The Singapore Olympic Foundation (SOF) – Peter Lim Scholarship sets out to help promising, youth athletes who face financial constraints to chase their sporting dreams and provide financial support to high-performing athletes so that they can focus on achieving sporting excellence.
In addition, it aims to cultivate a healthy interest in sports among at-risk youth so as to encourage them to live better through sports. To achieve this third aim, the SOF – Peter Lim Scholarship has invited sporting giants from Lewis Hamilton to Pepe, Luis Nani, Jose Mourinho, Mark Foster, Radamel Falcao, Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville and Nicky Butt to Singapore to meet and inspire the youth in Singapore.
On 3 July 2013, another legend joined the illustrious list of SOF – Peter Lim Scholarship’s ambassadors – Cristiano Ronaldo. The Real Madrid forward and skipper of the Portuguese national team visited Crest Secondary School and its first cohort of 200 students to help raise awareness of the SOF – Peter Lim Scholarship and to inspire the students to strive to qualify for the scholarship which gives out S$2,000 per annum to deserving athletes from humble backgrounds and S$10,000 per annum to high-performing athletes.
Ronaldo likened the life-changing opportunities offered by the SOF – Peter Lim Scholarship to the opportunities he had had when he was signed on by a local club, Nacional, and subsequently, one of the top 3 football clubs in Portugal, Sporting. The star striker encouraged the students present to have faith in themselves and aim to have a better future by striving to qualify for the Scholarship.
“When Peter invited me to come here, it was a pleasure for me, you know to encourage these young boys because it was kind of he same in my career. I started since I was 11 years old. It is good to see the boys here, to encourage them to have a better future, for them to believe in themselves because everyone in life has opportunity and I wish them all the best.”
Set up in 2013, Crest Secondary School is the first of two Specialized Schools for Normal (Technical) (SSNT) students and provides a customized curriculum to suit the learning needs of it students. “The term ‘Crest’ underlines the school’s aim of helping it’s student develop and rise to their potential in a persistent and sustained way consistently building on their successes over time, as well as helping its students acquire the values and social-emotional competencies needed to succeed in post-secondary education, and eventually in employment and in life.” (Source: MOE Press Release, 10 April 2012.)
To help Crest Secondary realize its vision, the Peter Lim Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS) was set up this year with an initial sum of S$250,000 donation from Mr Peter Lim. The donated funds will go towards paying for the students; meal vouchers, transportation, shoes and uniforms, as well as learning materials such as books, stationery and calculators, To date, more than 50% of the student population in Crest have benefited from the Peter Lim FAS.
In addition, to set up and offer football as a co-curricular activity in the school, Mr Lim has committed to donating S$24,000 per annum in 2013 and 2014. The 2-year commitment is aligned with his belief that being actively engaged in sport is beneficial to the character development of our youth, allowing them to have good, clean fun while building their self-confidence resilience and discipline to face life’s many challenges.
The financial support will go towards setting up and maintaining the football program me, as well as investing in football equipment and kit for the football team. During Ronaldo’s visit, the 6-month-old football team received two more priceless opportunities, They were not only given tips on how to do well int he sport from the pro, but also had a chance to take a group photo with the world’s top footballer.
The Portuguese star also field questions from the young footballers and the general student population. When asked what his best move was, he gamely demonstrated some of his best, with the crowd roaring in appreciation .None was more awe-struck then the captain and vice-captain of the school’s football team. For a minute or so, they had a kickabout with the football star who then finished the session with a dazzling display of his juggling skills.
When asked why he was very good at football, Ronaldo was modest and replied that it was for others to judge. In response, the audience broke into loud cheers. While clearly appreciative of the students’ thunderous applause, the Portuguese quickly turned serious and took great pains to explain how his work ethics and personal philosophy had got him to where he was, He knew that the young audience was hanging on to his every word and he had the power to influence them in a positive way.
“I always prepare (for a game) in the same way. It doesn’t matter which team I’m going to play against. I always try to be a very good professional – try to sleep well healthy, train hard – I think this is the main key. And to show my capacity in each game. I think this is important: don’t be afraid to show who you area and try to help the team Try to win all the time… Basically, when I encouraged the football team, my encouragement is for everyone and it is believe in yourselves, don’t be afraid of anything. Just like what I always say, we must have courage. I think it’s important for everyone to have courage.”
Mr Frederic Yeo, Principal of Crest Secondary School, expressed his gratitude to Mr Peter Lim for organizing the visit to promote the SOF – Peter Lim Scholarship. “Crest Secondary School deeply appreciates the strong partnership with Mr Peter Lim Mr Lim’s support for needy students and development of the the students, and has made coming to school a meaningful and engaging experience for them. The rare opportunity of having Mr Cristiano Ronaldo visit the school to inspire the students to realize their sporting dreams is a prime example underlining Mr Lim’s staunch commitment to youth development in Singapore in particular Crest Secondary School.”
12 thoughts on “Cristiano Ronaldo Visits Crest Secondary School”