Pinoy in Singapore

Ms. Isabelle Masbate, a first-grade student at the Singapore American School won the Grand Prize in the 2004 US State Department Alert Overseas – Kids (A-OK) competition. The A-OK programme is intended to provide security and safety information to American children living overseas and has been run by the State Department since 1986. The competition is held to encourage children to form their own personal messages about safety and security.

Isabelle, daughter of Singapre-based Filipinos Jorge and Benna Masbate, and whose entry was one among three pieces chosen to represent Singapore, bested submissions by children of kindergarten to grade 6 levels from around the world. Entries were received from such countries such as Sri Lanka, Greece, Vietnam, South Africa, France, China and Spain. She submitted her artwork last September 27, 2004 to the US Embassy in Singapore, and received news of her winning the competition on 21 January 2005. A Certificate of Appreciation signed by the US Ambassador and the US State Department Assistant Secretary for Diplomatic Security was sent together with the official notice of her winning.

Isabelle’s winning artwork “Keeping Kids Safe Overseas” which depicts various scenes – family, school, government and friends, now graces the cover of the 2005 calendar of the A-OK programme. Other selected entries are featured in the monthly spread of the calendar.

Indeed, as Isabelle’s mother Benna puts it “another Filipino moment to be proud of.”

Source: Philippine Embassy to Singapore press release