13 March 2012 (Singapore) – Paintball may sound like a game for the young generation being typically described with words like adrenaline-rushing, fast-paced and crazy fun. NTUC Eldercare folks proved the stereotype thinking rather wrong on 13 March 2012. 40 young-hearted senior citizens stomped Red Dynasty Paintball Park with a great sense of determination and a tinge of curiosity – being curious on what exactly paintball is and whether they can do what the young people are doing too.
Paintball is a team sports which involves specific skills sets in shooting and athletic ability. It is typically played in teams of 5 persons with a roster of up to 7-10 persons in a standard-sized field. The objective for each team is to eliminate the opponents through shooting paintballs which mark the opponents and capturing the flag to win the game. Competitively, it is a sports that is played in over 40 countries in the world and, recreationally, in over 60 countries. In Singapore, this game can be played at Red Dynasty Paintball Park located in Bottle Tree Park which is famous for its live seafood, fishing activities, corporate venue for major events and kampong-style concept village.
Red Dynasty Paintball Park organized a unique event – NTUC Eldercare Paintball Challenge 2012 – for the members of the centre under NTUC Eldercare which takes care of a group of senior citizens. In collaboration with Bottle Tree Park, this event is a reflection of the strong commitment of both organizations in helping the less fortunate. As an initiative in corporate social responsibility, Red Dynasty Paintball Park hopes to promote the values of voluntarism and proactivity in encouraging active aging among the paintball community.
About 40 senior citizens signed up for NTUC Eldercare Paintball Challenge 2012 and stepped into a paintball park for the first time for all of the participants. The participants were shown around and briefed on the rules of paintball challenge. Once the challenge started, the participants got all excited about the idea of shooting paintballs and displayed eager faces. The participants with the higher scores began sharing tips on how to shoot better while the rest were more interested in cheering their friends on. The top shooter of the NTUC Eldercare Paintball Challenge 2012 was an unsuspecting, kind-looking female Malay elderly above 60 years old, beating the rest of the participants including her male counterparts by a clear margin.
In support of Vision 2030, the adapted paintball program launched by Red Dynasty Paintball Park aims to help more senior citizens to stay connected and engaged through sports, and, most importantly, to stay active. Given the success of the first event with NTUC Eldercare, more events of similar nature targeting the senior citizens may take place at Red Dynasty Paintball Park to build it a choice venue for sports engagement for the senior citizens, working class adults, youth and the less fortunate in the Singapore society. Let’s share the love!
Article by Jane Koh
Red Dynasty Paintball Park
www.weplaypaintball.com
