Love life, live healthy

Just before I left Singapore for a week-long Seoul trip, I was very privileged to be invited to the “Plus! Presents Zumba® Fitness” event, together with Melissa. The event is organized by Plus! Programme, which is the largest and most successful loyalty programme in Singapore, with growing 1.6 million Members and 1,000 participating Merchants outlets. LinkPoints is the currency of this loyalty programme (For more information about Plus! Programme, it can be found at http://plus.com.sg/aboutus). The event was held at Ngee Ann City Civic Plaza and boy was I surprised at the turnout of the crowd! There were participants as young as 5-6 years old, all the way to working adults of 40-50 years old. In fact, majority of them are younger working adults aged 20-35!

As I had always been involved in many fitness programmes, I wasn’t surprised to spot some familiar faces amidst the crowd. It was such an eye-opener to able to see how passionate these Singaporeans are about keeping fit, whether it is through fitness programmes or in the gym. I’m very inspired by these participants in fact!

Held on the 23rd November 2014, “Plus! Presents Zumba® Fitness” is the first challenge by Plus! And there were 4 key types of rewards: Top Favourites, uShow, uBid and uExperience (More information can be found at http://plus.com.sg/rewards-main). Plus! Rewards also had a booth set up for Members to redeem instantly for “Night at the Museum: Secrets of the Tombs” using LinkPoints worth as low as $3.50. Also, Plus! launched its  “Wish Upon A Click with Plus!” an annual return back to society initiative where 3 Members’ wishes will be granted by Plus! and voters for the wish will be rewarded with LinkPoints.

Among other sponsors, there were also brands like Skechers and Kenko Fitness.

The event started at 9am with Zumba Gold, which is a slower-paced Zumba catered for beginners. We were struggling with the coordination, but quickly caught on, by looking at the fellow participants who seemed to be experts! :P

Honoured to be able to speak to and be introduced to CEO of NTUC Link, Mr Tony Tan and CEO of Health Promotion Board, Mr Zee Yoong Kang, whom so enthusiastically joined in for the main Record-breaking challenge in the later part of the event!

The highlight of the event was a 5-minute of Record-breaking Zumba challenge and we all did it so time for a massive selfie! This was the largest Zumba® Fitness event to be held in Singapore, with turnout of 1200 participants. With that, “Plus! Presents Zumba® Fitness” exceeds the current Singapore Book of Records for the category of “Largest Zumba Dance” which has a total of 990 participants. So stoked to see all the happy faces! Made my Sunday instantly better!

Plus! aims to extend its offering to members by presenting new lifestyle events to support active living and to encourage its 1.6M members to stay in the pink of health. “Today, Singapore families already enjoy over S$45M in LinkPoints, discounts and rewards from the Plus! Programme. We hope to do more to support our members by cultivating an active and healthy lifestyle through the various activities and events we will be organizing,” says NTUC Link’s CEO Mr. Tony Tan.

 Plus! plans to continue organizing similar events on a yearly basis and will also work with other partner organizations to promote its members health and wellbeing. “I am very happy that Plus! is taking this step to raise awareness of the importance of a healthy lifestyle among its members. Social and family support is important in sustaining behavioral change for good health. Events like “Plus! Presents Zumba® Fitness” which gives Plus! members the platform to exercise together as a community is a good example of supporting Singaporeans’ journey towards good health and in creating a healthier Singapore,” says Mr. Zee Yoong Kang, CEO of the Health Promotion Board who was the Guest of Honour of the event. (More information of this event can be found on their website: http://plus.com.sg/)