President’s Star Charity 2023 raises more than S$11.7m at end of live show
Mediacorp’s annual flagship fundraiser this year featured performances by singer Anggun, Singapore Idol Taufik Batisah and homegrown opera tenor Jonathan Charles Tay, as well as President Tharman Shanmugaratnam himself.
(From left) Zoe Tay, Stephanie Fam, President Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Ms Jane Ittogi, Diana Ser and Rishi Budhrani at PSC 2023. (Photo: Mediacorp)
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Mediacorp’s annual flagship fundraiser President’s Star Charity (PSC) raised S$11,737,571 in donations at the end of the live show that took place on Sunday (Oct 22).
The two-hour show was hosted by Diana Ser and Rishi Budhrani and screened live at 7.30pm on meWATCH, Channel 5 and Mediacorp Entertainment on YouTube.
Themed 'Respect for All', PSC 2023 featured performances by local and international artistes, including singer Anggun who belted out her originals Snow On The Sahara and A Love Before Time, as well as Singapore Idol Taufik Batisah and homegrown opera tenor Jonathan Charles Tay who performed their rendition of the Elton John classic, Your Song.
Guest of honour President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and his wife Jane Ittogi also took to the stage in a special performance where they read the poem Never Let Go, alongside poet Stephanie Fam.
The performance also featured actress Zoe Tay playing the steel tongue drums together with a violinist and pianist from Orkestra Melayu Singapura and dancers from the Diverse Abilities Dance Collective.
Other highlights of the evening were the rope pull challenge featuring local artistes and National Para Athletes, as well as a dance performance by local artistes Aileen Tan, Chen Xiuhuan, Pan Ling Ling, Tay Ying and more to the tune of Blackpink’s hit single Boombayah.
Sebastian Tan, aka Broadway Beng, Sheikh Haikel and Aisyah Aziz also performed during the evening.
PSC supports a wide range of beneficiaries under the President’s Challenge and aims to rally the public to raise funds for vulnerable groups in Singapore.
Audiences and viewers donated generously throughout the show, both through a donation QR code that was flashed on-screen and available on mediacorp.sg/psc, as well as through the donation link. Donations are still encouraged from now until Nov 5.
Mediacorp CEO Tham Loke Kheng said: “I was touched by the generosity of our audiences who contributed to this year’s President’s Star Charity. I would like to thank everyone for contributing and hope that the public will continue to support this worthy cause."
Last year’s event raised a record-breaking sum of S$13,085,960. PSC 2022 was themed ‘Small Actions, Big Changes’ and featured performances by singer-songwriter Ellie Goulding, pop star Eric Chou, singer Aina Abdul and Singapore Idol 2004 winner Taufik Batisah and runner-up Sylvester Sim.
Catch PSC 2023 on demand for free on meWATCH or watch a repeat on Channel 5 on Oct 29 at 4.30pm. For more information on President’s Challenge, head to presidentschallenge.gov.sg.
