Karnival Keluarga Tigape - Bringing HIV/AIDS Education Into The Community

Taman Jurong CC MAEC

17 June 2009

KARNIVAL KELUARGA TIGAPE
Bringing HIV/AIDS education into the community
 
Karnival Keluarga TigaPe, a joint effort by the Health Promotion Board (HPB), Action for AIDS (AfA) and the Taman Jurong Community Club Malay Activity Executive Committee (Taman Jurong CC MAEC), will take place on Saturday, 20 June 2009. The guest of honour for the carnival is Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, MP for Jurong GRC and Minister for Finance.

2 The theme for Karnival Keluarga TigaPe is centred on 3 P s Pemahaman, Penghalangan and Prejudis which means understanding, prevention and prejudice, particularly in relation to HIV/AIDS. The carnival will feature performances, games and activities suitable for the whole family. Messages on HIV/AIDS prevention and myths and misconceptions of HIV/AIDS will be woven into the various activities to raise awareness and encourage accepting attitudes towards HIV/AIDS.

3 According to the National Behavioural Surveillance Survey (NBSS) 2007 released by HPB, 54.1% of the respondents said that they would care for a close relative who became ill due to HIV/AIDS in their own home. However, only 22.4% and 18.2% of the respondents said that they would share a meal with a person living with HIV, or buy food from a shopkeeper or hawker living with HIV. This indicates that although one in two Singaporeans are willing to care for a close relative living with HIV, they do not, in general, exhibit the same acceptance for people living with HIV in the community.

4 Accepting attitudes towards HIV/AIDS is important for effective HIV/AIDS prevention as negative attitudes can be a barrier for the at-risk to go for testing. HPB recognises that the community plays an important role towards raising awareness and dispelling the myths surrounding HIV/AIDS. Hence, we are particularly pleased to be able to partner with Action for AIDS and the Taman Jurong Community Club Malay Activity Executive Committee to bring Karnival Keluarga TigaPe to the residents in Taman Jurong. HPB looks forward to further collaborations to help with our efforts in reaching other segments of the community, says Mr Lam Pin Woon, Chief Executive Officer, HPB.

5 Action for AIDS has been educating and creating awareness on HIV and AIDS for the past 21 years and we are adapting our outreach models by using entertainment to extend our messages of non-discrimination and acceptance . This collaboration is a follow-up to the highly successful pilot roadshow, I terima, You bagaimana? held on 20 March 2009 at the Tanjong Katong Complex. The event drew almost 1,000 people and we received a lot of positive feedback. We hope to replicate that success by moving the roadshow into the heartlands and on a bigger scale. Working with other agencies is a natural and strategic choice for us and we are delighted with our collaboration with HPB and the Taman Jurong Community Club Malay Activity Executive Committee, says Mr Lionel Lee, Executive Director, AfA.

6 This is an event that highlights the importance of social care, as we prepare the ground to raise awareness and encourage accepting attitudes towards HIV/AIDS. I would like to thank the Health Promotion Board (HPB) and Action for Aids (AFA) for their enormous contribution to this event. The body of work that we have co-produced the concert, the seminar session, ideas has been prodigious and impressive, says Mr Zainal Abiddin Kassim, Chairman of Taman Jurong CC MAEC.
 

I terima, You bagaimana? translates into I accept, what about you? . The edu-tainment concert, focused around HIV/AIDS education, featured songs, stage dialogue, and skits performed by popular artistes like Adi Rahman and Nek Jah, and highlighted messages on prevention, myths and misconceptions, and destigmatization. The concert was organised by Action for AIDS and supported by the Health Promotion Board.