M1’s long-term
support of the arts
in partnership with
The Necessary Stage
and the Singapore
Repertory Theatre,
another leading
theatre group, led
to it being conferred
the Distinguished
Patron of the Arts
award for the Eighth
consecutive year.
The M1 Singapore Fringe Festival kicked
off the arts calendar in Singapore in
January and also marked the start
of another year of sponsorship and
community activities that formed the
core
of M1’s corporate
responsibility
programme.
The fifth edition of the festival in
2009 presented the best of cutting-edge
and socially engaged works by
Singaporean and international artists to
an enthusiastic and receptive audience
which has cultivated a taste for the
unique curatorial style of the festival
organiser, The Necessary Stage (TNS).
In the following months, another
leading theatre company, the Singapore
Repertory Theatre (SRT), enlivened the
local stage with Shakespearean and
other more contemporary productions
that played to sell-out audiences.
Both TNS and SRT have been long-term
partners of M1 in its support of the arts
in Singapore in general and in helping
to nurture a more creative and dynamic
arts scene. As part of the nurturing
efforts, M1 also contributed to arts
institutions such as the School of the
Arts, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts
and LaSalle College of the Arts.
For sustaining its arts sponsorship
programmes in 2009, M1 was conferred
the Distinguished Patron of the Arts
award by the National
Arts Council for
the eighth
consecutive year.
In sports, M1 continued to support
the Singapore Rugby Union in
popularizing rugby in schools and
tertiary institutions. M1 ventured into
netball for the first time by partnering
Netball Singapore in its promotion of
the game in schools and at the club and national levels. M1 also participated in
the J P Morgan Corporate Challenge as
a sponsor and competitor.
Causes related to children remained the
focus of M1’s fund-raising programme
for the less privileged segments of
the community. Besides traditional
beneficiaries such as CARE (Children-at-Risk Empowerment Association),
Beyond Social Services and the Fairy
Godparent Programme, M1 also
reached out to support the Singapore
Children’s Society, Children’s Cancer
Foundation and the Spastic Children’s
Association of Singapore.
M1’s business partners and employees
were crucial partners in M1’s two major
fund-raising activities as were M1
customers who were involved in SMS
donation campaigns for the benefit of
the President’s Challenge and victims
of the Indonesian earthquake via Mercy
Relief and the Singapore
Red Cross.
Staff volunteers from the SunCare
Club complemented the corporate
programme with their personal time
and touch by organising social activities
throughout the year for the children
from the various organisations that
M1 supports.
