Benjamin Kheng and Shazza dazzle attendees, 12-year-old singer draws crowd on second day of SG60 It's Giving Fest

CNA

14-07-2025

It's Giving Fest, a youth-driven initiative organised by Gov.sg as part of SG60 celebrations, wrapped up its second and final day at *SCAPE on Sunday (Jul 13) with a bang – saving some of its biggest highlights for last.
The night wrapped up with Mediacorp's Cloud 9 music festival, featuring performances from Benjamin Kheng and Shazza, among others. On the first day of the event, attendees were treated to performances by Lullaboy, Tasha Low and even a surprise song from Tyler Ten.
It's Giving Fest was organised to spotlight the voices, dreams and aspirations of Singapore's youth while empowering them to take action in social and community initiatives.
Sunday's festivities started strong with the daytime activities, which included the celebrity telematch, a ticketed event featuring local celebs Desmond Tan, Annette Lee, Sonia Chew, Richie Koh, Zhang Ze Tong, Das, among others, dressed in school uniforms for the 'Back to School: Class Clash Showdown', where they competed in a series of five games.
Once the telematch was over, fans spotted the 'students' snapping a picture outside the Marquee, the concert tent, and rushed to grab pictures and videos.
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Later, some members of Desmond Tan's fan club even queued to snag a picture with the actor, who was a Top 10 Most Popular Male Artistes winner at the recent Star Awards.
In the tent, similar to the first day, the local talent show featured eight original short films and five songs around the theme "Building Our Singapore Together". These works were created by youths under the SG60 Flex Your Passion Mentorship Programme, where they were guided by industry mentors.
One of the short films featured, titled Egg Fried Rice, was made by 20-year-old students Moneda Venetia Eirielle Macalintal, Janelle Leong, Alphaeus Chew and Adrien Kareem Wong. The story follows Eggman, a reclusive old man whose life unexpectedly changes when Shelly, the new neighbour next door, opens up his world both metaphorically and literally.
Macalintal told CNA Lifestyle that the group had pitched this idea for their Final Year Projects at school, but it did not make the cut. When their lecturers reached out to their director, Chew, for a chance to pitch the idea for the showcase, they jumped at it.
Another film group Roar, made up of Temasek Polytechnic students Darren Chow, 20; Danial Umar, 19; Aqiel Samsir, 19; Ryan Ang, 19; and Rowena Eber, 19, said this was their 'first real industry experience', one with a client and a bigger budget.
Their film follows a young boy who inspires his grandfather and his old teammates to join a community futsal tournament. As they train to face younger rivals, they rediscover friendship, resilience, and the joy of football.
'It was a very eye-opening experience and we learnt a lot from the mentorship programme, which had directors and executive producers helping us all the way from pre-production to post-production,' Eber told CNA Lifestyle.
'They taught us how to get things done properly and the industry standards our submissions should be at."
Tucked in a room on the second level of the event space, was an array of booths for local businesses to sell items ranging from accessories to home goods.
Owner of jewellery brand Make Make, Amanda, 31, who declined to state her last name, said: 'Small businesses don't get much exposure I feel, so even though there are a lot of creative people here, sometimes there isn't enough of a market for us to showcase our work.'
'This platform gives us a physical space to get our craft out there,' she added. 'People who typically may not come look at small businesses may find stuff that they may not have thought of buying before.'
Owner of lifestyle brand Mochi Buddies, Jean Kuah, 31, shared that the art community in Singapore is very big and there has not been as many events to showcase local artists' works.
'So it's a good opportunity where artists can come together to share ideas – not only just meeting new customers,' she added.
From youths to families and pet owners, most concert-goers wanted to explore the local music scene.
'We didn't come here with anyone in mind actually,' said Benjamin Low, 20, who came to the event with his friends. They added that they were instead curious about local music since more local artistes were gaining more traction.
'It's quite refreshing to see new musicians in our country,' Low added.
Some however, came as fans, wishing to see their favourite artiste live.
'I wanted to get to know more songs from local artistes,' said 17-year-old Tricia Sit. When asked which artiste they were most excited to see, Sit and her friend Avril Yap, 17, squealed in unison: "Benjamin Kheng!'
The pair also happened to be fans of Desmond Tan. 'Desmond Tan waved at me from above, I was up there and he was going to leave and then he looked up,' Sit said excitedly.
Eighteen-year-old students Shalisa Binte Shafudin, Tang Xin Yu and Raye Kosasih, also said they were most pumped to see dance group D'Kingsman, as well as artistes Lovalie and Fariz Jabba.
While talking to concert-goers, a youthful voice echoed from the mini outdoor stage – 12-year-old Lyla Ng, who was one of the buskers, singing a mix of Chinese and English top hits like Apt by Bruno Mars and Rose.
Ng said that she started playing the piano at the age of five, drums and singing at the age of six, song-writing, the electric and acoustic guitar at seven, and finally, playing the bass at ten years old.
'I'm very grateful to be performing in front of this audience. They are very nice and I'm very happy,' she chirped.
Her passion for music started when her father was on tour with Hong Kong singer-songwriter Emil Wakin Chau when she was two years old.
'At night me and my mum would watch videos of my dad performing on stage. He looks so happy so I felt inspired,' she said. Ng has even performed on stage at the Indoor Stadium with Chau before.
'I know that not everybody gets to do this, so I'm very grateful. I like that everybody is always very encouraging and I like to make people happy through music,' she said, adding that she will be taking her Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) at the end of the year.
Back in the concert tent, the evening events kicked off. Starting with Culture SG's electrifying remix of pop songs which saw a group of youths hyped and jumping, as well as local DJ Koflow who delivered a bass thumping set coupled with a live orchestra band.
Dance group D'Kingsman's lively performance saw the five boys dancing to songs like Baby by Justin Bieber as well as 21 Savage and JID's Surround Sound with screams echoing from the audience.
Local artiste Lovlaine serenaded us with her melodic voice and treated the audience to a preview of her unreleased track, Limbo – even getting us to sing along.
Singer Shazza also delivered a standout set with her powerful vocals and magnetic stage presence that included her songs Perfume, All You Really Need (Is Love), a soulful cover of Bruno Major's Nothing, and the vocally demanding Medieval.
Meanwhile, Fariz Jabba delivered a hyped, explosive performance with songs Masa and an unreleased song Day Onez, along with the announcement of his new upcoming album.
Closing the night with flair, Benjamin Kheng brought the energy with his set, including a punchy cover of Vanessa Carlton's A Thousand Miles, an upbeat take on Laufey's From The Start, and finally, in true National Day spirit, the National Day Parade 2024 anthem Not Alone.
Kheng even took a moment to film a TikTok with the crowd, sending fans into a frenzy of cheers and screams.