19 October 2016 12:00 am Views - 999
The 10 lucky children who were selected through a raffle draw from the ‘Minimuthu Dayada Sihina Ekathuwa’ competition earlier this year got the opportunity recently to travel to Singapore with a parent, courtesy Sri Lanka Insurance (SLI).
The competition, which required children to put their future ambition on canvas with crayons, water colours or any medium of their choice, had attracted over 5,000 entries from across the island.
The competition had been organised by SLI to coincide with the launch of ‘Minimuthu Dayada Children’s Plan’, an insurance policy especially designed to facilitate the nation’s children to achieve their future goals. Some of the special features of the policy are: maturity benefit of 125 percent of the sum assured, flexibility to decide the sum assured based on affordability, commencement of annuity payments upon the child reaching 18 years of age, bonus payments, daily cash benefits in the event of hospitalisation and waiving off of future premiums upon the parent’s death.
The lucky winners of the Singapore tour were W.A. Hiruka Vinol from Kesbewa, K. Dinithi Shanela from Negombo, R.A. Adeesha Dulshan from Hanwella, W. Pawindi Bhagya from Badalgama, I.D. Dilshi Pradeepa from Puttalam, Mahima Denuwan from Andiyagala, F. Ramla Riyas from Negombo, Isuru Raveesha from Moratuwa, R. Kunthavi from Kilinochchi and Bawendi Reheshani from Uluwitake. The group consisted of 26 people.
The highlight of the tour, conducted from October 1-4, was the visit to the Universal Studios amusement park. It was a thrilling experience especially for the children. Some of the other top attractions they enjoyed were Merlion Park, Malay Heritage Centre and the Singapore City tour. The tour was appreciated and enjoyed by all the participants, some of who had travelled abroad for the first time.
R.A. Adeesha Dulshan (10) said he saw and learnt a lot of new things on the tour. “Everything was great, but I especially enjoyed the visit to Universal Studios. The sections on dinosaurs and ancient Egypt were fantastic. The Sri Lanka Insurance representative explained everything to us so it was very informative and useful. I also managed to form new friendships as there were many other families from different parts of the country in our group,” he said.
I.D. Rohana Pradeep, eight-year-old Dilshi Pradeepa’s father, had this to say about the tour: “This was a first time experience for all my family members and we enjoyed it thoroughly. The Universal Studios visit was the most enjoyed by the children while the adults found it equally exciting. I can’t pinpoint anything that was amiss in the tour, which was very well organised. We are very happy about the opportunity provided to us by Sri Lanka Insurance.”
Describing her experience, F. Ramla Riyas (8) said, “I loved every minute of the tour especially ‘Ride The Movies’ at Universal Studios. We had a lot of fun at the hotel swimming pool too and all the children enjoyed themselves. I told my friends about it and they were also fascinated.”
All in all, it proved to be a dream tour for all 26 participants, one they will talk about for years to come.