Chris Beingessner and Phil Meehan. The quiz was very competitive and in true Canadian spirit, the prizes were split three ways instead of two! Next, we had the Eric Lee and his son Carter, from the Canadian Dragons Singapore, join us for a live stretch to prep us for the intense live auction that was about to take place. Daniel Lo and Tina Kim from the Canadian Alumni Network Singapore, were our wonderful auctioneers for the evening. We had 14 awesome items to auction off and we ended up raising a total of $3365.00 for the Jamiyah Food Bank, who were the beneficiaries of this year's Canada Day event. We must give a huge shout out to Canadian 2 for 1 Pizza for donating pizza to all 276 Unsung Heroes at Jamiyah Singapore! We auctioned off Canadian 2 for 1 Pizza's act of kindness during our live auction and it raised $1200 on its own! Congratulations to the Cuthbert family who won this year's Best Dressed Group!!! We hope you will enjoy your new collection of Herschel bags and wine!
We are very grateful to all of the event sponsors who have made this event possible including: Hershel Supply, Altvest Capital Partners, The American Club, The Bagel Boys, Canadian 2 for 1 Pizza, CCI APAC Knives, Crissa’s Cake Corner, Export Development Canada, Food Crayon Singapore, Ginealogy, Guilt Cookies, Heavenly Vines, HerbYvore and Singapore CAE Flight Training.
Thank you to our wonderful MC, Grant Bosnick, Second Vice-President of the Canadian Association of Singapore, for emceeing this event for the second year in a row. Finally, thank you to everyone who attended and supported this wonderful event that served as a reminder for Canadians that we must acknowledge and educate ourselves about the indigenous issues in Canada, a farewell for H.E. Lynn McDonald, who will be dearly missed, a fundraiser for a very worthy cause - Jamiyah Food Bank and a celebration/recognition of our country's national day!