10 June 2008
As part of National Family Celebrations‘08, Cathay Cineplexes is pleased to partner the Regional Training and Resource Centre in Early Childhood Care and Education for Asia (RTRC Asia) and launch the Cathay Kids’ Challenge today at Cathay Cineplex Downtown East. This is a continuing effort of Cathay Cineplexes’ support of Pro Family Business Initiatives of which Cathay Cineplexes began to get involved in 2006 and was awarded the Pro Family Business Mark by the Ministry of Community Development, Youth & Sports.
Says Suhaimi Rafdi, Chief Executive Officer of Cathay Organisation Holdings, “Going to the movies has been the most popular form of family entertainment since cinemas were first introduced in Singapore. We would like to continue to encourage this activity which the family can enjoy together thus Cathay Cineplexes has been introducing more family oriented promotions to make it more affordable for the families. And now, we have taken it a step further by including a small educational element for the family cinema goers, particularly for the children. We hope to make going to the movies even more entertaining & interactive for families.”
Cathay Cineplexes has taken the support of pro family business initiatives a little further with the Cathay Kids’ Challenge which is a programme to encourage interaction between parents and their children by going to the movies as a family unit and engaging in an educational activity which has been specially developed for Cathay by RTRC Asia, one of the designated training providers for the parent education in pre-school programme under the MCYS.
RTRC Asia provides the educational boost in the Cathay Kids’ Challenge programme. A leading trainer for pre-school teachers in Singapore and the Asia-Pacific region, RTRC Asia developed a customized set of worksheets based on the Kung Fu Panda movie, exclusively for the use of parent and child patrons in Cathay Cineplexes.
The worksheets are the brainchild of Ms Lynn Heng, RTRC Asia’s Assistant Director. With over 17 years of experience and a Masters of Science in Early Childhood Education, Ms Heng developed the worksheets with the aim of fostering positive parent-child relationships and greater parental involvement – both of which enhance the development of young children. Ms Heng said, “Going to the movies is a popular pastime of many families with young children. We hope that a well-chosen family-friendly movie, coupled with the activities suggested, will help parents and children enjoy, discuss, learn and bond together more closely.”
RTRC Asia will continue to explore future collaborations with Cathay Cineplexes, as Cathay Kids’ Challenge continues with other movies this year.
Four family friendly film titles will be selected for this programme from now till end of 2008. The idea is to encourage parents to work with the children aged between 5 to 7 on answering the questions which are tailored to be educational and fun. It will help to pique the interest of the child, learn something new and most of all, do it all with mum and dad.
What’s more, the children will get rewarded. The questionnaires are to be dropped off at Cathay Cineplexes’ box office and lucky winners will be picked from all correct answers and will win Cathay Cineplex prizes such as movie premiums, popcorn and movie vouchers.
In addition to the questionnaires, RCTC has also developed an exercise programme for younger children. These exercises help children learn more about themselves and parts of their bodies, as well as body management and control. As children model their behaviour on what they observe from their parents, parents are strongly encouraged to do the daily workout together with their children.
Also as part of the Cathay Kids’ Challenge, Cathay Cineplex Downtown East will be conducting popcorn making workshops and also backroom tours of the projector rooms where parents can attend together with their children on Mondays, Tuesdays & Thursdays at 10am.
The programme kicks off with the first selected family friendly film, Kung Fu Panda. Some 160 parents and children benefitting from the NTUC Childcare Bright Horizons Trust Fund (please see Annex A for more information) have been invited to the launch and film screening today. Kindly gracing the occasion is Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon, Minister of State for Community Development, Youth & Sports.
Other family friendly programmes at Cathay Cineplexes include Mom & Tots which is a special promotion from Mondays to Fridays at all Cathay Cineplexes. A child aged 7 or below can enjoy free entry to a PG or G rated movie screened before 2pm when they are accompanied by a parent or guardian. Kids’ Zones will be set up during Mom & Tots days at The Cathay Cineplex and Cathay Cineplex Cineleisure Orchard and the screens in the lobby areas will feature children’s programmes. Cathay Cineplexes has also developed a children’s menu specifically available during Mom & Tots programme.
Cathay Cineplexes currently offers the Party-of-4 deal where a family of four can enjoy 4 movie tickets and 2 popcorn combos for a special price of $43.60 (UP $53.60). Students watching a movie at Cathay Cineplexes get to enjoy a special ticket price of $6 on weekdays, including during the school holidays. Grandparents are not forgotten as Senior Citizens get to watch a movie at just $4.
Cathay Cineplexes will continually offer new family-friendly promotions and explore interesting avenues to enhance the movie-going experience for families.
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