Bishan-Toa Payoh residents sweat it out together

Some 2,500 residents from the Bishan-Toa Payoh constituency got together to sweat it out at a community sports festival yesterday.

They were joined by their Members of Parliament, who included Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen and Senior Minister of State for Finance and Transport Josephine Teo.

The MPs took part in the workout, which featured zumba exercises followed by a mass walk and a hula hoop race.

Event organisers also included football, beach volleyball and basketball games in the hope of boosting residents' interest in sport.

There will be 14 similar festivals running islandwide until the end of next month, featuring activities like mini table tennis and archery tag. Community sports clubs under the People's Association, which are organising the festivals, hope to attract people of varying sporting abilities and backgrounds.

Speaking after the workout, Dr Ng encouraged his residents to keep fit. He said: "I hope that we can be the kind of community that stays active and stays together, like how President Tony Tan envisioned in his address yesterday."

This article was published on May 18 in The Straits Times.

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